1.U.S. Dollar Impact Upon Asset Class Returns.
From Dorsey Wright
From Dorsey Wright
While the S&P 500 SPX, -0.11% has been in a bull market since the bottom of the financial crisis in 2009, it only broke out of a 13-year consolidation period in 2013, according to Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial. In the past, when such lengthy periods of essentially flat returns came to a close, the result was an equally long advance. (While markets were extremely volatile between 2000 and 2013, an era marked by both the dot-com bubble and the financial crisis, it failed to make decisive new highs for an extended period in that timeframe.)
Italy is preparing to take a €2B controlling stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena (OTCPK:BMDPY), which the bank hopes will attract private investors to fill the gap in rescue funding. According to Reuters, the government plans to buy junior bonds to boost its stake to 40%, making it the biggest shareholder by far. Questions whether this amounts to state aid will surely arise in Brussels.
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