Jonathan Masse Articles

Global Equities gained 1.44% in April to bring their YTD returns to 8.85%. In the U.S., markets were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its best month since January, climbing 2.48%.

Global equities rose 3.08% in March and were up 7.31% for the quarter, despite much volatility sparked by the abrupt collapse in early March of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank

Global Equities roared into 2023 like a lion with the second-best January on record – up 7.17% — but went out like a lamb in February: the MSCI All-Country World Index fell 2.87%

If there is a way to “bounce back” after a brutal 2022 that closed with global equities down -18.36%, it is to come out of the gates strong. Global equities did just that, climbing 7.17% in January. It was the MSCI All-Country World Index’s (ACWI) best January since 2019 and second-best January on record…

2022 was a brutal year even if its final quarter was slightly less so. Global equities fell 3.94% in December, but still managed to gain 9.76% for the quarter, making Q4 the year’s best for the MSCI All-Country World Index. That said, the ACWI tanked -18.36% in 2022,...

Global Equities marched 7.76% higher in November following October’s 6.03% rally. The MSCI All-Country World Index is now up 14.26% in 2022’s final quarter, but still down 15.02% on the year. Stock prices soared on the final trading day in November after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a speech to the Brookings Institute that the pace of interest rate hikes will likely slow as soon as its December meeting.

Global Equities rallied 6.03% in October following September’s worst monthly showing since the Coronavirus pandemic shook global markets in March 2020. Still, the MSCI All-Country World Index remains in bear market territory and is down 21.14% on the year – marking its third-worst 10-month start to a year since the 2008 financial crisis and the 2001 dot-com collapse. In the U.S., equity indexes finished higher following a GDP report that came in above expectations growing 2.6% in the third quarter.

• Global Equities fell 9.34% in September in their worst month since the Coronavirus pandemic shook global markets in March 2020 and worst September return since the 2008 global financial crisis. The MSCI All Country World Index sank to a new 2022 low, dropping 6.82% in Q3, marking the first time the global index posted three consecutive quarterly losses since 2009. Year-to-date the index is down 25.63% in its worst nine-month start since its inception in 2001.

Global Equities sunk 3.68%% in August on fears of more aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks in their fight against soaring global inflation. The MSCI All-Country World Index is off 17.75% YTD, its worst eight-month start to a year since its inception. Global bonds were unable to provide reprieve, as the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond and International Bond indexes fell 2.83% and 3.46% respectively this month and they too are off to their worst start in their index histories with YTD returns of negative 10.75% and 10.21% respectively.

Global equities sold off 8.43% in June to bring quarterly and year-to-date returns to negative 15.66% and 20.18%, respectively. It marked the worst first-half start to a year in the history of the MSCI All-Country World Index, and the first time since the 2008...