DoubleLine Portfolio Manager Eric Dhall and Analyst Mark Kimbrough cover a March 2-6 market week rocked by the Feb. 28 outbreak of war in the Middle East, related energy-supply shocks, private credit losses and labor weakness in February. Equities (0:31) sold off across the board with energy the only positive sector for the week with a mere 1% gain. Fixed income (2:52) saw Treasury yields rise across the curve with the exception of a rally in the 3-month T-bill. Bank loans (4:32) were a lone positive note in the spread sectors. Commodity indexes (6:04) surged higher, led by a 25% gain in the energy complex with spikes in oil distillates, notably a 50% surge in diesel for delivery to Europe.
On the macro front (11:16), albeit reflecting activity prior to global economy-roiling events in Iran and the Persian Gulf, ISM goods and services reports were solidly expansionary for February. Import prices ex-petroleum accelerated higher in January. Nonfarm payrolls suffered significant losses in February, even after adjusting for a strike affecting healthcare workers that has since been resolved. The week ahead will include the February CPI (Wednesday) and personal income & spending and PCE for January (Friday).
Subscribe to the Minutes podcast on:
iTunes | Spotify
Follow us on X
Comments and suggestions should be directed to Minutes@doubleline.com
Mr. Dhall joined DoubleLine in 2013. He is a Portfolio Manager on the Macro-Asset Allocation team where he works with portfolio management performing analysis and trading for derivatives-based and multi-asset strategies. Mr. Dhall’s research and analysis has contributed to the team’s development of DoubleLine’s smart-beta suite of strategies. Prior to DoubleLine, he worked at Capital Group performing quantitative analysis in fixed income. Prior to Capital Group, Mr. Dhall was an instructor in finance at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a research instructor at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. Previous to that, he worked in International Finance at Gulf Machinery Company. Mr. Dhall holds a B.S. in Physics with a secondary emphasis in Business from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.S. in Financial Engineering from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Mr. Kimbrough joined DoubleLine in 2012, where he worked primarily on Agency Mortgage Backed Securities and the Fixed Income Asset Allocation process as a member of the Risk Analyst team. He transitioned to his current role in 2019 where he serves as an Analyst on the Macro Asset Allocation team. Prior to DoubleLine, Mr. Kimbrough was at Western Asset Management working on systems monitoring and development within the Risk Department. He holds a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Real Estate Finance and a minor in Economics from the University of Southern California. Mr. Kimbrough is a CFA® charterholder.
