August 31, 2020 — Citing a debilitating health condition, Shinzo Abe has resigned as Japan’s Prime Minister (PM) after eight years in office, and with one year remaining before the next general election. His resignation becomes effective once his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the dominant political party in Japan, selects a successor. During his eight years in office, PM Abe’s government had pursued policies that promoted corporate earnings growth and shareholder returns.
August 19, 2020—After a historically volatile first half, the S&P 500 is back in positive territory, up roughly 5% for the year, but gains have been far from equally distributed. The top five companies by market cap, or FAAMG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google), are up 48%,1 while the bottom 495 have yet to break even.
August 15, 2020—So, is this rally different? Four of our investment team experts blanketed media channels this week to answer that question, zeroing in on the strength of the support from pillars of the economy, as well as the prospects for the next round of COVID-19 congressional stimulus relief.
