Market Review After a very difficult first half of the year, equity markets rebounded in July and August on investor hopes of an easing in inflation and a Fed pivot or pause. The reprieve was short-lived however, as stocks tumbled to fresh lows in late September amid further aggressive central bank rate hikes and statements […]
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Market Review It’s been an extremely difficult year for investors, with equity markets falling into bear market territory (down more than 20%) and “low-risk” bond markets registering low double-digit losses. Over the past few months, the economic backdrop has worsened with sustained high inflation and slowing growth, as the Federal Reserve and other global central […]
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Q1 2022 Was a Historically Challenging Period for Stocks and Bonds Global stocks and US core bonds are both down year to date as markets digest higher inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainty As we’ve discussed for some time, rising inflation and rising interest rates creates challenges for both stocks and bonds, and in […]
Read MoreThe World Faces a Fifth Wave of Covid-19 Infections, But Deaths Have Not Risen in Concert COVID-19 remains a key variable for the near-term (12-month) global economic and market outlook. We still believe the most likely medium-term (multiyear) base case is for continued progress against the virus and a lessening of its economic impact over […]
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Overseas Economic Data is Surprisingly Strong The U.S. economy has been very strong this year, but it looks like U.S. GDP peaked in the second quarter and will decelerate going into 2022. However, global GDP growth is likely to strengthen in the second half of the year, driven by accelerating growth outside the United States. […]
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Asset Class Returns The S&P 500 is Highly Concentrated at the Top The outperformance of FANMAG stocks means concentration within the index has soared to record highs. The top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 make up a record 28% of the total market cap of the index. The top names in the index have […]
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