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.”
First Quarter 2012 – Outlook for 2012 by George Hosfield, Fixed Income by Marc Fovinci, Municipal Bonds by Deidra Krys-Rusoff, REITs by Ralph Cole, Dividend Value by Jason Norris, Strategic Opportunities by Dean Dordevic, International by Ralph Cole, Alternative Investments by Dean Dordevic.
Last year was one of the most volatile periods in the history of the U.S. stock market. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami, a festering European debt crisis and dysfunctional U.S. politics weighed on consumer, business and investor sentiment in 2011—creating economic and market headwinds. Having endured a decade of boom and bust cycles in technology, real estate and commodities—U.S. investors are fatigued by a roller coaster stock market that has made little forward progress.
Third Quarter 2011 – Looking Back and Forward by George Hosfield, “China Derailed” by Dean Dordevic, Mindful Reminders by Mary Faulkner, Investment Strategies: Large Cap Div Val by Jason Norris, It’s Never Too Early to Start Tax Planning by Mark Kralj and New Look and Functionality for Our Website by Natalie Miller and Shawn Swagerty.
2010 drew to a close with fears of a double-dip recession abating and economic data revealing that the global expansion was intact and gaining momentum. After a mid-year slowdown, the preponderance of economic indicators now point toward a modest reacceleration in domestic growth. For all that was written about the “new normal,” last year looked surprisingly like the “old normal.” Looking forward, the extension of Bush-era tax cuts suggests that the pace of activity will likely accelerate in the first half of 2011 and a second round of quantitative easing (“QE2”) renders a “double dip” highly unlikely. In our view the cyclical equity bull market is not yet over.
First Quarter 2011 – Looking Back and Looking Forward by George Hosfield, “Rough Rice II: Fat Tails Wag the Dog” by Dean Dordevic, Mindful Reminders by Mary Faulkner, Municipal Bonds by Deidra Krys-Rusoff, Client Balance Sheet by Nathan Ayotte, Delivering our Investment Outlook: Events and Videos by Natalie Miller.
Third Quarter 2010 – Market Outlook by George Hosfield, “QE2 and the Square Root Redux” by Dean Dordevic, Year-End Tax Changes, Longevity and Continuity piece on Luz Garcia, Kathi Kimes and Kerrie Young.
What a difference a year makes. After one of the worst years in history for investors, 2009 brought above-average returns across all equity styles. Aided by unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus, credit markets thawed and investors’ risk tolerance returned. Like the emergency room patient who doctors stabilize before nearly losing to anaphylactic shock, stocks rose from what felt like the dead in March, climbing a wall of worry to recoup roughly half of the damage done since the highs of 2007.
First Quarter 2010 – “’Gray’ Matters” by Dean Dordevic, Community & Civic Service, The Value of Planning.
Third Quarter 2009 – “Synchronicity, Reflexivity, and Fiat Money” by Dean Dordevic, Ferguson Wellman and Umpqua Bank Form Strategic Alliance announcement.
Second Quarter 2009 – “What ‘Shape’ Are We In?” by Dean Dordevic, “Municipal Bonds Remain Secure Investments” by Deidra Krys-Rusoff, Milestone Anniversaries.
A year ago, we published our 2008 Outlook entitled “Stepping Back From Risk.” The somewhat cautious report listed potential capital market risks as a “significant housing recession, commodity inflation and the possibility of the banking crunch intensifying.” With those concerns in view, we recommended modestly reducing equities, increasing allocation to bonds and emphasizing quality in the selection of all debt and equity securities. However, never in our wildest imagination did we anticipate the severity of the economic storm that unfolded. Amid a virtual credit market meltdown, the U.S. led the world into a recession that decimated equity values across the globe, proving our forecast of mid-single digit equity returns wrong both directionally and by several orders of magnitude.
