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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">Valuations and Earnings Face-Off
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">The Fed vs. Everybody
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">Down But Not Out
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">“War, What Is It Good For?”
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">Can US Consumers Afford Inflation?
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">Bond Barometers
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">Powell vs. Putin
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">The Good News About Bad News
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">In Soviet Russia
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
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Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist
Sources: JPMorgan, Edward Jones, Bloomberg
">Rising Tensions and Inflation
Friday’s report should reinforce expectations that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of Quantitative Easing at its meeting this next week and potentially raise rates as soon as June 2022. Naturally, some investors fear equity market volatility as the Fed starts to reduce liquidity injections into the system and embarks on a rate-hiking cycle; however, equities historically have held up well during tapering and the start of Fed rate hikes. It is only toward the end of Fed cycles that we tend to get more serious volatility, which is unlikely to be in the next 18 months.
I also think it’s noteworthy that Jerome Powell started his term as Fed Chair in February 2018 and presided over the last cycle of rate hikes including the overtightening and resulting stock market correction during the fourth quarter of 2018. I’m hopeful that lessons were learned.
Omicron
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 first became a news headline and market concern on the day after Thanksgiving and the following week. The S&P 500 saw its worst 2-day performance in over a year and the Volatility Index rose to above 30 for the first time since February. Also, that same week in testimony before Congress, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation was no longer transitory and that the pace of tapering might be accelerated at the Fed’s December meeting. Both contributed to market stress and the risk-off selling mentioned previously.
Thankfully, Omicron-induced pressure has been slightly easing. On Friday, the CDC released a report on the first studied cases in the U.S. and many of the omicron variant infections appear to be mild. They did note that it was a very small sample size (43 cases), it can take several days or weeks before severe symptoms appear in some individuals, and symptoms would be expected to be milder in infected vaccinated people and in those with a previous coronavirus infection.
The CDC report aligns with similar early reports from South Africa. The South African Medical Research Council reported that most hospitalized patients who tested positive did not need supplemental oxygen, few developed pneumonia, few required high-level care, and few were admitted to intensive care. The average length of hospital stays was below 3 days, compared to 8.5 days over the last 18 months.
BioNTech and Pfizer expect to deliver an Omicron-specific vaccine by March 2022. The companies also reported that in laboratory tests, a three-shot regimen (including the booster) may be just as effective in neutralizing the new Omicron variant as their original two-shot regimen was in neutralizing Alpha.
While it seems highly unlikely that we were ever headed back into a lockdown, social distancing restrictions impacting hospitality, leisure, food & beverage, and entertainment industries as well as the availability of workers all have real economic impacts.
Have a great Sunday!
Timothy W. Ellis, Jr., CPA/PFS, CFP®
Senior Investment Strategist, Wealth Strategist