Last year was a reminder of the interconnection between politics and markets. Many investors use ETFs for an efficient, flexible way to express a market view on a political event. Increasingly, investors are also using ETF options - both to express views and gauge market sentiment ahead of and during political events. With a full political calendar planned in 2018, consider watching ETF and ETF options activity to provide insight into market sentiment.
Date | Country/Region | Event | Related iShares ETFs | |
First quarter | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
1/23 | Japan | Bank of Japan Meeting* | EWJ† | HEWJ† |
1/25 | Eurozone | European Central Bank Meeting* | EZU† | HEZU† |
1/28 | Finland | Presidential Election (1st round) | EFNL | |
2/11 | Finland | Presidential Election (2nd round, if needed) | EFNL | |
March | North America | NAFTA Negotiation deadline | EWW† | EWC† |
3/4 | Italy | General election (Congress, Prime Minister) | EWI† | HEWI |
3/8 | Eurozone | European Central Bank Meeting* | EZU† | HEZU† |
3/11 | Colombia | Legislative Election | ICOL | |
3/18 | Russia | Presidential Election | ERUS† | |
3/21 | USA | Federal Reserve Meeting* | IVV† | |
Second quarter | ||||
4/8 | Japan | End of current term for Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda | EWJ† | HEWJ† |
4/26 | Eurozone | European Central Bank Meeting* | EZU† | HEZU† |
4/27 | Japan | Bank of Japan Meeting* | EWJ† | HEWJ† |
5/27 | Colombia | Presidential Election (1st round) | ICOL | |
6/13 | USA | Federal Reserve Meeting* | IVV† | |
6/14 | Eurozone | European Central Bank Meeting* | EZU† | HEZU |
6/17 | Colombia | Presidential Election (2nd round, if needed) | ICOL† | |
Third quarter | ||||
7/1 | Mexico | General election (President and Congress) | EWW† | HEWW |
7/26 | Eurozone | European Central Bank Meeting* | EZU† | HEZU† |
7/31 | Japan | Bank of Japan Meeting* | EWJ† | HEWJ† |
9/13 | Eurozone | European Central Bank Meeting* | EZU† | HEZU† |
9/26 | USA | Federal Reserve Meeting* | IVV† | |
Fourth quarter | ||||
October | U.K. | EU deadline for UK-EU agreement on Brexit Deal | EWU† | HEWU† |
10/7 | Brazil | General election (President and Congress, 1st round) | EWZ† | EWZS |
10/25 | Eurozone | European Central Bank Meeting* | EZU† | HEZU† |
10/28 | Brazil | General election (President and Congress, 2nd round) | EWZ† | EWZS |
10/31 | Japan | Bank of Japan Meeting* | EWJ† | HEWJ† |
11/6 | USA | Legislative elections (midterm) and state governorships | IVV† | |
12/13 | Japan | General elections (House of Representatives, Prime Minister) | EWJ† | HEWJ† |
12/13 | Eurozone | European Central Bank Meeting* | EZU† | HEZU† |
12/19 | USA | Federal Reserve Meeting* | IVV† |
* The Fed and ECB meetings shown are those accompanied by press conferences. The BoJ events shown are followed by the publication of the central bank’s outlook report.
† Funds with listed options available as of 12/31/17.
Dates reflected are as of 1/5/18 and are subject to change.