When I look back at the first eight and a half months of the year, it has definitely been an eventful one for the equity markets. Quantitative easing, earnings season, the Greek drama and now China’s slowdown have all contributed to increase volatility in the markets.
But the year doesn’t end here and nor do the events for the year. We still have to go through a handful of important milestones before we close the year and these will all contribute towards the performance of the equity markets.
The following are important events which come to mind as we move closer towards to the close of 2015.
Next FOMC Meeting – 17th September 2015
Next Thursday is a date to circle in your diary. It is the next FOMC meeting, when there is a chance that the Fed may raise interest rates for the first time in 9 years.
Federal Reserve officials aren’t near an agreement to begin raising short-term interest rates heading into a crucial week of private discussions before their September policy meeting, according to their recent comments.
Though officials appear to remain on track to raise rates this year— after September, there are Fed meetings in October and December—their recent remarks in interviews and elsewhere showed divisions and uncertainty that could restrain them from moving on rates as soon as next week.
Alcoa kicks off earnings season – 8th October 2015
Alcoa kicks off earnings season in the US. Investors are eager to see how companies performed in the third quarter and how they are being affected by the slowdown in China.
So if you are confident about a stock, position yourself before earnings season because after the recent sell-off there will be some bargain hunting going on.
Next ECB Meeting – 22nd October 2015
In the last ECB meeting held on 3rd September 2015, the ECB President Mario Draghi, buoyed markets on Thursday as he opened the door for further quantitative easing should the global market tremors and the emerging market slowdown threaten the Eurozone’s recovery.
We will get a better indication on what the ECB is likely to do in its October meeting once we start getting data out for the month of September. If the situation in Europe is not picking up, we would see increased pressure on the ECB to increasing its quantitative easing program.
Greek Elections – 20 September 2015
The September 2015 Greek legislative election will be held on Sunday, 20 September, following Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' announced resignation on 20 August. At stake will be all 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament. This will be a snap election, since new elections were not due until February 2019. This will be the fourth Greek election to be held in less than three and a half years.
Portuguese Elections – 4th October 2015
The 2015 Portuguese legislative election will be held on 4 October 2015. At stake will be all 230 seats to the Assembly of the Republic.
The ruling centre-right coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic and Social Centre–People's Party, will seek re-election to a second term in office.
Spanish Elections – 20th December 2015
The 2015 Spanish general election will be held on or before Sunday, 20 December 2015, as provided by the Spanish constitution and the Organic Law of the General Election Regime of 1985. It will open the 11th Legislature of Spain, to elect the 11th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. At stake will be all 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 208 of 266 seats in the Senate.
The ruling People's Party, led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, will seek re-election for a second term in office, while the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party will struggle to return to power after 4 years in opposition. The election will be marked by the rise of new parties Podemos and Citizens.
This article was issued by Kristian Camenzuli, Investment Manager at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice.