Download PDF Introduction Now-casting methods are a class of forecasting models originally used in meteorology, and that later found useful applications in economics and finance. The first paper that generalizes the use of now-casting methods in economics is Giannone, Reichlin, and Small (2008). The idea of now-casting is that high-frequency Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Economic indicators are statistical data points and metrics that provide insights into the overall health and performance of an economy. These indicators help economists, policymakers, businesses, and investors assess and understand various aspects of economic activity. Economists and analysts use these indicators to monitor economic trends, assess Read more…
Download PDF US The week in US markets was marked by losses in all major indices apart from the Nasdaq and Russell 2000, up 0.06% and 0.48% respectively. The S&P closed the week down 0.74%, the Dow Jones was down 1.34%, the Russell 3000 Value and Growth were down 0.89% Read more…
Download PDF US US equities mainly lost this past week, with their most followed index closing this week almost 3% down (S&P500). Russell 2000 led the way down with a 3.82% decline week on week, closely followed by the tech heavy tracker (Nasdaq composite) which closed 3.62% down compared to Read more…
Download PDF Introduction 50 years ago, the financial industry changed forever with the introduction of the Black-Scholes model for options pricing. However, the story started much earlier with less sophisticated approaches and has evolved significantly over the last century, encompassing notable frameworks such as the binomial tree in discrete time, Read more…
Download PDF One of the biggest secular trends in central banking policy since its inception has been increased transparency through more regular and varied forms of communication. The hope is that by being transparent, market participants can price in the policy path more gradually, lowering the chances of wild bursts Read more…
Download PDF Introduction For the last two years, the large majority of central banks have been hiking rates and conducting quantitative tightening programs to fight against the inflationary pressures witnessed in almost every country after the Covid reopening, supply chain shocks, Russia-Ukraine war, labor shortages, and other related factors. Despite Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The purpose of this article is to investigate whether gold, and in particular its spot returns against other currencies, display some correlation with other macroeconomic drivers, particularly with monetary policy decisions by Central banks. Gold: Anti-Cyclical Asset or simple Commodity? In the realm of financial markets and Read more…
Download PDF USA US equities traded mostly at a loss this week, with the S&P and Nasdaq closing the week at -0.16% and -0.39%, respectively. The Russell 2000 also closed below the weekly open at -0.24%, while the Dow Jones closed at +0.12%. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was the big mover among Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Swap spreads, which measure the difference between the fixed rate on a swap and the yield on a Treasury bond of the same maturity, have often been negative in recent years, particularly in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008. This phenomenon has puzzled market participants, Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Inflation made a return post pandemic and has been affecting all market participators for 18 months now. In this article, we will dive into the persistence of inflation in the UK specifically and the struggles the UK has had to face trying to cool this red-hot inflation Read more…
Download PDF US The week in the US market was marked by big losses in regional banks stocks, as First Republic failed. The S&P500 lost 0.8% for the week, the Dow Jones was down 1.24% and the Russell 3000 Value was down 1.71%. While the Nasdaq and Russell 3000 Growth Read more…
Introduction Download PDF Repos, or repurchase agreements are the pillars of the financial system, maintaining Read more…
Download PDF Introduction When investors decide to allocate their money in a risky investment, they demand higher expected returns than riskless investments. Thus, the expected return on every risky investment can be seen as the sum of the risk-free rate and a risk premium that compensates investors for bearing the Read more…
Download PDF US The US stock market closed the month of April with the S&P posting monthly gains for the second month in a row, adding 0.87% for the week and 1.5% for the month. All US indexes closed the week in the green, with the only exception of the Read more…