January 20, 2020 | Newsletters
A. Fourth Quarter Global Review
Wow, what a difference twelve months makes! While 2018 was the first year since the financial crisis to see equity markets drop in value, 2019 finished with one of the best advances in stock market prices in the last 25 years! As you might recollect, the mood a year ago was quite bleak. First, there was angst that the trade talks between the US and China, as well as other regions in the world, would lead to a sharp drop in economic activity. Second, the Federal Reserve (Fed) had begun its long anticipated reversal of easy monetary policies put in place during the financial crisis in 2008-2009! Interest rates were actually being boosted for the first time in ten years. On top of rising interest rates the Fed had started to pull some of that printed dollars out of the economy for the first time since the financial crisis! Lastly, there was a high degree of skepticism concerning the sustainability of global growth.
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