Global financial markets are shrouded in uncertainty, and the risks to the downside remain pronounced. Stocks continue to waver amid a difficult stretch dating back to the end of July. And bond yields continue to spike to levels last seen nearly two decades ago. While it is reasonable that investors may wish to recoil amid the swirling geopolitical and market risks, drawing back and taking in the views across the capital market landscape provides constructive reasons to stay the course.
Economic & Market Report: The Market Impact of War
The world was shaken this past weekend by the sudden and unexpected outbreak of war in Israel. As we continue to watch closely as the geopolitical and humanitarian crisis unfolds, it is also understandable to wonder about the potential impact on capital markets going forward. And history provides a useful guide to our understanding of what to expect from here.
Economic & Market Report: How Low Can You Go?
The period from mid-August to mid-November is a notorious time of year for capital markets. The pithy investment strategy “Sell in May and go away” is based on the idea of avoiding this stretch of time of year in stocks and picking back up after Halloween. And 2023 has been no exception in this regard. While U.S. stocks had a rousing summer through the end of July, the more than two months since have been particularly rough not only for stocks but even more so for bonds. How much lower should we reasonably expect stocks and bonds to go from here?
Q4 Outlook: Stocks & Bonds
It has been an interesting and eventful year so far. Heading into 2023, it was widely expected that the U.S. was headed toward recession and that the equity markets would face continued volatility amid the uncertain economic outlook. But in the nine months since, we’ve seen a resilient U.S. economy that continues to grow at a healthy rate and a U.S. stock market that has advanced by double-digits year to date. Nonetheless, the markets are still not without meaningful risks as evidenced by stock and bond market performance over the last couple of months. As a result, it is worth exploring what we might reasonably expect from capital markets as we move through the final three months of the calendar year.