On February 11, 2020, my guests published a paper titled, "The Next Bear Market" while U.S. stock prices were at all-time highs and climbing daily to new records. At that time, the prospect of a bear market seemed distant. But eight days later, the steepest stock market descent in history began, with the S&P 500 Index falling 34% during a five-week period. We will discuss their new commentary, "Market Euphoria - How long can it last?"
Based upon our model research and decades of experience in managing portfolios, we believe that now is a time to assume a bit more defensive posture towards portfolio allocations as the risk of a material correction...
As we enter March, it seems clear that 2018 is not going to be a repeat of 2017. A combination of factors is causing consternation in the global markets including uncertainty at the Fed, the potential for higher interest rates and inflation, and now the potential for trade wars.
With equity markets in the U.S. hovering around all-time highs and volatility remaining low it is important to remember the words of the Samurai from the movie The Seven Samurai -- just when you think that you are safe, you are most vulnerable.