Darden: When Disaster Strikes Where Do Institutional Investors Go?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

For years, skeptics have warned that the popularity of passive funds could destabilize the markets, making the latter more volatile than they would otherwise be during times of economic stress. Read more here.

WSJ: What Is the Brobdingnagian Base?

 By SIMON CONSTABLE 

When investors first read or hear the term “Brobdingnagian base” they might be taken aback. Not only is “Brobdingnagian” a mouthful to pronounce, it is a literary reference that at first glance might seem unrelated to finance. Read more here.

King of Brobdingnag

James Gillray , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Barron's: Oil Producers Are Curbing Supplies. Expect the Oil Rally to Continue.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Increased global demand, together with recent supply cuts, could spark a more than 20% rally in oil prices this year, experts say.

“We expect prices to peak at $65 and remain in the range $55 to $65,” says Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. in New York.Futures contracts for light sweet crude were recently fetching $53 a barrel on the Commodities Mercantile Exchange. Read more here.

Oil Drilling Rig

Photo by WORKSITE Ltd. on Unsplash

Forbes: How Banks Shunned Their Special Customers During The Covid-19 Crisis

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Weary tax payers may remember the banking bailout of 2008. That’s the time when the Federal government forked over $700 billion to financial institutions in order to save the banking system. 

Was that favor returned to businesses in need during the recent Covid crisis? No. Read more here.

Forbes: Will Higher Inflation Lift Bond Yields? Maybe Not

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

For the first time in what seems like forever, U.S. inflation is trending higher. However, that may not continue and that could have a major impact on the bond market. Read more here.

Photo by Twitter @ethmessages on Unsplash

Barron's: Corn Crops Are Unlikely to Be Bountiful, So Expect Higher Prices

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

A drop in corn production will result in reduced supplies of the grain, propelling prices higher over the next few months, experts say.

U.S. corn inventory at the end of the 2020-21 growing season will be 1.3 billion bushels, far lower than the 1.7-billion-bushel level expected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Financial Advisors. Read more here.

Forbes: Wild Weather To Send Prices For Food Stuffs Skyrocketing In 2021

By SIMON CONSTABLE

As if 2020 wasn’t bad enough, 2021 will likely bring biblical-style extreme weather including droughts, frigid winters, and monster hurricanes, recent research shows. Read more here.