US-China trade war heats up: Reuters
Trump scheduled to meet Russia’s Putin later this month: NY Times
US job cuts up 18% in June vs. May: CG&C
US Services PMI: growth remained strong in June: IHS Markit
US Non-Mfg Index: growth accelerated in June: WSJ
FOMC minutes: Fed eyes recession risk but is upbeat on US economy: Reuters
German industrial output rebounded sharply in May: FT
ADP: US private payrolls increased by moderate 177,000 in June: MW
Consumer discretionary stocks continue to lead US equity sectors for year-to-date performances, based on a set of exchange-traded funds through July 3. The former leader, technology, is in second place and has fallen further behind consumer discretionary in recent weeks.
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US vows to keep Persian Gulf open after Iran’s threats: AP
China says US ‘opening fire’ on world with tariff threats: Reuters
Trump issued new demand for world’s oil producers to stabilize markets: CNN
Police investigating new cases of nerve poisoning in UK: CNN
Employment growth continues to be overshadowed by wage stagnation: OECD
Factory orders in Germany rebounded in May, ending run of declines: Bloomberg
Eurozone economic activity picked up in June: IHS Markit
Factory orders in US rebounded in May after tumbling in April: Zacks
US auto sales increased in June for top carmakers: Reuters
Merger announcements rise to a record $2.5 trillion in first half of 2018: NY Times
The expected risk premium for the Global Market Index (GMI) ticked down in June to an annualized 4.8%, a fractional decline from the previous month’s outlook. The projected return over the “risk-free” rate is a long-run estimate for the index, which is an unmanaged market-value-weighted portfolio that holds all the major asset classes.
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Germany’s Merkel stays in power by compromising on migration: CNN
Trump and Mexico’s new president vow to work together: USA Today
Trump warns World Trade Organization of action if US isn’t treated fairly: Reuters
Trump warns NATO countries to spend more on defense: NY Times
Construction spending in US rose 0.4% in May: MarketWatch
ISM Mfg Index: US factory output up more than expected in June: Bloomberg
PMI: US mfg growth eased but remained strong in June: IHS Markit
Eurozone mfg growth dipped to 18-month low last month: IHS Markit
10 Tech stocks account for all of S&P 500’s gain in 2018’s first half: Bloomberg
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the US posted the strongest gain in June among the major asset classes. The gain marked a second straight month with securitized real estate topping the performance list.
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Left-wing populist wins landslide victory in Mexico’s presidential election: CNN
N. Korea appears to be expanding missile manufacturing plant: CNN
European Union warns US of blowback if car tariffs imposed: Reuters
Will German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling bloc collapse? Bloomberg
US consumer spending growth cooled as inflation ticked up in May: Bloomberg
Consumer sentiment reading posts slight gain for June: CNBC
Chicago PMI rose to six-month high in June: ISM Chicago
Wall Street eyes carving up time into nanoseconds: NY Times
GDPNow Q2 economic growth estimate revised down to +3.8%: Atlanta Fed
By Alissa Quart
Excerpt via Money Magazine
“Surplus humans.”
That’s the callous term Karl Fogel, partner at Open Tech Strategies, an open-source technology firm, used when describing the unwitting employee-victims of advances in automation. Cruelty aside, it’s a term that could easily describe once secure “middle-class” professions, including jobs in the automotive industry, nursing, tax preparing, office administration and law.
When I started reporting my book Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America five years ago, I found many culprits for rising insecurity among what I called the Middle Precariat, a group that suffered from the cost of their children’s daycare, and from rent and mortgages, of course, and copious student and health care debt. But they were also afflicted by the hovering fear of being put out of work by our mechanical brethren.
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When Does Cap-Weighting Outperform? Factor-Based Explanations
Roger G Clarke (Ensign Peak Advisors), et al.
May 1, 2018
Equity mutual fund performance can be partially explained by commonly-followed equity market factors, and the proposition that fund managers in the aggregate have more equally-weighted positions that the capitalization weighted market. Currently, the aggregate mutual fund’s active return is positively associated with the performance of pure Momentum, Small Size, and Profitability factors, and negatively associated with the performance of pure Value and Low Beta factors.
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