Artisan Canvas

Yep, the dog days of summer are here. And now that people are getting together more frequently, there is the age-old matter of what to discuss. Politics is a bit touchy these days. Sports is an option, of course, but who really wants to talk about pitch spin rate and the Olympics seemed to lack the typical inspiring excitement—thanks a lot COVID-19! And there is what to binge-watch next. But with stocks continuing to climb, new asset classes seemingly bursting onto the scene and plenty of uncertainty ahead, one should expect a bit of market banter.

Below is a little game to go along with those investing conversations.

Looking for additional summer beach reading to go along with your latest murder mystery, self-improvement book or crossword puzzle? Now is a good time to get some fresh perspectives on investing and financial markets.

We queried our investment teams about some of their favorite books and how those reads have impacted their approach to investing.

We hope you enjoy!

Supply/Demand is a semi-regular feature of the Artisan Canvas rounding up interesting and quirky subjects from across the Internet with a focus on economic and business trends. A good rule of thumb among the Artisan Canvas editorial staff is “never reason from a price change.” With that in mind, our latest edition of Supply/Demand.

The price tags for (seemingly) everything have gone up, from electronics to cars to food—partly because commodities prices have also jumped. Some are related to pandemic recovery, particularly in China. For others, geopolitics are at play—again, also frequently related to China. Here are the commodities trends that caught our collective eye:

As the US economy fully reopens and folks are able to return to their traditional spending patterns (to what degree only time will tell), price increases for a number of goods and services should not be a surprise. Indeed, many have seen it coming for a while.

In late March, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the country’s central bank head Naci Agbal, along with his deputy 10 days later, making Agbal the third fired central bank leader in less than two years and curtailing his tenure at roughly four months. A former member of Parliament (and fellow member of Erdogan’s Justice and Development party), Sahap Kavcioglu, will assume the (historically perilously short-lived) role. 

Perhaps you missed it, but Japan’s equity market is back to levels not seen since before its 1991 crash and subsequent lost decade—arguably decades. In March, the Topix Index reached a 31-year high and has since held up relatively well despite a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, a seemingly slow start to vaccinations, renewed business restrictions, an earthquake in February and the decision to hold the Tokyo Olympics at least without fans from abroad and possibly without any at all.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A newly named Italian prime minister declares he will finally enact changes to the country’s bureaucratic and legal structures to get the third-largest EU economy rolling again. This time, it’s Mario Draghi—of euro-savior fame—who will also be coordinating efforts to secure €200 billion in funding from the EU’s inaugural stimulus package raising debt as an entity. Italy, whose economy has been deeply damaged by COVID-19, is set to receive more funds than any other country. If the EU plan is to succeed, Italy must arguably play a big part in the success. 

Supply/Demand is a semi-regular feature of the Artisan Canvas rounding up interesting and quirky subjects from across the Internet with a focus on economic and business trends. A good rule of thumb among the Artisan Canvas editorial staff is “never reason from a price change.” With that in mind, we present our latest edition of Supply/Demand.

As much of the world attempts to get business back to pre-pandemic norms, global supply chains face an added challenge in the form of shifting consumer preferences. As consumers and employees do more from home, this “new normal” has had some interesting impacts.

Among the new US administration’s top priorities is another round of stimulus. Though the bill looks different from the measures previously passed under a more divided government, it doesn’t go as far as the Democrat-controlled House went in its May 2020 $3 trillion proposal. 

Well, they did it: The UK and EU signed a trade deal mere days before a no-deal Brexit would have become official. Beyond avoiding higher tariffs and significant trading delays , the agreement also frees the UK to seek separate trade deals with the US and other major partners—something that has, by and large, been on hold. Both sides won some important concessions: