Weekly Market Guide

Review the latest portfolio strategy commentary from Mike Gibbs, managing director of Equity Portfolio and Technical Strategy.

Narrative shift after narrative shift – that is the road ahead. Good economic data and better-than-expected inflationary readings in January led to investor talk of a soft-landing (and even “no-landing”) with a resulting surge higher in equities. Of course, this was then followed by hotter inflation readings in February, pumping the brakes on investor enthusiasm over the past month. Expected Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hikes have moved up significantly over this time frame with the market now implying 67% odds of a 50 basis point (bps) hike at the March 22 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting (and a total of 5 hikes in 2023 to reach a peak rate of 5.6%).

Due to uncertainty and the stakes being so high on inflation, emotional sentiment swings are likely to continue for the market as investors digest the incoming dataflow. The next measures to watch include the February jobs report on March 10, followed by February CPI on March 14. This incoming data will be important for the Fed, and accordingly will be highly influential on market moves. But just as January optimism was unjustified, the current adjustment may be too far in the other direction. In the coming weeks and months, we expect the shifting narrative to continue – and it is why we believe that equities may trade between a potential 3700-4300 range.

In periods of high uncertainty and volatility, it is easy for long-term investors to lose focus and become increasingly short term thinking. But a lot of these market fluctuations are noise for the long-term investor. In fact, some positives can be gained in the recent move. Following Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony this week, higher rate expectations coincided with lower inflation expectations – reflecting Powell’s message that the Fed remains committed to bringing inflation lower (and keeping it there). Accordingly, 5- and 10-year inflation expectations pulled back and sit within the Fed’s targeted 2-2.5% range. This is a big deal for long-term potential values, as equities typically trade at their highest valuations when inflation is in that 2-3% “sweet spot.” Just as the Fed is willing to take some short-term pain for long-term gain, we believe that long-term investors should too.