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.”
The S&P 500 rallied again this week and is back to even for the year. Our original outlook came under pressure from the first day of trading in 2016. We expected rates to be slightly higher for the year and within six weeks the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield had fallen from 2.30 percent to 1.66 percent. We expected stocks to have a modest return of between 5 to 8 percent this year
Judith and Cliff Allen have owned the modest Marcus Apartments in Portland's Irvington neighborhood since 1979. They personally know their 10 tenants, many of whom have lived there long-term and pay rents that these days are below the market rate. The building is 50 years old, but the renters like having hands-on landlords, said the Allens, who live in Clackamas County.
With change at the economic margin beginning to improve (e.g. recent U.S. payrolls, durable goods orders and manufacturing PMI), investors are beginning to see cyclical elements of the equity market improve. Oil prices are now up year-to-date, energy and industrials are all of a sudden outperforming the broader market, and financials, which so far this year have pulled up the rear, are starting to get a bid.
There are only a handful of retailers left to report their earnings this quarter and thus far, it appears that companies’ results reflect a tough year in 2015. Profit growth declined just over 1 percent from 2014 as weak commodity prices and a strong dollar were major headwinds. This resulted in earnings per share (EPS) for the S&P 500 of $116. There were pockets of strength
State and local governments have finally emerged from the shadows of the Great Recession. This debilitating time period had drastic effects on regional economies – high unemployment and low corporate profits shrunk government coffers. Cash flow that would usually flow to infrastructure and pension plans was diverted to aid unemployed voters and plans to spur economic recovery. Government spending was
Currently, nearly 30 percent of the world's sovereign debt has a negative yield. Said differently, owners of $7 trillion worth of government bonds issued by countries all over the world will get less money than they invested if they hold the bond to maturity.
This month, Alaska Airlines Magazine includes an article on page 85 titled, "What Kind of Investor Are You?" Quotes from George Hosfield, CFA and chief investment officer, can be found on page 94 of this digital edition of the publication. Click here to access the magazine.
“It was a tumultuous end to 2015 with the stock market and the GDP coming out lower than expectations,” said Kellie Holloway, Senior International Trade Specialist with the U.S. Commercial Service.
With U.S. large cap stocks down over 10 percent, it hasn’t been a happy new year for investors. The Fed tried to alleviate fears this week on Capitol Hill by stating that they realize the current volatility may lead to slower economic growth and thus there will be no March rate hike. While the talking heads weren’t impressed with the statement, we believe that it was a positive and highlighted the fact
Portland’s commercial and residential real estate markets are on fire. Home prices and apartment and office rents are soaring, and even with a full pipeline of new multifamily and commercial office buildings coming online in 2016, the consensus is that demand will not be sated.
Lane Community College student body President Ashley Jackson, standing in front of more than 200 people on the second floor of the college’s Center Building on Wednesday afternoon, smiled as she thought about what she won’t miss
At first glance, what some investors thought might by a perfect U.S. labor report for January met with a resounding thud in financial markets Friday. It seemed to be one without so many jobs created that the Fed would be forced into raising rates at an uncomfortably fast pace, yet a report that was still strong enough to
As of Thursday this week, roughly one-third of the S&P 500 companies have reported earnings for the fourth quarter of 2016. Of the 171 companies that have reported earnings 8 percent were in-line with expectations, 19 percent had a negative surprise and 72.6 percent reported a positive
Speaking before a packed Portland Business Alliance audience, economist John Mitchell predicted that the region’s economy will continue to expand at an annual rate of about two percent through 2016.
A cast iron mechanical bank is a fitting symbol for Ferguson Wellman Capital Management. The Portland investment firm, which this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary, manages more than $4.3 billion for 743 wealthy clients and is known for strength, solidity and an approach to investing that steers away from risk. Not surprisingly,
That’s the message we heard loud and clear from the markets this week. As economies and markets around the world wobble to start the new year, they were looking to central banks to bail them out. Mario Draghi gave markets around the world some solace with his dovish news conference yesterday.
For investors, this year started with more than a passing resemblance to 2015, according to executives at Portland-based investment firm Ferguson Wellman Capital Management.
At the firm’s annual investment outlook Wednesday at Deschutes Brewery, in Bend, two Ferguson Wellman vice presidents advised cautious optimism. They took their theme from the
PORTLAND, Ore. – January 18, 2016 – Ferguson Wellman Capital Management is pleased to announce that the firm has been named by Oregon Business Magazine as a top financial planner/manager in their annual Power Book publication.
Earlier this week we lost a music icon. While I was not a big fan of David Bowie, there are a few songs of his that I enjoy. My favorite is “Under Pressure” which he co-wrote with the band Queen in 1981. The title is very appropriate for what we
