by Joseph Sykora | Dec 4, 2023 | Blog, Market Updates
Many came into 2023 expecting a recession, and accordingly, bearish on equities. While the economic data has been much better than expected (particularly employment), it hasn’t reflected the robust return profile seen in the S&P 500 year-to-date. At +20.8% through...
by Joseph Sykora | Apr 4, 2023 | Blog, Energy, Macro Updates
As recently as last month, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and its representatives suggested that they had no intention of cutting crude oil production for the remainder of 2023. It was only a month ago that rumors swirled around whether UAE would...
by Joseph Sykora | Dec 27, 2022 | Blog, Macro Updates
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has the ability to set interest rates through the Fed Funds rate – the overnight lending rate among US banks. Banks are required to retain a certain amount in deposits as capital to help guarantee their solvency. Bank deposits...
by Joseph Sykora | Nov 30, 2022 | Blog, Energy, Macro Updates
In the last two weeks, we’ve received several inquiries regarding energy equity outperformance relative to declining oil prices. Many people reference some version of the following chart: Source: Strategas, 11/29/22 For a commodity-driven sector, the...
by Joseph Sykora | Oct 3, 2022 | Blog, Market Updates
When we think about narratives surrounding slowing economic growth, our job as investors is to translate narrative into number. In other words, if the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates, if the housing market gets sluggish, if unemployment starts to...
