2020 was a year full of alarming statistics. One you maybe didn’t hear was that over 10 million new brokerage accounts were opened by first-time investors in just the United States alone! This influx was the result of three things: stimulus checks, a pandemic-induced market selloff, and the elimination of trading commissions at brokerage firms such as Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and Robinhood.
The $1.7 Trillion bipartisan spending bill pushed through by Congress at the end of the year was a kick to the gut for investors who were hoping we’d see inflation abate more quickly. A leading research company, Hedgeye, describes it best saying, “We remain in a new, higher inflation volatility regime brought on by deglobalization, confounding energy policies, war, and a wholesale disregard for fiscal prudence at a time of record government indebtedness.”1
From the June 15 lows, the stock market experienced a relief rally lasting one full month before falling back to re-test its lows of the year by the quarter’s end. These are the moves typically experienced when a market is under duress – often referred to as “bear market rallies” and “bear market selloffs”. Out of this volatility, a noticeable behavioral pattern develops among investors. When markets are fiercely advancing upward, investors catch a case of “FOMO” – the fear of missing out – and they want to be “all in”. Conversely, when markets are fiercely declining in value, investors get panicked and want to run for the exits. These traits only become amplified when these market gyrations occur on a day-to-day basis.
There are a lot of shoes dropping now on the U.S. economy that we have been forecasting in previous newsletters. Inflation is running hot. Economic growth, as measured by GDP, is slowing. Interest rates are climbing. Supply chain bottlenecks still exist. Gas prices remain elevated. Housing demand is cooling. Residential rental rates are climbing. Consumer credit is at an all-time high. Consumer confidence is weakening. You get the point. The list is long.
As expected, it was a very choppy first quarter for the stock market. As we turned the calendar over to 2022, the market gave us that stomach-churning feeling you get when you realize you are at the apex of the rollercoaster climb and now see what’s in front of you. From January 1, it was a swift ride down to a low point in early March before climbing about halfway back up by the end of March.
Happy New Year! It’s only fitting that our quarterly newsletter would be affected by supply chain issues. If you didn’t notice the difference, we can only credit the capabilities of today’s laser printer technology. Unfortunately, ordering official letterhead in late November did not allow for a lengthy enough window to receive a fresh stock by January 1.
