It has been a complicated year for emerging markets (EM). After a healthy start to the year, the group has struggled, given slower demand from China, tariff concerns, and a firming U.S. dollar. Most recently, Turkey’s diplomatic and political struggles have devolved into a currency crisis that has weighed on the world’s developing markets, despite encouraging economic fundamentals that suggest an otherwise high growth trajectory for EM.

We’ve emphasized our expectation that the economic growth rate for EM this year will be the highest for any global region. We still believe this is the case, and we look for Turk

The bull market continues to defy the skeptics and is now nearing a major milestone. On August 22, 2018, this bull market can overtake the bull market of the 1990s as the longest ever. From tariffs to trade wars to inflation to a flattening yield curve to a global economic slowdown, the headlines continue to cast doubt on the sustainability of this economic cycle and bull market. Although we see several potential stumbling blocks, we continue to believe this economy and stock market rally have plenty of fuel left in the tank.

Major Milestone

The current bull market was born on March 9, 2009, and is now just days away from topp

As the U.S. economic recovery moves into its later stages, inflation has emerged at a surprisingly slow and inconsistent rate, befuddling investors who have watched the expansion set the stage for anticipated price and wage growth. Only recently has data emerged indicating that pricing pressures have approached, and in some circumstances exceeded, target levels from monetary policymakers.

Inflation is a focal point of the Fed’s evaluation of economic health when determining future monetary policy. However, the absence of inflation in the recovery has apparently stumped even the Fed, which incorporated a variety of innovativ

The Fed announced last Wednesday that it would keep interest rates unchanged, a decision that markets largely expected. In its statement, the Fed upgraded its view of the economy to growing at a “strong” rate for the first time since 2006, a view encapsulated by last quarter’s strongest gross domestic product (GDP) growth since 2014. Fiscal stimulus has fueled strong business, consumer, and government spending, and the job market has continued to tighten, with the unemployment rate sitting at its lowest point of the expansion.

Economic Growth Supports Higher Rates

In a vacuum, the macroeconomic backdrop suppo