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.”
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 year, investors have wrestled with several paradoxical headlines: rising inflation, a tighter Fed, possible recession, a strong labor market and a healthy consumer. Unfortunately, the paranoia caused by these reports continues as markets wrapped up the first six months of 2022 with the S&P 500 down 20%, resulting in the worst start of the year since 1970.
Jason Norris, CFA, was interviewed on Boise Public Radio about the Idaho economy and recent market activity.
While it was a relatively quiet week of macroeconomic news, investors are still busy making sense of the inflation and interest rate paradox: that is, inflation stoking recession fears, but also rising rates to combat inflation also stoking recession fears.
Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate to 1.75%, an increase of 0.75% from the previous rate. This increase, the largest since 1994, was considered a possibility, albeit one the market hadn’t fully discounted.
Markets sold off this week, and dramatically on Friday, as new inflation data showed price increases reaccelerated in May. This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the most well-known measure of inflation, increased 1.0% in the month of May and increased 8.6% compared to the year-ago period. This number marks a new 41-year high for inflation.
Paul Volcker assumed the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve in August of 1979 and within a year, had raised the target federal funds rate to an eye-popping 20%. This painful but necessary action broke the back of inflation which had run rampant for the prior decade.
As new parents, my wife and I have been experiencing the ongoing formula shortage firsthand as we prepare for our little one to start daycare in June. The search for formula reminds me of the early days of the pandemic when life turned into a competitive “treasure hunt” due to supply constraints and a drastic change in consumer demand.
Casia Chappell, CFP®, CPWA®, discusses 529 college savings plans and their details that oftentimes confuse savers and students and how to best utilize these plans.
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.
