May 17, 2021—As my colleague Meghan Shue said a few weeks ago, the economy has been on a wild ride (much like a Hot Wheels track) and we are expecting strong growth in the second half of 2021. Stimulus, consumer spending of savings, and business capital expenditures (capex) will be enough to push full-year growth of 7.6% in 2021 in our view, with a higher likelihood of exceeding that figure than of falling short.
May 10, 2021—We have all seen the horrifying images coming out of India. The recent wave of COVID-19 illnesses, deaths, and lockdowns are having a severe negative impact on the operations of Indian business, including those listed on the Mumbai Stock Exchange. The human toll of the India outbreak has been devastating and heartbreaking. Moreover, the situation may worsen before it stabilizes, especially if vaccinations do not further accelerate.
Rhea Thomas, Senior Economist, Wilmington Trust Investment AdvisorsMay 7, 2021—Markets were abuzz at 8:29 Friday morning ahead of the jobs report with official consensus forecasts of 1 million new jobs added in the month of April and “whisper expectations” (whatever those are) of 1.5 million. At 8:30 those expectations were thoroughly dashed upon the announcement of just 266,000 new jobs added and downward revisions to previous months.
