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.”
Over the past week the S&P 500 declined nearly 3% on persistent fears of inflation exacerbated by negative earnings reports from Walmart and Target, both of which were impacted by unexpected cost inflation. For the year-to-date, the S&P 500 has declined more than 17%. The good news from the week is that bonds have started to act more like bonds due to declining interest rates and a volatile equities market.
Amid growing investor pessimism, for the first time in more than two decades, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has now declined for seven consecutive weeks. Similarly, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ have dropped for six straight weeks … the first time since 2011 and 2012, respectively. Given the material correction we have witnessed across most asset classes, we think it timely to share our current market outlook.
If you have college bound children or grandchildren, you are likely aware of the benefits of 529 accounts, which include but are not limited to tax-free growth of investments, tax-free withdrawals when funds are used for qualified education expenses, potential state income tax benefits, expanded gifting options with superfunding and the flexibility for the owner to transfer funds to family members.
In the second quarter 2022 Wealth Management Insights video, Mary Lago, CFP®, CTFA, discusses the importance of account ownership and beneficiary designations when planning wealth transitions.
Investors buffeted by the ongoing correction in stocks and bonds could be forgiven for asking this question. The Fed’s aggressive half a percentage point increase in interest rates last week coupled with another report of elevated inflation earlier this week are serving to continue the turbulence investors have experienced so far this year.
Shawn Narancich, CFA, shares our thoughts on the issues of oil supply and demand and our outlook for the energy sector.
Both fear and greed were on full display this week as the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate 50 basis points and announced that additional 50 basis point increases would be needed in the future. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the U.S. government would stop buying as many bonds on the open market in the coming months, effectively shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet and removing some liquidity from the system.
April is a time of year when many of us reflect on what we can do to incorporate sustainable practices into our lives. This month, our colleague Samantha Pahlow, CFTA, AWMA®, shared insights on two areas: electric vehicles and ESG investing.
This week, there was a plethora of economic and company-specific news for investors to digest. Specifically, the release of first quarter U.S. GDP, reported quarterly earnings by major technology companies and the unanimous vote by Twitter’s board to approve Elon Musk’s offer to take the company private. In response to this news, the market declined 4%, with all of the weekly losses occurring Friday afternoon.
Our initial U.S. economic outlook has generally played out as expected this year: continued (albeit slower) economic growth, persistent inflation, interest rate hikes and increased market volatility. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an unexpected significant development that further elevated market volatility and dampened the global economic outlook.
On Tuesday, inflation numbers came in hot across most components. According to the release of March inflation figures, consumer prices have risen by 8.5% over the past year and 1.24% month-over-month, a rate of increase not seen in more than 40 years.
Parents and grandparents often ask how they can set up an account for minor children, to help them build good saving habits or to make financial gifts, while also delaying access until a future point in time. One common approach is to open a Uniform Transfer to Minors Act account (UTMA) or Uniform Gift to Minors Account (UGMA).
On Monday, we welcomed all employees back to our office after over two years of work-from-home. As most companies might agree, finding a balance between remote and in-office work has been a challenge. However, being at the office with the entire company has been gratifying.
Second quarter 2022 issue of Wealth Management Insights publication titled, “Understanding the Impact of Ownership and Beneficiary Designations.”
The second quarter 2022 issue of Market Letter, our quarterly investment publication, titled, Kryptonite.
Chief Investment Officer, George Hosfield, CFA, discusses our second quarter Investment Strategy titled, “Kryptonite.”
With an eventful first quarter now in the history books, we can safely say that the elevated levels of volatility that we predicted for 2022 are now in play.
Last week, the Federal Reserve made headlines after raising their benchmark interest rate by 0.25%. This week, the Fed remains in the spotlight due to comments made by Chairman Jerome Powell at Monday’s National Association for Business Economics annual conference.
The SECURE Act brought significant changes to the retirement planning landscape. The wide-sweeping legislation impacted retirement plans in numerous ways, which are covered in this article.
