George Hosfield, CFA, discusses Ferguson Wellman's quarterly strategy titled, "Inflation's Flame Flickers," which addresses the narrow market leadership, the impact of higher interest rates on inflation and how assets are priced at this stage of the economic cycle.
George Hosfield, CFA, discusses the firm's quarterly strategy titled "Stalemate," which highlights the Fed's ongoing battle to tame inflation along with our views on the health of the banking industry and capital market expectations for the balance of the year.
Director and Chief Investment Officer George Hosfield, CFA, discusses the Fed raising interest rates, peaking inflation and our view on equities and volatility across all asset classes in our Investment Strategy titled, “Balancing Act.”
The 10-year U.S. Treasury touched 5% earlier this week, the first time since 2007. By the end of the week, yields had settled at 4.9%, representing a significant increase from the rates of 3.7% on January 1. In the world of “bond math,” bond values fall when rates rise. Therefore, bond returns, as measured by the Bloomberg Aggregate Index, are down over 3% this year.
The Dog Days of Summer are here! In addition to the record heat waves expected to bombard the West Coast this weekend, we also await what typically occurs around this same time: equity market volatility and below average returns.
Without question, 2020 has brought about not only a steep, yet short-lived, recession, but also a material change in consumer preferences and behavior.
The U.S. economy has been expanding for over 10 years, the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. When looking back, the bull run in stocks and the economic expansion may seem “easy” but there have been multiple periods of angst as we flirted with slow growth.
On Saturday, March 9, we mark the 10th anniversary of the stock market bottom that started the great bull market we’re now experiencing. Traditionally, tin is the gift given on a 10th anniversary. So in lieu of a gold star, the equity markets deserve a tin star for impressively running up 400 percent since that bottom.
