DoubleLine Portfolio Manager Eric Dhall and Analyst Mark Kimbrough review the Oct. 6-10 week, punctuated by a Friday trade-war fright that reversed the week’s gains in stocks (0:27) and spurred a flight to safety into bonds (3:47). Commodities (6:11) followed energy lower, and gold consolidated near $4,000 an ounce. The “debasement trade” (6:25) attributed to gold’s winning streak is a topic for discussion, with Eric and Mark reminding listeners that despite gold’s luster as an asset outside the manipulations of fiat currencies, ultimately central banks’ appetite for bullion, or lack of it, will help decide where gold prices go from here.
The week’s macro data (10:00) showed gradual weakening in consumer credit and, via the FOMC minutes, a flock of “scared doves” behind the Sept. 17 fed funds rate cut. Due to the government shutdown, the Oct. 13-17 week (17:41), Eric and Mark note, perhaps will be most notable for the scheduled government indicators that are NOT released: CPI, PPI and import prices on the inflation front and retail sales. Among the few major releases expected are the Federal Reserve’s beige book and industrial production report.
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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.
