A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web
The Financial Times' FastFT site is presenting strategists' picks for most important investing charts for 2018, similar to Jason Kirby's excellent features for Maclean's magazine.
The latest FT installment is from Aberdeen Investment Management economist Paul Diggle who believes that the favourable "Goldilocks" market environment – with stronger earnings growth and little inflation - is coming to an end,
"The global economy and markets were in 'Goldilocks' mode for the past year. Growth was decent, inflation was low, and central banks were treading carefully … market participants are expecting more of the same in 2018 .. However … The 'Goldilocks' combination has become much harder to sustain at precisely the time it has become consensus."
"Charts of the Year: Risk assets running into trouble?" – FastFT
"The 91 most important economic charts to watch in 2018" – Maclean's
"Although the economy is not about to fall into recession, it is close to the peak for the current growth cycle." – Bloomberg
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BMO strategist Brian Belski believes that U.S. tax cut legislation, which has hit a last minute snag in Congress, will weaken the Americans' hard line in NAFTA negotiations,
"despite an overwhelmingly pessimistic attitude toward any sort of NAFTA discussion, almost none of the clients we have spoken with over the past several weeks are actually positioned for a negative NAFTA outcome, After all, the Canadian dollar is still firmly above pre-election levels, and stocks with direct U.S. trade exposure continue to exhibit relatively strong performance. With tax cuts becoming more of a reality in the U.S., we believe the need/desire for the U.S. to dissolve NAFTA will subside and calmer heads will ultimately prevail."
"@SBarlow_ROB BMO: US anti-NAFTA stance will weaken after tax cuts" – (research excerpt) Twitter
"GOP tax plan on shaky ground: Rubio announces he's a no" – ABC News
"Some Canada firms could move to U.S. amid NAFTA worries: survey" – Reuters
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Your daily dose of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency stories goes as follows,
"Poloz on bitcoin: 'Closer to gambling than investing'" – BNN
"The Bitcoin Paradox" – Nautilus
"The Bitcoin Premonition" – Reuters Breakingviews
"Bitcoin's fractioning problem" – Kaminska, FT Alphaville (free to read with registration)
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Tweet of the Day: "@EricBalchunas Wow: Value ETFs have taken in over $7b in past week, most ever in a week, w/ 45 dif value ETFs taking in cash." – (chart) Twitter
Diversion: I found this interview notable for its refutation of a lot of conventional wisdom,
"Why humans are cruel: A psychologist explains why humans are so terrible to each other" – Vox
Scott Barlow