A defining characteristic of the investment environment this year has been an oscillating market driven by a rapidly changing set of facts and overall investment narrative. We started the year with optimism that we would move beyond COVID-19 and enter a period of slower but more normalized growth. However, investor sentiment plummeted following an inflationary perfect storm.
August 9, 2022—A pivotal earnings season is nearly in the books, and the results have given fodder for the bulls. The S&P 500 index is up 9% since earnings season kicked off on July 16. Importantly, this is also a period that has coincided with declining energy prices, lower interest rates, and a Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting for which market participants exhausted themselves reading between the lines.
July 26, 2022—It’s hard to avoid the “R” word these days. The question of whether the economy is headed toward a recession has been front and center, almost superseding concerns about inflation. During our May webinar “Growth Scare or Recession?”, we explained our reasoning for the U.S. to avoid the latter, but since that time the risks have risen noticeably.
