Apr 18, 2022
Today Phil takes a look back at a particularly difficult first quarter, noting the pain felt across markets and asset classes has left investors with nowhere to hide as both stocks and bonds were down significantly through the period. He then goes on to a brief update on Coronavirus covering increasing case counts in the Northeast and reinstated mandates in certain jurisdictions, though importantly continuing low fatality rates. After putting inflation in context historically and relaying the importance of the housing market and the effect rising mortgage rates could have on aggregate demand and subsequently rising prices, Phil wraps things up by examining the prospect of the Fed engineering a soft landing: will it be different this time around? Is the return to normal for real? And could that mean a potential stock market rally on the back half of the year?