Market Insights

“I’m worried about the stagflationary direction—meaning inflation and unemployment going up at the same time. That is entirely possible and the worst-case scenario. That is among the most challenging situations that a central bank can face because raising, cutting or holding rates doesn’t fix the problem.” Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee, May 28, 2026

“Through the end of April, net margin debt hit more than 1.25% of U.S. market cap, near the highest level in records stretching back to 1997… The market’s valuation as a share of U.S. GDP… is the highest on record.” Axios’ Matt Phillips, May 28, 2026

“I am focusing heavily on inflation. I’m not ignoring at all the labor market. We need to pay attention to both sides, but the labor market is in decent shape right now, while inflation is simply much too high.” Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari, May 27, 2026

“They could be much higher than they are today. We may have gone from a saving glut to not enough savings… Bond rates can go up. The notion that somehow people say they will never go up is the wrong notion.” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, May 21, 2026 (Bloomberg Television)

“Electricity sales to data centers are set to rise by 482 terawatt-hours through 2023, based on Bloomberg Intelligence’s assumptions. That means the grid would need about 502 TWh of extra electricity…” (power for additional 46 million homes) Bloomberg Intelligence, May 20, 2026

“Fitch Ratings’ U.S. Private Credit Default Rate (PCDR) hit a record high of 6.0% for the TTM ended April 2026, up from 5.7% in March 2026 and marking the highest rate since inception in August 2024.” May 19

“Yields are not just pricing inflation volatility, but increasingly the return of fiscal risk. There is limited capacity for bond markets to absorb the spending at current yield levels without demanding additional compensation.” Laura Cooper, head of macro credit at Nuveen. May 19, 2026 (Bloomberg

“Bond yields definitely feel like they are getting unhinged. The market is not only testing the Fed, it’s putting Congress on notice. The longer that interest rates remain high, financing costs go higher.” Subadra Rajappa, head of research at Societe Generale Americas (Bloomberg TV – 5/15/26)

"Refinery attacks tied to the wars in Iran and Ukraine have knocked out nearly 9% of global oil refining capacity in recent months, deepening a fuel supply crunch and likely delaying recovery by months after fighting ends." Reuters (Seher Dareen and Robert Harvey)

“Semi-liquid is kind of a diabolical name. Half the time it’s liquid. It’s liquid when you don’t want your money, and it’s illiquid when you do want your money.” DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach on private credit (Bloomberg)

“The biggest tech companies are set to spend $1 trillion on AI by next year, according to multiple banks, a bill so big that it's propping up both the stock market and economy. Our financial system is now load-bearing on AI spending that may never pay off, and most investors can't even see what the full tab is.” Axios’ Madison Mills

“The Iran war, and what that is triggering now, I believe will be a big realignment of capital flows. There's $3.2 trillion that the Gulf states and the various sovereign wealth funds have deployed now, and ‌that has been an enormous export of capital to lots of people in this room, really, ⁠all over the world.” Ron O'Hanley, CEO, State Street (May 24, 2026)

“And if you think about that $800 billion [in hyperscaler capex], a portion of it will be funded by the cash flow of these companies. A few hundred billion will be funded by the public investment-grade markets. And our stance is private investment-grade capital will be the third leg of that funding stool. It’s going to take all the markets, it’s going to take the equity market, operating cash flow, the public market, and the private market for those kinds of numbers to come through.” Apollo Global Management president Jim Zelter (5/4/26 - Yahoo Finance).

“We certainly are beginning to see, for instance, what used to be called slicing and dicing and tranching of loan structures going on, and if you were involved before the financial crisis, then alarm bells start going off at that point.” BOE Governor Andrew Bailey (10/21/25)