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.”
This week, President Joe Biden is expected to announce his choice of Federal Reserve chair. The two favorites are the incumbent Jerome Powell and current Fed governor Lael Brainard. Within the last several weeks, odds showed that Chair Powell was a shoe-in. But more recent indications show Brainard’s favorability increasing.
2020 has been such a challenging year for so many, so on this Thanksgiving weekend we offer our thanks to all the healthcare workers who have provided comfort to so many amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also thankful for all the researchers and volunteers who appear to have us at the doorstep of widely available vaccines with the corresponding hope for a return to normalcy. True to form, financial markets have already begun anticipating what a post-vaccine world will look like and asset prices have responded accordingly.
As we close out another Thanksgiving week, investors have a lot to be thankful for this year. At this time last year, the Fed was still raising interest rates, global economies were slowing and the S&P 500 was on its way to a negative 13.5 percent return for the fourth quarter.
