Each year we like to check out our friend Bob Doll's annual predictions. He is right more than wrong, but last year's markets left Bob's predictions with an unusually mixed bag. Let’s see what Bob thinks is in store for 2024: The main focal point for 2024 will likely be whether or not investors can enjoy a Goldilocks environment; namely, further significant progress on inflation, decent economic growth, and double-digit earnings growth ...​ Source: Bob Doll Crossmark Investments … View More
Across Wall Street, on equities desks and bond desks, at giant firms and niche outfits, the mood was glum. It was the end of 2022 and everyone, it seemed, was game planning for the recession they were convinced was coming. Over at Morgan Stanley, Mike Wilson, the bearish stock strategist who was rapidly becoming a market darling, was predicting the S&P 500 Index was about to tumble. A few blocks away at Bank of America, Meghan Swiber and her colleagues were telling clients to prepare for a … View More
With the ever-growing popularity of online shopping and online communications, you should always have your guard up in the cyberworld. Criminals will use any situation to their advantage–especially when it comes to annual holidays. Below you’ll find a few examples of commonly used seasonal and holiday scams, and what you can do to protect yourself. Fake Shipping Notifications End of the year holidays invite a greater likelihood of this common phishing attack, but this is a scam you must … View More
2023 certainly was a challenging year for investors. Multiple expansion despite flattish earnings confounded most investors even as a much-anticipated recession did not materialize. Investors enjoyed falling long-term interest rates in the back part of the year, even as the Fed raised rates multiple times reaching the 5 ¼% level. Equity concentration accelerated with the Magnificent 7 far outpacing the average stock. Volatility levels were low most all year, especially for stocks. By year’s e… View More
The Federal Reserve declared victory today, projecting a soft landing as its base case in the years ahead, with more cuts in short-term rates, and with inflation gradually getting back to its 2.0% goal without a recession. Unfortunately, we think the Fed is declaring mission accomplished too early. The Fed didn’t change short-term interest rates today, nor did it alter the pace of Quantitative Tightening, but it made major changes to its projections for short-term interest rates. Not one poli… View More