Beyond Bulls & Bears

Quick Thoughts: Do elections matter for markets?
Perspectives

Quick Thoughts: Do elections matter for markets?

The upcoming US presidential elections transcend mere political rivalry. Stephen Dover, Head of Franklin Institute, examines the policy differences between the major parties and their potential implications on capital markets in the years to come. He also discusses whether elections and their outcomes have significantly affected equity markets or if other factors made more of an impact.

Sharpen your pencils—It’s budget season
Fixed Income

Sharpen your pencils—It’s budget season

State budget offices and municipal bond analysts evaluate the economic and fiscal outlook for the next fiscal year. In this document, we examine how California, New York and Illinois have different budget situations and how they plan to balance their budgets using various tools.

On My Mind: Fed Chair Powell—I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…
Fixed Income

On My Mind: Fed Chair Powell—I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…

Franklin Templeton Fixed Income CIO Sonal Desai believes that the Fed's March policy meeting was not as dovish as some commentators and market participants have claimed, and that the Fed is still pragmatic and cautious about inflation and rate cuts. In her view, getting inflation down to 2% will be harder and take longer than Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expects, and she predicts that rate cuts will come only later—in the second half of the year.

Quick Thoughts: The Fed—Steady as she goes
Perspectives

Quick Thoughts: The Fed—Steady as she goes

Thoughts on the US monetary policy path ahead from Franklin Templeton Institute’s Stephen Dover and Rick Polsinello.

Flash Insights: Bank of Japan—A “watchful” adjustment
Fixed Income

Flash Insights: Bank of Japan—A “watchful” adjustment

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised interest rates for the first time since 2007 and has eliminated the yield curve control framework. Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Economist Rini Sen expects the bulk of further tightening will likely come in 2025 as the BoJ seeks to reach a sustainable 2% inflation target by end of fiscal year 2025.

Alternative Allocations: Private equity—Secondaries anyone?
Alternatives

Alternative Allocations: Private equity—Secondaries anyone?

In recent years, private equity fundraising surged, yet exits slowed drastically in 2022, prompting institutional investors to rebalance portfolios through increased secondaries activity. Franklin Templeton Institute’s Senior Strategist Tony Davidow explains.

A vote for value stocks in 2024
Equity

A vote for value stocks in 2024

At Mutual Series, we do not believe the packed and contentious 2024 global election season will upend the major long-term trends around supply-chain links, energy security and defense—all of which can further support certain value stocks.

Flash Insights: Food for Thought—February CPI continues to prove stubborn
Fixed Income

Flash Insights: Food for Thought—February CPI continues to prove stubborn

Stubborn core and supercore inflation will mean that the Fed will want some more evidence that their preferred measures of inflation are moving sustainably lower according to Nikhil Mohan, Franklin Fixed Income economist. Read our latest views.

Measuring bitcoin ETF liquidity through the 2024-25 Detroit Lions
ETFs

Measuring bitcoin ETF liquidity through the 2024-25 Detroit Lions

Trading volumes for spot bitcoin ETFs have been the talk of the industry. David Mann, our Head of Global ETF Product and Capital Markets, offers his take on how best to evaluate the liquidity of these ETFs via his favorite NFL team.

Challenges and opportunities within commercial real estate
Alternatives

Challenges and opportunities within commercial real estate

Franklin Templeton’s Tony Davidow discusses the challenges and opportunities within commercial real estate with Jeb Belford of Clarion Partners.

PODCAST Anatomy of a Recession update: Soft landing chances rise
Equity

PODCAST Anatomy of a Recession update: Soft landing chances rise

In the latest release of the ClearBridge Recession Risk Dashboard, we’ve seen that a particular indicator upgrade was enough to change the overall dashboard—going from red recession to yellow caution—the first time that it’s been yellow since August of 2022. We speak with Jeff Schulze of ClearBridge Investments about this change and his current base case for the US economy.