Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell’s speech Friday at the Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, served as a fitting complement to the minutes from the Fed’s most recent policy meeting. Both Powell’s comments and the minutes reinforced the Fed’s strong case for hiking rates for the third time this year when it meets in September, an outcome the markets are largely expecting [Figure 1].

The path of rate hikes beyond September is less certain, given strong growth but still-contained inflation and largely balanced upside and downside risks.

Powell’s pragmatic emphasis in

Turkey is facing a serious financing problem, and investors in emerging market debt (EMD) have clearly taken note. Turkey has borrowed heavily in foreign currency markets, much of it in U.S. dollars. That, by itself, is not an issue; borrowing in foreign currencies can attract new investor sets and help emerging market (EM) countries raise capital they otherwise could not in their own currencies. The problem for Turkey, however, is that the value of its currency, the Turkish lira, has fallen steeply relative to other currencies, including the dollar. This makes its debt costlier to repay, prompting investors to question whether Turkey has the

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