Keep Your Eye on the Big Picture

Last week, there was nothing too surprising in economic and financial news. 

Inflation eased, as expected, although it remained above the Federal Reserve (Fed)’s target rate. The Treasury yield curve remained inverted with three-month Treasury bills yielding more than 10-year Treasury notes, as they have been since November 2022. Also, we may be nearing an end to rate hikes around the world. Bloomberg News reported:

“With the first signs of dents in economic growth now visible, and fallout from financial-market tensions lingering, any pause by the Federal Reserve after at least one more increase in May could cement a turn in what has been the most aggressive global tightening cycle in decades.”

Recession predictions for the United States continue to be prominent and varied, ranging from no recession to mild recession to deep recession over the next three to 18 months, reported Rafael Nam and Greg Rosalsky of NPR. 

Minutes from the Fed’s March meeting were released last week, and they show that Federal Open Market Committee members think tightening credit conditions could result in a mild recession later this year with recovery following in 2024 and 2025.  

While the idea of an economic downturn can be unnerving, recessions are part of every economic cycle. In times of uncertainty, it can help to step back and look at the big picture: the United States is quite remarkable.

“Nearly four-fifths of Americans tell pollsters that their children will be worse off than they are. In fact, America has sustained its decades-long record as the world’s richest, most productive and most innovative big economy. Indeed, it is leaving its peers ever further in the dust…American firms own more than a fifth of patents registered abroad, more than China and Germany put together,” noted Zanny Minton Beddoes of The Economist.

Economic and market uncertainty persists in the United States and elsewhere. We may experience a recession this year. We may not. Either way, it’s important to keep the big picture in mind. Recessions are one part of the economic cycle – expansions are another. 

Last week, major U.S. stock indices finished ­­­­­­higher, reported ­­­­­Nicholas Jasinski of Barron’s. In the Treasury market, yields on many maturities moved higher over the week. 

S&P 500, Dow Jones Global ex-US, Gold, Bloomberg Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods. 

Sources: Yahoo! Finance; MarketWatch; djindexes.com; U.S. Treasury; London Bullion Market Association.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. N/A means not applicable.

Woolly Mammoth Meatballs, Anyone?

In late March, the Nemo Science Museum in Amsterdam unveiled a remarkable exhibit, featuring a prehistoric alternative to beef, reported Helen Chandler-Wilde of Bloomberg. The not-for-consumption, lab-cultured display featured:

“…a cantaloupe-size globe of overcooked meat perspiring under a bell jar. This was no ordinary spaghetti topper: It was a woolly-mammoth meatball, created by an Australian lab-grown-meat company...using real mammoth DNA,” reported Yasmin Tayag of The Atlantic.

The meatball was made by combining genetic material found in mammoths with elephant DNA, reported Bloomberg. It’s not the first time a food product has been made from a long-extinct species. In 2018, a company produced mastodon gummy bears using gelatin made with mastodon DNA.

The mammoth meatball is intended to draw attention to cultured meat. That’s the most palatable marketing term for cellular protein farming. The meat “is grown in anything from a test tube to a stainless-steel bioreactor. The process is borrowed from research into regenerative medicine, and in fact [Professor] Mark Post of Maastricht University, who cultured the world’s first burger in 2013, was previously working on repairing human heart tissue,” reported Amy Fleming of BBC Science Focus Magazine.

Cultured chicken is already being served in Singapore, and the company that produces it has applied for approval in the United States.

It’s unclear whether cultivating meat in labs will be more environmentally friendly than traditional farming, but it’s a growing segment of the biotechnology industry.

Weekly Focus – Think About It 

“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”

- Thomas Jefferson, founding father

Best regards,

Jess, Scott, & Andrew Peterson

P.S.  Please feel free to forward this commentary to family, friends or colleagues. 

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* Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance.

* Economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.

* Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.

* The foregoing information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee it is accurate or complete. 

* There is no guarantee a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk.

* Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.

* Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.

