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.”
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.
As investors handicap the most anticipated recession in history, fourth quarter equity returns are playing out as expected. Historically, the fourth quarter, specifically the month of December, delivers the best results for equity investors. While this quarter has continued the positive trend, December is not acting as planned.
Jerome Powell has the most difficult job in America. The Fed Chairman and the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee are tasked with lowering inflation and they primarily have only one blunt tool to accomplish this goal, adjusting interest rates.
Ferguson Wellman Capital Management has been named by Portland Business Journal as a “Most Admired Company.”
For much of the prior decade, both savers and bond investors alike tolerated low yields and a modest total return. The Federal Reserve couldn’t achieve liftoff from their near-zero interest rate policy for over six years following the Great Financial Crisis. Their efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy with low rates and quantitative easing achieved about the same level of success as an attempt to ignite a pile of damp newspaper. Bonds’ greatest virtue during that decade may have been to provide a reliably unattractive foil for a strong stock market and expanding price-to-earnings multiples.
After the most aggressive tightening cycle in Federal Reserve history, we are beginning to see signs of a slowing economy and more mixed messaging from corporate America. While counterintuitive, stocks have rallied over 10% from their October lows as inflation looks to have peaked and third quarter earnings have come in better than feared.
Taxes … just the word alone increases blood pressure and elicits a fight-or-flight response. As such, most people outsource their tax preparation. Whether you manage your taxes or outsource the task, there is still a good amount of work we are all responsible for.
We have long observed that what matters most for investors is not the outcome of elections but rather what happens to the economy and earnings. That said, historical performance indicates that mid-term elections are clearing events - regardless of the partisan outcome. In each such event since World War II, stock prices have risen in the 12 months that followed. Although a handful of election results are still yet to be decided, the U.S. Congress appears to be headed for a split…
In recent months, investors have understandably been obsessing over the Fed and inflation. This week was action-packed for the markets, with the Fed meeting and October employment report taking place. Writing about the Fed has come to feel like Groundhog Day…
Have you ever looked at something you've had for a long time and thought to yourself “Do I still need this?” or "I paid a lot for this … do I keep it?" This happens frequently when evaluating life insurance purchased in prior years.
Economic statistics are inherently backward looking while interest rate actions by the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed) generally have a six to 12-month lag effect. The Fed is raising interest rates to slow the economy, which in turn should bring down inflation. This has typically been the relationship and the order of events, and we believe that will be the case this time around.
Ferguson Wellman Capital Management was recently named by Financial Planning magazine to their “RIA Leaders 2022: Top 150 Fee-Only RIA Firms” ranking. The firm was listed at 23 of 150 companies.
Our colleague, Mary Lago, CFP®, CTFA, recently wrote a piece for the Spokane Journal of Business. In it, she discusses how financial strategies can optimize charitable giving.
U.S. stocks ended higher this week as investors digested news of solid corporate earnings against a more hawkish-than-expected Fed and better-than-expected labor data. Throughout the year, rising rates and macroeconomic headwinds overwhelmingly pressured asset prices and valuations, even for companies that have demonstrated earnings resilience.
The U.S. government has endorsed a “strong dollar” policy for much of the last thirty years. Besides sounding much better than the alternative, this messaging has reminded markets that the U.S. dollar remains the world’s reserve currency, despite frequent projections of its demise or threats to its dominance.
