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.”
With the hustle and bustle of the season around us, many are considering the good cheer they can share with others. For those of the mindset that it is better to give than receive, here are some guidelines on making financial gifts.
Americans are buying more than ever before. Despite supply actually surpassing above pre-COVID levels and dockworkers unloading ships as fast they can, the supply chain is unable to keep up with record consumer demand. Furthermore, the supply-demand gap may worsen as we head into the peak of holiday shopping season.
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.
After months of debate, President Biden chose to take the bipartisan route nominating Jerome Powell to serve a second four-year term as Federal Reserve Chairman.
This week, President Joe Biden is expected to announce his choice of Federal Reserve chair. The two favorites are the incumbent Jerome Powell and current Fed governor Lael Brainard. Within the last several weeks, odds showed that Chair Powell was a shoe-in. But more recent indications show Brainard’s favorability increasing.
As we approach the hectic holiday season, we encourage you to pause and review your personal finances before we close the books on 2021.
The explosion of cryptocurrencies and their meteoric returns over the last several years is causing some investors FOMO (fear of missing out). While cryptocurrencies, mostly Bitcoin, are in the news every day, very few investors understand their potential and the technologies that enable them. Rather, many are attracted to the highly-publicized returns they have generated in a very short amount of time. This has created something of a flywheel effect -- some may call it a bubble -- in which more investors are chasing these returns, which then drives returns higher, which then attracts more investors.
This week, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell announced that later this month the Fed will begin “tapering” its asset purchase program now that the economy has moved past the need for extraordinary stimulus. As a reminder, to combat the recessionary effects of the pandemic and stimulate the economy, the Fed reduced interest rates to 0% and reintroduced an asset purchase program to the tune of $120 billion per month. By any measure, this is a remarkably large stimulus program.
Last week while my wife was engaging in one of the favorite millennial pastimes of perusing Zillow.com, she blurted out, “Joe, come take a look at this!” At first, I didn’t believe what she was showing me. Our home, which we had purchased only a little more than a year ago, had appreciated a surprising amount according to the estimate.
After declining close to 6% between September 3 and October 4, the stock market is back at all time highs. Once again, it appears the market is beginning to climb the proverbial “wall of worry.”
As we plan for retirement, we also start to contemplate the reality of increasing healthcare expenses. Here are some important considerations in your planning.
Inflation continues to be in the news and is top of mind for clients. This week, the September Consumer Price Index was reported 5.4% over the previous year, an inflation number well above where it was reported prior to the COVID-19 crisis.
Video recording of the webinar hosted on October 13, 2021 titled, “Certain Strategies for Uncertain Times.”
On Monday, Facebook experienced an outage across its platform of apps for nearly six hours, affecting billions of users. The network disruption reminds us how interwoven social media is into the fabric of the global economy and many of our personal lives.
Our Director and CEO Emeritus Jim Rudd, has long been a fan of the Wayne Gretzky quote, “don’t skate to where the puck is, skate to where it is going.” While it important to keep an eye on current data, it is more important to understand current data in the context of where you think the puck, or the economy in this case, is going. Let’s look at what is currently going on in Washington and the economy, and where we expect they are going later this year and into 2022.
As autumn dawned this week, investors witnessed the first move by a developed market’s central bank to raise interest rates since the COVID-19 pandemic began. No, the Fed didn’t raise rates. Rather, it was Norway’s central bank that moved its short-term interest rate target off the zero bound, citing improved economic activity that no longer justifies such monetary policy accommodation.
Ferguson Wellman Capital Management was recently named to Barron’s Top RIA Firms 2021. Barron’s Top 100 RIA Firms 2021 rankings listed Ferguson Wellman at 60 out of 100 in the nation and was the only advisory firm to be recognized from Oregon.
