U.S. equities were lower last week, with the S&P 500 down 2.1%. (Small-cap stocks were modestly higher.) Some bullish talking points didn’t get much market traction, including peak inflation, better supply chain trends, and consumer resilience. These positions were overshadowed by fear around inflation, supply chains, and geopolitics. Best performing sectors (and the only ones positive) were materials (+0.7%), industrials (+0.4%), energy (+0.3%), and consumer staples (+0.2%); worst perform… View More
When interest rates go up, many analysts start to worry about recessions. That's not wrong to do, after all Federal Reserve rate cycles are important. Lately, the market has settled on expectations for a total of about 2.25% or more of interest rate hikes this year. The result is a jump in many longer-term yields. The 10-year Treasury yield is 2.77%, while the typical 30-year mortgage has climbed from 3.2% in December, according to Bankrate.com, to 5.1% recently. So, some analysts think that a … View More
The S&P suffered its first quarterly decline since the depths of the pandemic in Q1 of 2020 (-5.0%). Growth (-8.6%) meaningfully lagged value (-0.6%). The biggest development in Q1 was the dramatic repricing of the Fed rate hike path and expectations for an earlier start to and more aggressive balance sheet runoff phase. Late in the quarter, markets priced in a ~80% probability of a 50bp rate hike in May and ~200 bp in cumulative hikes by the end of 2022 following the 25 bp liftoff at the Ma… View More
Stocks finished higher again last week (S&P 500 +1.8%). The biggest story discussed was the hawkish Fed policy shift (lots of discussion around 50bp Fed hikes), pushing bonds lower and stocks higher. Earnings discussions were generally upbeat. Best sectors were energy (+7.4%) and materials (+4.1%); worst sectors were healthcare (-0.2%) and REITs (+0.4%). SOME PERSPECTIVE ON FOSSIL FUELS With the standard of living we enjoy in the U.S., it may be difficult to imagine that there are currentl… View More
Rumors of War Negotiations, Lower Oil Prices, and Predictable Fed Lift Stocks U.S. stocks had their best week since November 2020, with the S&P 500 +6.2%. Oil fell for the second week in a row. The themes cited included oversold conditions, depressed sentiment, cooling commodities, overstated recession fears, and China’s statements about market support. The best sectors were consumer discretionary (+9.3%), technology (+7.9%), and financials (+7.1%); the only sector closing down was energy… View More