UK

Three strategies that could win whatever the outcome of Britain's referendum on EU membership. And what to look out for in the final days before the vote.

For now, maintain a benchmark duration stance leading into the June 23 U.K. Brexit vote, favoring Treasuries and (especially) Gilts over Bunds and JGBs.

The 1990s mid-cycle slowdown is an appropriate analogue to current market conditions. A lower dollar was the key ingredient the easing in monetary conditions that resolved this episode. This suggests that today, as the sole economic lever left, the greenback has further downside. Go short USD/SEK. Go long a basket of NOK, CAD, AUD and NZD against the USD.

The disappointing May payroll report does not foreshadow an imminent economic downturn. The Japanese government's decision to postpone next year's VAT increase and introduce fresh fiscal stimulus should help jumpstart growth. On the flipside, the Fed is likely to restart its hiking cycle in September and the Chinese government will crack down later this year on what it regards as excessive credit growth. More worryingly, the odds of Brexit have increased over the past few weeks. Go tactically short European stocks (in dollar terms).

The median voter theory is one of the few genuine theories of political science. It assumes that voters have limited policy priorities and that politicians want power. Therefore the latter will adjust their stances to satisfy the largest swath of voters. The median voter in the Anglo-Saxon world is shifting to the left, and regardless of what happens in the Brexit referendum or the U.S. election, this shift will be the most consequential development for markets.

There is a risk that global bond yields move higher in the near term, although we prefer to position for that move <i>via</i> cross-market spread, yield curve and inflation trades.

For the month of May, the model underperformed both global equities and the S&P 500. For the month of June, the model is further paring back its risk exposure.

The latest conclusions from the sector-based (right) way to pick stock markets. Plus some important conclusions for credit markets.

This month's <i>Special Report</i> reviews the literature on equity market timing, and identifies the key indicators that historically have had the best track record. We then aggregate the indicators into an overall scorecard that should prove to be valuable for investors in these volatile times.

This week, we present five of the more interesting yield curve trades in the Developed Markets for the latter half of 2016.