Featured Insights
Recovery Indicators: FOMO or FOGO?
Labor market weakness and consumer caution will weigh on the recovery, but equity markets typically follow the kind of rally seen in Q2 with gains over the following year.
Inflation: Is 2% the Right Target?
Main Street and Wall Street have divergent opinions about the Fed's longstanding 2% inflation target.
2Q20 Small-Cap Recap
A Typical Rebound in Atypical Times
After a big second quarter rebound, what’s next for small-cap stocks?
Fixed Income Markets
Fallen Angels Could Bring Opportunities
The recent wave of corporate bond downgrades has dropped many companies' debt into the high yield sector. But could some "fallen angels" rise again?
Emerging Markets: Five Positive Trends
With the pandemic dominating the short-term outlook, the longer-term advantages of Emerging Markets companies become more important in the pursuit of return.
Chart of the Week
Chart courtesy of ClearBridge Investments. * Institutional & Retail Money Funds – ICI. ** MSCI U.S. IMI Index. Data as of July 3, 2020. Source: FactSet. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indexes are unmanaged, and not available for direct investment. Index returns do not include fees or sales charges. This information is provided for illustrative purposes only and does not reflect the performance of an actual investment
Cash: Plenty of dry powder
Chart of the Week
Market Snapshot
Oil Shock: The Energy Sector and Beyond
The collapse in oil prices has added to market dislocations and uncertainty associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
Featured Insights
Recovery Indicators Update
Economy Finding Firmer Footing
Two positive signal changes re-affirm the overall green signal of the ClearBridge Recovery Dashboard.
The Fed
Preparing for a Long Period of Easing
The Fed is planning for a prolonged period of accommodation, and seeking to ensure its policies can be sustained as long as needed.
Markets Now: Review and Outlook
Weakness in manufacturing data, hours worked and building permits is helping to keep our proprietary leading economic indicator in negative territory, despite overall improvement over the past month.
Municipal Market Update: June
Western Asset examines recent trends in the muni bond market and provides its outlook about conditions ahead.
Weekly Monitor
Munis: Mid-Year Review
It was the most volatile first half-year in the history of the muni market, yet the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Index still returned 2.08% for the period following a strong second quarter.
Infrastructure Earnings and COVID-19 Uncertainty
The market has potentially mispriced COVID-19's impact on both earnings and the market risk premium attached to infrastructure assets.
Around the Curve
The Diverging Fortunes of Emerging Markets
The COVID pandemic highlights the quality differentials within the EM debt universe.
Muni Weekly Monitor
Muni Payrolls Decline, Highlighting Austerity
A deep dive into what jobs data associated with COVID-19 says about austerity at the state and local government levels.
Commercial Real Estate
Major Shifts in Sectors Underway
The economic fallout from COVID-19 appears to be accelerating existing trends in commercial real estate, with industrial strengthening while retail faces challenges.
Around the Curve
COVID-19: Social and Economic Consequences
The pandemic has created a fertile environment for social unrest, with much depending how well governments address the crisis and the subsistence needs of their citizens.
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