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.”
While news coverage is understandably focused on the devastation in Ukraine, we remain keenly focused on the fundamentals of the U.S. economy and the companies we follow. We realize that during times of stress markets become disconnected from the underlying fundamentals of the economy, but just like water always finds its equilibrium, markets similarly return to the fundamentals.
Some while ago as I was preparing for my first solo overseas flight, I told a friend in the aviation industry that I disliked turbulence; the stomach-churning drops and swings were too sudden and unpredictable for my appetite.
In our Outlook 2022 publication titled "Extraordinary to Ordinary" we highlighted that more volatility would be a feature of 2022. Volatility was extraordinarily high in 2020 during the zenith of the COVID-19 crisis and well below average during the robust economic recovery of 2021. This year we expect an environment of more normal volatility.
This week, volatility returned to capital markets due to the recent emergence of the Omicron variant. Initial reports indicate Omicron shows increased transmissibility and mild symptoms, a “mixed bag” of changes over Delta. And while it will be several weeks before we see a more accurate picture of its impact on human health, capital markets immediately responded with increased stock market volatility and lower interest rates.
