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.”
This week, the Federal Reserve made big news when it reduced the federal funds rate by 0.25 percent, its second cut this year. While any Fed action always dominates the headlines, the interest rate reduction was expected and fully priced into the market. Having raised federal funds a quarter point just last December, it has been a rather dramatic change of monetary policy in which the Fed has now cut rates twice this year.
As May draws to a close, equity investors were not treated well. Concerns over a slowing economy and heightening trade tensions with China weighed on investor sentiment. The S&P 500 fell over 6 percent for the month, which is the first negative month of May since 2012.
Bonds are, at their core, less complex and more easily understood than most clients might assume. While “interest rates” and “bond yields” make them sound complicated, bonds can be boiled down quite simply: bonds are loans.
