As the home stretch for the September 24 vote heaves into view, it’s hard not to conclude that a fourth term is Chancellor Angela Merkel’s for the taking. The polls have barely shifted over the past five weeks, with Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union-led bloc solidifying the lead it’s held since the spring and no relief for Social Democratic Party leader ...

In late July, Oaktree Capital’s Howard Marks put out a memo describing current investment trends that could turn out to be mistakes. Marks urged caution on equity valuations, low volatility, FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google), ETFs, interest rates, private equity, venture capital and even bitcoin. Caution alone is not an investment strategy, so Marks penned a follow-up ...

Bloomberg The pound’s rally, spurred by the Bank of England’s hawkish rhetoric, may be vulnerable to heightened sensitivity to economic data and Brexit uncertainty this week. Sterling rounded off its biggest weekly gain in five months against the dollar, reaching its highest level since just after Britain’s European Union referendum as UK policy makers spurred speculation of an interest-rate increase ...