While I remain confident that the U.S. equity market will eventually outperform in 2021 there will almost certainly be a greater degree of volatility in the second half of the year. With the double-edge sword that is vaccinations and the Delta Covid variant, economic restrictions are likely to lead to a slowdown in global growth.
Anybody who was surprised that the Federal Reserve Board decided to raise its benchmark interest rate this week probably wasn't paying attention. The U.S. economy is humming along, the stock market is booming and the unemployment rate has fallen faster than anybody expected. The incoming administration has promised lower taxes and a stimulative $550 billion infrastructure investment. The question on the minds of most observers is: what were they waiting for?