* International investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and political instability and may not be suitable for all investors. These risks are often heightened for investments in emerging markets.

* All indexes referenced are unmanaged. The volatility of indexes could be materially different from that of a client’s portfolio. Unmanaged index returns do not reflect fees, expenses, or sales charges. Index performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment. You cannot invest directly in an index. Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.

* Government bonds and Treasury Bills are guaranteed by the U.S. government as to the timely payment of principal and interest and, if held to maturity, offer a fixed rate of return and fixed principal value. However, the value of the fund shares is not guaranteed and will fluctuate. 

* Corporate bonds are considered higher risk than government bonds but normally offer a higher yield and are subject to market, interest rate, and credit risk as well as additional risks based on the quality of issuer coupon rate, price, yield, maturity, and redemption features.

* The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. You cannot invest directly in this index.

* The Dow Jones Global ex-U.S. Index covers approximately 95% of the market capitalization of the 45 developed and emerging countries included in the index.

* The 10-year Treasury Note represents debt owed by the United States Treasury to the public. Since the U.S. Government is seen as a risk-free borrower, investors use the 10-year Treasury note as a benchmark for the long-term bond market. 

* Gold represents the afternoon gold price as reported by the London Bullion Market Association. The gold price is set twice daily by the London Gold Fixing Company at 10:30 and 15:00 and is expressed in U.S. dollars per fine troy ounce.

* The Bloomberg Commodity Index is designed to be a highly liquid and diversified benchmark for the commodity futures market. The Index is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical commodities and was launched on July 14, 1998.

* The DJ Equity All REIT Total Return Index measures the total return performance of the equity subcategory of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry as calculated by Dow Jones.

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), commonly known as “The Dow,” is an index representing 30 stocks of companies maintained and reviewed by the editors of The Wall Street Journal.

* The NASDAQ Composite is an unmanaged index of securities traded on the NASDAQ system.

* Yahoo! Finance is the source for any reference to the performance of an index between two specific periods. 

*The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors. It consists of a diffusion index that summarizes whether market conditions, as viewed by purchasing managers, are expanding, staying the same, or contracting.

Sources:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm 

https://home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/TextView?type=daily_treasury_yield_curve&field_tdr_date_value_month=202304 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-09/end-may-be-in-sight-for-global-rate-hike-cycle-as-fed-nears-peak (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2023/04-17-23_Bloomberg_End%20May%20Be%20In%20Sight%20for%20Global%20Rate-Hike%20Cycle_3.pdf) 

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/24/1150319679/recession-slowdown-inflation-interest-rates-jobs-employment-economy 

https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomcminutes20230322.htm 

https://view.e.economist.com/?qs=945bdf0fef48265431723f8e67a3bac4cc6ba8a11ea6c83eae540fb660de54a2e234d27f2f6d212e27090a5bb3dcbf42ddc5d1108092a006a4946b60f29207d5de2d32ef670336e44020ad0567abff5c (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2023/04-17-23_Economist_The%20Economist%20This%20Week_6.pdf) 

https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-needs-solid-bank-earnings-to-keep-rallying-so-far-so-good-47ae4d3e?refsec=the-trader&mod=topics_the-trader (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2023/04-17-23_Barrons_As%20Bank%20Earnings%20Go%2c%20So%20Does%20Stock%20Market_7.pdf) 

https://home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/TextView?type=daily_treasury_yield_curve&field_tdr_date_value_month=202304 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-28/woolly-mammoth-meatball-created-by-lab-grown-meat-company-vow-foods?srnd=pursuits-vp (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2023/04-17-23_Bloomberg_Wholly%20Mammoth%20Meatball%20Created%20by%20Lab%20Food%20Tech%20Co_9.pdf) 

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/03/woolly-mammoth-meatball-stunt-food-marketing/673578/ 

https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/what-is-lab-grown-meat-a-scientist-explains-the-taste-production-and-safety-of-artificial-foods/