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2023 saw one of the narrowest bull markets in history, with only 10 stocks contributing 14.3% out of the 20.6% rally during the first 7 months of the year. Since then, markets have turned with the S&P 500 and the MSCI World dropping around -7% since their top1. Looking forward to the rest of 2023 and beyond, uncertainty is high: The Federal Reserve (Fed) has...

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WisdomTree has long-standing expertise in commodities, and this asset class constitutes a core part of our business. We aim to debunk several myths that surround commodity investing1. Myth 1: Commodities are only a tactical instrument Some believe that commodities trade in a range and do not outperform over the long term. Furthermore, they think commodities...

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It has been a big week of central bank policy announcements. While central banks in the US, UK, Switzerland, and Japan left key policy rates unchanged, the trajectory ahead remains vastly different. These central bank announcements were accompanied by a significant upward breakout in bond yields. Interestingly most of the increase in yields has been driven by...

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Weather has always been a key factor influencing the outlook for major commodities, especially agricultural commodities. The arrival of El Niño in June 2023 has led to a wide divergence in the performance across agricultural commodities. As discussed in our previous blog “What does El Niño’s return mean for commodities?”, the effects of El Niño include specific...

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Oil demand, driven by China is an area of strength, but a slowing Chinese economy could weaken this. However, OPEC’s resolve to keep markets tight is strong. Petroleum product markets – heating oil and gasoline – are especially tight with inventory significantly below normal and prices have hit ‘golden crosses’ : technical analyst parlance for bullish conditions....

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Industrial metals were the worst performing commodity sector last month and were down 2.7%1. Over the last six months, the sector is down 15.2% and has created the biggest drag on the overall performance of commodities. China's real estate sector, once the engine of its economy, is now teetering on the edge of crisis because of excessive borrowing, overbuilding,...

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Nominal 10-year Treasury yields have risen to the highest level since 2007. Just when we though the bond sell-off of 2022 was behind us, it came back with a vengeance. Hawkish Federal Open Market Committee (Fed) minutes and a string of positive economic data from the US are casting doubts whether we have reached peak interest rates in the US. The Fed certainly has...

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The damaging effects of climate change are already upon us. So far this year, locals and tourists have been forced to flee raging wildfires in the beautiful islands of Greece. In Madagascar, more than a million people are suffering from hunger and malnutrition due to the worst drought in 40 years1. Flash floods in Sudan have displaced large populations and damaged...

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Tech stocks have been soaring, but can this outperformance be sustained or will this artificial intelligence (AI) driven boom mimic the internet explosion and subsequent bust of the 2000-2002 period? Today, gains in the sector are concentrated in large companies like Nvidia and Meta, with year-to-date (YTD) returns standing at 225% and 148% respectively,...

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The El Niño weather phenomenon is back on the radar. A new update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) forecasts that there is a 90% probability of the El Niño event continuing during the second half of 2023. What is the El Niño phenomenon? The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon with origins in abnormal...

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US inflation data in July 2023 provided mixed signals. While Consumer Price Index (CPI) is moving in the right direction, producer price inflation suggest pipeline pressures are picking up. Core CPI, which excludes often-volatile food and energy costs, rose only 0.2% for a second month in a row . However, US producer prices picked up in July, owing to increases in...

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On 23 August, we saw another set of incredible results from Nvidia. The company’s data centre business grew revenues more than three times in six months, hitting $10.323 billion and a figure of more than 171% growth year-over-year. Guidance for the current quarter is now $16 billion, while consensus was in the range of $12.6 billion . We see Nvidia’s...

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History shapes our views and we are always seeking analogs comparable to current events. Even if we know that ‘past performance is not indicative of future performance’, we are still comforted when we draw parallels to the past. Many are now drawing parallels of the current tech enthusiasm to the dawn of the internet. The quintessential example of a ‘bubble’...

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On 24 July, the NASDAQ 100 Index conducted a special rebalance to reduce the concentration of the so-called ‘magnificent seven’ in the index. The seven stocks whose strong performance this year has driven the index are Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla, Nvidia, and Meta. The index is typically reconstituted annually in December, with additional...

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Central banks packed quite a punch last week. Unlike the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank that raised policy rates by 25Bps, as was widely anticipated, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on July 28 unexpectedly decided to tweak the Yield Curve Control (YCC) band. The BOJ begins its withdrawal from YCC It will now allow some deviation above the long-term rate...

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The decline in the US inflation rate to more than a two-year low, marks a major step towards the end of the Fed’s historic monetary tightening cycle1. We believe key deflationary forces are in play – (1) weaker commodity prices (2) improvement in global supply chains (3) moderation in demand (4) lower inflation expectations. Therefore, the June decline in...

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The Nasdaq-100 has recorded its best H1 since the inception of the index in 1985, propelled by the year-to-date rally in the biggest tech stocks riding the artificial intelligence (AI) wave. For investors looking to benefit from the long-term growth offered by the AI megatrend, this period presents an opportunity to analyse how the AI-focused thematic strategies...

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Dividends are a fundamental source of returns for investors. Looking at an investment in the S&P 500 since 1930, 41% of the performance generated would have come from dividends1. This is almost half of the total returns. Having said that, there are many ways to invest in dividend-paying stocks: from focusing on companies with high past dividend yields, to...