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Our Investment Views
Emilie Ma
Investment Strategy Video: Inflation's Flame ...

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.

Investment Strategy Video: Inflation's Flame Flickers
Our Investment Views
Guest User
Investment Strategy Video: Stalemate

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.

Investment Strategy Video: Stalemate
Our Investment Views
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Third Quarter 2022 Investment Strategy Video: ...

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.”

Third Quarter 2022 Investment Strategy Video: Balancing Act
Annual Report
Mary Faulkner
2021 Annual Report

2021 Annual Report

2021 Annual Report
Wealth Management
Guest User
First Quarter 2022 Wealth Management Insights ...

Mary Lago, CFP®, CTFA, discusses the theme for the first quarter of 2022, “Valuing the Resources of Time and Money.”

First Quarter 2022 Wealth Management Insights Video: Valuing the Resources of Time and Money

Weekly Market Makers

Real Estate Investing: The Good, the Bad and the Office Space

Real Estate Investing: The Good, the Bad and the Office Space

In our Investment Outlook 2025 events, we will share our thoughts on the real estate market and the opportunities ahead. While the commercial real estate sector appeared to hit bottom early last year, it showed a positive trend in the latter half, with core real estate values increasing 6% per the Green Street Commercial Property Index (Green Street CPPI). As mentioned in previous publications, we favor opportunities in industrial warehouses, apartments and data centers, which saw values increase last year. However, our publications have not as deeply explored one segment of commercial real estate (CRE): office space.

New Year, Same Fluctuating Economy

New Year, Same Fluctuating Economy

Lately, clients have been asking us one question: how are longer-term bond yields moving higher when the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates?

Trees Don’t Grow to the Sky

Trees Don’t Grow to the Sky

When my family gathers around the holidays, we enjoy catching up on Jeopardy episodes with our two daughters. As they are both educators, it can be difficult for my wife and me to keep up, but it can also get pretty competitive. In one episode, I had the upper hand as the category was the “Magnificent Seven.” Luckily, this didn’t refer to the movies but to the seven stocks dominating the stock market. In investing circles, the term “Magnificent Seven,” or Mag-7, is well known, and I was surprised it had become recognizable enough to be a Jeopardy category. Unfortunately, while I was the first to “buzz in” and answer correctly in this category, I wasn’t as fortunate the rest of the game.

Remember Tomorrow

Remember Tomorrow

What a year it’s been for the equity markets. In our last Weekly Market Makers post for 2024, our colleague Jason Norris, CFA, reminds us to remember our own long-term horizons when contemplating the short-term market activity in 2025.

Reason or Excuse?

Reason or Excuse?

On Wednesday, in a widely expected move, the Federal Reserve cut the policy interest rate by 0.25% to a new range of 4.25% - 4.50%. This brings cumulative interest rate cuts to 1% for calendar year 2024.

Trimming the Fat: Uncle Sam's New Diet Plan

Trimming the Fat: Uncle Sam's New Diet Plan

The 2024 U.S. presidential election of Donald Trump has sparked optimism in the financial markets and corporate sentiment. While some of this enthusiasm may be attributed to the end of a tumultuous election, the positive market reactions in the immediate aftermath—including rising stock prices, declining bond yields and a strengthening dollar—suggest that domestic and international investors are responding favorably to Trump's proposed policies.

Turning the Page

Turning the Page

It’s been just over a month since the U.S. presidential election, and financial markets continue to be influenced by anticipation for the incoming administration in Washington D.C.

Glass Half Full for the Holidays

Glass Half Full for the Holidays

While standing in line at a local grocery store this week, waiting to purchase food for yesterday’s Thanksgiving meal, it was interesting to hear other shoppers mention the cost of their groceries to the store’s clerks.

The Battle for Retail

The Battle for Retail

A banana duct taped to a wall sold for $6.2 million dollars this week to a cryptocurrency founder. With bitcoin nearing $100,000 and up more than 40% in November alone, bullish sentiment may be reaching levels of excess and froth in certain corners of the capital markets.

The Hidden Strain Behind Economic Data

The Hidden Strain Behind Economic Data

As I was getting my blood drawn yesterday, the phlebotomist learned that I worked in finance and asked my opinion on the economy. Focused on the sting from the needle, I quickly replied that things look fine and that we’re not expecting a recession in the near term.

The Election and Interest Rates

The Election and Interest Rates

In a typical week, a .25 point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve would likely be the top economic story in the United States. This was not a typical week.

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat

Chocolate-loving parents may be in for a sour surprise as they rummage through their children’s Halloween candy this year. With cocoa prices double the levels seen last year, food companies are getting creative, reducing the size of chocolate bars and adding more non-chocolate treats to their Halloween candy bags for sale. Trick-or-treaters weren’t the only ones to experience an eventful week, as an action-packed capital markets provided investors with their own bag of surprises to unpack.

High Hurdle

High Hurdle

As summer wraps up, the kids head back to school, and the weather becomes crisp, I can’t help but remember the ice storm that hit Portland earlier this year during one of the coldest weeks.

Setting the Stage

Setting the Stage

his week, Oregon residents experienced the first taste of fall. Evenings, once long and balmy, gave way to early, crisp sunsets. Leaves, damp from evening rain and morning dew, began dropping from trees. Pumpkins appeared on porches to greet the trick-or-treaters that would soon walk door-to-door. Lastly, capital markets demonstrated similar signs of change with company earnings announcements and macroeconomic data reports, ending a fairly quiet week by setting the stage for more significant releases of information in the coming weeks and months. Surely, fall is upon us.

Two Years Later

Two Years Later

In October 2022, the S&P 500 hit a low of 3,577, which was 25% lower than at the start of the year. The Federal Reserve had just started an aggressive interest rate hiking cycle and 100% of Wall Street economists were calling for a recession by 2023. We believed otherwise. 

A Market Moving Week: Both at Home and Abroad

A Market Moving Week: Both at Home and Abroad

As the calendar turned to the final quarter of 2024, there was plenty of economic and geopolitical news for investors to digest.

Home Sweet Home Economics: Decoding the Fed's Impact on Housing

Home Sweet Home Economics: Decoding the Fed's Impact on Housing

Recently, a realtor friend of mine shared that transaction volume was notably low due to high interest rates, resulting in a sluggish market. However, with last week’s Federal Reserve’s rates cut, he and likely others in the realty industry are hoping the housing market will be reenergized. While not everyone can buy or sell a house, home ownership is a prominent consideration when creating wealth. And while I’m not in the market to sell my house, I was curious about what is now occurring in the housing market.

Big Week for the Number 50

Big Week for the Number 50

For sports enthusiasts and market participants alike, this week was all about the number 50. For fans of America’s favorite pastime, Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani became the first player in the history of professional baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. Ohtani achieved this historic accomplishment with a bang, going 6 for 6 with three home runs and 10 RBIs … in a single game.

Time to Pivot

Time to Pivot

On Wednesday, the last significant economic data release occurred before the Federal Open Markets Commitee (FOMC) meeting next week. Overall, inflation appears to be tamed with the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) falling to a 2.5% growth rate compared to a year earlier, hitting a new three-year low.

Jobs > Inflation

Jobs > Inflation

In what is commonly known as their dual mandate, the Federal Reserve is charged by Congress to effectively promote both maximum employment and stable prices in the U.S. economy.