Market Volatility

Franklin Templeton Fixed Income CIO Sonal Desai shares her perspective on the US dollar. She believes any recent weakness should be understood as cyclical rather than structural because the dollar’s dominance remains unchallenged, anchored by the United States’ economic scale, institutional credibility and unrivaled market depth.

On this month’s Talking Markets podcast, Jeff Schulze of ClearBridge Investments joins host John Przygocki to assess recession risks, energy price shocks, market volatility, and investor concerns from AI and labor trends to private credit and market concentration. Schulze also explains why the current “wall of worry” can actually create long-term equity opportunities.

In this month’s issue, Templeton Global Macro notes that the Middle East conflict has initially driven risk-off market moves, pushing oil prices, the US dollar and global yields higher.

In this month’s Allocation Views, the Middle East conflict and its impact on the global economy in 2026 continue to be the chief concern for asset allocation, as inflationary pressures challenge central bank policy.

The US-Iran ceasefire reduces the risk of an oil-driven inflation and growth shock, but we aren’t in the clear just yet, according to Franklin Templeton Institute’s Stephen Dover.

Royce Investment Partners: Francis Gannon discusses how US small-caps have showed resilience in this 2026 first quarter recap.