November 8, 2021 Financial Perspectives

You know the old saying, “What goes up must come down.” How is it that currently everything seems to be going up at the same time? Signs of inflation like oil prices, labor prices, trade deficits. And yet markets are going up with stocks at all-time highs. Bond prices are rising this week when often, bond prices move inversely to stock prices. Government spending is certainly going up, consumer spending is going up and tax rates seem to be poised to rise as well. What do all these upwards mean for investors?

January 25, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Four years ago, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States and small company stocks went up over 20% in three months post-election. In the three months since Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, small company stocks are up over 30%. Do small company stock investors just like new Presidents?

Is the Stock Market a Glass Half Full?

The month of January was marked by negative returns for global stock markets. But, as the well-worn phrase, “Is your glass half full or half empty?” implies, our view of, or the way we feel about the state of markets as investors, may be more related to our personal dispositions than what the numbers indicate.

November 23, 2020 Financial Perspectives

1:13 - In the News: COVID-19 Cases, Employment Recovery
2:36 – Elections through Inaugurations
3:15 – Equity Factors: Comparison of Various Stock Indexes
5:24 – Expectations: Thinking Back to March 23, 2020

A Conversation with Award-Winning Portfolio Manager Mary Ellen Stanek | Financial Perspectives

In this week's special edition of Financial Perspectives, Kent Kramer has a conversation with 2022 Morningstar Outstanding Portfolio Manager award winner, Mary Ellen Stanek, who is managing director and co-chief investment officer of Baird. In this conversation, Kent and Mary Ellen cover everything from market history and trends to surprising interviews.

April 26, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Markets have been reaching some all-time highs recently. US stock markets, foreign stock markets, even newer assets like bitcoin, SPACs, and NFTs have been soaring much of the past six months. At these relatively high values more than a few skeptics are predicting a fall. Some say correction – a temporary minor adjustment; some say crash – major problem ahead. Is there a reason to be acrophobic – fearful about markets at record heights?

Happy New Year? | Financial Perspectives

Market returns for the first three weeks of 2022 have not been full of happy reports. US stocks, especially some of the biggest names and winners of 2020 and 2021 have fallen into what is called “correction” territory. Is inflation and the concern with rising interest rates the whole story?

Meta Does Not Equal Value | Financial Perspectives

The headlines last week included “Faceplant”, and “Metaflop” following Meta’s disappointing earnings and new users numbers. As interesting as the metaverse may be, it turns out investors still want real world results when it comes to their investments.

Q1 Wrap Up: Ukraine, Inflation, Interest Rates | Financial Perspectives

The first quarter of 2022 is in the books and once again, surprising events dominated the news. Russia invading Ukraine and the continued climb in inflation were the focus of attention and for good reason. In this week's Financial Perspectives, we'll take a look at what is happening in markets and the global economy and what investors may want to know.

October 11, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Friction can slow can down any machine. What was humming along only minutes or weeks ago, can labor under the strain of too little oil, a little sand in the gears, you name it. The US economy and markets have been seeing an increase in perceived frictions over the past month. Can we get back to smoother operations?

Thinking About Stock Market Volatility

What caused the stock market to rise by over 20% in the second quarter of 2020 even as the COVID pandemic was out of control? How about the over 11% rise in the fourth quarter of 2021 as inflation ticked up and the Fed was warning of rate increases? It seems a little more obvious why the US stock market has fallen in the first 6 months of 2022, but should it have fallen more…or less?