The municipal bond market enters the second half of 2026 in a familiar but underappreciated position: digesting record levels of new issuance while continuing to benefit from resilient investor demand and a Federal Reserve (Fed) that appears likely to remain on hold. That backdrop may not generate eye-catching price appreciation, but it doesn't need to. With tax-equivalent yields for investment-grade municipals still in the top quartile of their 10-year history, this remains a market where income, rather than capital gains, is expected to drive returns. For investors who have spent the past several years waiting for a more attractive entr

Talking Points

1. Global growth is stabilizing, but leadership has shifted back to developed markets. The U.S. and parts of Europe are driving the latest improvement in business activity, while several large emerging markets have lost momentum after a strong start to the year.
2. BRICS economies are mixed as India outpaces the others. China's growth has slowed substantially; Brazil has slipped back into contraction territory, and Russia remains weak, leaving India as the strongest major emerging-market performer despite some moderation.
3. Markets have dramatically re-priced Federal Reserve (Fed) expectations. Soft July payroll

The S&P 500 towed an anchor for much of the summer as a historic momentum and leverage unwind under the surface dragged on the equity benchmark before breaking out to fresh records last week. While these mechanical drivers received most of the blame for the mid-year consolidation, higher Treasury yields were also a large part of the headwind. The 10-year yield has remained uncomfortably high as sporadic flare-ups in kinetic activity and unanswered questions around energy production and shipping disruptions in the Middle East have led markets to increase their expectations of a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike. And while the 10-year yield i

Depending on the lookback period, it very well can be the best or worst of times. While the majority of the commodity trading advisor (CTA) industry does feature characteristics of medium-term trading programs; managed futures is still just an umbrella term for a group of strategies that differ mainly along a single dimension — how long a position is held.

The Societe Generale (SG) Trend Index, which tracks the 10 largest institutional trend-following CTAs and is representative of this medium-term group, entered August up 7.9%, above the 3.2% gain of the SG Short-Term Traders Index, which is defined as CTAs and macro manage