Category: Quarterly Letter

The Holiday Party Guest List

Though the leaves have only started to change color, holiday party planning is in full swing. And while ample food and drink are necessary inputs for any type of holiday celebration, it’s the guests who ultimately make the party…or break it. In a way, this dynamic isn’t all that different from the markets — at any given time, the prevailing economic and market conditions will dictate investor returns. Given this analogy, we thought it could be fun to take a survey of the “attendees” in the current market environment and see if we can draw a connection with real-life examples along with what each guest means to the success of the party…and investor. Oh, and one caveat as we go — similar to actual party planning, sometimes we don’t want to invite someone, but we have to invite this person; circling back to the financial markets, we can’t control what forces exist in the markets, but we will do our best to determine those that will be merry and those that will not. Confused? Don’t worry, I am too, but we’ll figure this as we go through the invite list.

Highlights from this edition:

  • The Delta variant’s impact
  • Consumer spending
  • The credit and equity markets
  • The coming Federal Reserve taper
  • Earnings peak for equities
  • Labor market shortages
  • Commodity returns
  • Inflation concerns
  • The Evergrande debt crisis

Read > The Holiday Party Guest List

Watch our Q3 2021 Market Insights Video for an in-depth analysis of the third quarter’s performance by Marquette’s research team.

 

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.

Have Things Been Too Quiet?

Although this is only the second iteration of my quarterly letter series, Marquette has always produced quarterly market narratives in one shape or another. And in almost all cases, it has been relatively straightforward to formulate a narrative that stitches together the primary headlines from the prior three months. But as I sit here today, things seem quiet…too quiet, almost. Of course, it is the first summer after a crippling global pandemic that shuttered the economy and constrained us almost exclusively to our homes for the better part of the year. Summer is in full swing and the images of crowded beaches overlaid with higher prices for airline tickets and hotel stays illustrate that people are getting back to their pre-pandemic lifestyles, both socially and economically. Anecdotally, my email volume slowed over the last quarter as well; whether this is pure coincidence or a function of markets generally behaving in conjunction with economic re-openings and summer vacations remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, the purpose of this letter series is to track the pulse of the financial markets and let our readers know what we’re thinking about (worrying about?) when looking at the overall financial market landscape. Given that objective, the following outlines several market factors that we believe bear monitoring as the remainder of the year plays out.

Highlights from this edition:

  • Market volatility and reversion to the mean
  • COVID-19: new uncertainty with the Delta variant, vaccination progress
  • Interest rate expectations
  • Inflation following a crisis
  • Valuations: signals from the credit and equity markets

Read > Have Things Been Too Quiet?

 

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.

 

One Year Later, What’s Next?

Welcome to our inaugural quarterly client newsletter! As a way of introduction, I am Greg Leonberger, Director of Research here at Marquette. I have had the privilege of meeting many of you over the years, and for those that I have not worked with previously, please accept this virtual introduction; my hope is to meet many more of you in person once in-person meetings resume. As I embark on this newsletter series, the goal each quarter is relatively simple: provide you with our views on capital markets, the economy, emerging risks as well as opportunities, and hopefully stitch in a few anecdotes to make for a more engaging connection with our readers.

Highlights from this edition:

  • One year anniversary of the equity market trough in 2020
  • COVID-19: lingering uncertainty, vaccine progress, economic recovery
  • Equities update: value and small-cap outperformance, valuations, TINA
  • Fixed income: reflation trade and interest rates, spreads
  • Alternatives: opportunities in real estate, hedge funds, and private markets
  • Inflation worries: money supply and commodity prices

Read > One Year Later, What’s Next?

 

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.