FMA Market Update – January 2016 Edition
January 31, 2016 | John J. Klobusicky CIO, CFA®, CAIA
The markets can take bad and good news in stride, but they don’t like uncertainty. That is just what we faced in January as the S&P 500 plunged to its worst 10-day calendar-year start in our brief U.S. stock market history—only 3 generations separate us from World War II.
Geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns dominated investor worry, as global equity markets fixated on battered oil prices and China’s slowing economy. Even so, the U.S. economy remains on pretty solid footing with housing starts hitting new highs, firm consumer spending numbers, and solid employment gains. We are watching the manufacturing numbers closely—a weak spot—as well as some deterioration in corporate balance sheets, but overall the economy continues to expand at a modest pace of about 2 to 2.5%. In fact, most of the bank earnings’ calls and transcripts we have read are showing very solid loan growth and credit quality. Read more at the link below.