What we’re reading (3/31)
“Losing 5% Was Best You Could Do In Stocks And Bonds This Quarter” (Bloomberg). “Across equity and fixed-income markets broadly, the least-bad performance among U.S. assets were declines of 4.9% in the S&P 500 and speculative credit. They were followed by a 5.6% fall in Treasuries and a 7.8% slide in investment grade. Not since 1980 has the best return among those four categories been so paltry, data compiled by Bloomberg show.”
“Stocks on Pace for Worst Quarter In Two Years Despite Strong Finish” (Wall Street Journal). “The action reflects a sense of dislocation shared by many traders and portfolio managers who are confronting challenges not seen in years. Yet their unease has been offset in part by a fierce determination among many investors to take advantage of any price declines to add to positions in stocks, bonds and commodities.”
“The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Gauge Rose 5.4% In March, The Highest Since 1983” (CNBC). “The Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation measure showed intensifying price pressures in February, rising to its highest annual level since 1983, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Excluding food and energy prices, the personal consumption expenditures price index increased 5.4% from the same period in 2021, the biggest jump going back to April 1983.”
“Barclays Faces $590 Million Hit, Scrutiny Over Sales Slip-Up” (Reuters). “British bank Barclays faces an estimated 450 million pound ($592 million) loss and regulatory scrutiny for exceeding a U.S. limit on sales of structured products, some of which have surged in popularity since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
“What We Learned About Venture Funding During The 2008 Financial Crisis And The Pandemic As The Markets Face Fresh Turmoil” (Crunchbase News). “As we head into the second quarter of 2022 with concerns about potentially overvalued companies, pandemic-era purchasing trends that might be waning, supply chain issues, inflation and a slowdown in the public markets, there is anxiety that we are heading toward another slackening in private financing. But funds raised by venture and private equity firms in 2022 have not yet slowed down.”
