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.”
That a notable Silicon Valley bank failure could overshadow significant developments in the labor market is a testament to how attuned investors remain to the unpredictable consequences of the Fed’s ongoing campaign to raise interest rates.
To both economists and investors, one of the biggest surprises to begin 2023 has been the resilience of the economy, and in particular the labor market. Coming off the back of the most rapid Federal Reserve tightening cycle in decades, many assumed that economic data would prove recessionary as soon as the calendar flipped. While leading indicators still point to a slowing in the economy ahead, recession still seems a ways away.
We are expecting inflation to cool as we move throughout 2023, but we also know that it won’t move in a straight line. The Fed’s favored inflation index is called the personal consumer expenditures index (PCE).
This week, a slew of economic reports, which included inflation data, employment figures and retail sales reports, continue to indicate that the Fed still has a way to go on its quest to tame inflation.
President Biden held his State of the Union Address this week, and while there was a laundry list of proposals, the two that we believe are on investors’ minds are the debt ceiling and the Medicare drug price negotiation.
There are a myriad of important numbers related to personal financial and tax planning that change every year. To help ensure you are up to date with all and to hopefully simplify your individual financial planning efforts for the year ahead, we are sharing the 2023 Annual Limits Guide from the College for Financial Planning®, which outlines many of the most important numbers that may apply to you.
While we continue to see a daily deluge of headlines highlighting layoffs in the tech space, the rest of U.S. labor market appears fairly resilient. This morning, the Department of Labor released the monthly jobs report and what was quite unexpected was the gain of over 500,000 new jobs. This brought the unemployment rate down to 3.4%, the lowest since May of 1969.
In this video, Mary Lago, CFP®, CTFA, chair of our wealth management department, highlights changes for retirement savings and charitable gifting in regard to tax planning.
It is no surprise that all eyes are focused on the economic headlines – investors and consumers are searching for tangible pieces of information to guide decision-making and create a logical roadmap for 2023. You don’t need to look far to see the latest news plastered across the media: corporate layoffs.
On December 23, 2022, Congress passed the SECURE Act 2.0. This new legislation builds off its predecessor to further improve the U.S. retirement system. Included in the provisions are changes to required minimum distributions (RMDs). Most notably, the new law further pushes back the age at which RMDs must begin.
Bonds made headlines last year for all the wrong reasons. Spurred by dramatic interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve, the U.S. bond market posted its worst annual performance in modern history. As a result of last year’s sell-off in bonds, bond yields have reset to higher levels not seen in over a decade.
Wealth Management Insights publication for first quarter 2023 titled, “Planning for Incremental and Potentially Substantial Changes.”
Annual presentation from Ferguson Wellman investment team discussing the major themes facing capital markets in 2023 and how they will affect client portfolios.
Yesterday, we hosted our annual Investment Outlook webinar where we discussed the key themes impacting capital markets and client portfolios in 2023. As we begin the new year, investors remain focused on the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting crusade leading us to our title of this year’s outlook, “Slaying the Dragon.”
Read our Outlook 2023 publication in which we discuss all of our investment strategies and how we are approaching asset allocation in client portfolios this year.
After being caught flat-footed by inflation last year, the Federal Reserve maintains a steely resolve to ensure that the beginnings of slowing inflation witnessed last fall continue in 2023. Following the stock market’s worst year since 2008 and the worst year ever for bonds, investors are hoping for better days in 2023.
One topic we are consistently asked about is the risk of another housing crisis. Housing is clearly softening in the wake of the increases in interest rates, causing mortgage rates to climb sharply this year and making home ownership unaffordable for many Americans.
It has been a very challenging year for the capital markets. Not only have stocks entered a bear market, but bonds are on pace to have their worst return in more than a century. Typically, bonds have a negative correlation with stocks, and, as such, tend to have strong returns when stocks decline. However, this is the first time in 52 years that stocks and bonds fell in the same year.
Samantha Pahlow, CTFA, AWMA®, provides an overview of planned philanthropic donations and the tax benefits associated.
This week, all eyes were on the inflation report and the subsequent Federal Reserve announcement a day later. Since these were the last announcements of their kind for 2022, market participants were paying close attention, with the hope of gaining some insight into what the rest of the year might look like for markets.
