Hunter Frey is an Analyst at Catalyst Capital Advisors, LLC and Rational Advisors Inc. covering all in-house equity strategies and an insider buying income-oriented strategy at Catalyst Funds. Mr. Frey received a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business with a focus in Spanish from Gardner-Webb University, Godbold School of Business, and is in pursuit of a Master of Business Administration in Economics and Finance from New York University, Stern School of Business.
The second quarter of 2022 continues with intense volatility. Both equity markets and bond markets continue to unravel the complexities of supply constraints, stagflation, hawkish Fed policy (and the velocity of rate hikes), slower domestic and global economic growth, geopolitical headwinds (i.e., the Russia-Ukraine war), the commodity "Supercycle," persistent COVID-19 demand woes (i.e., China lockdowns), and potential Gray Rhino events (spurred by fears of the current environment). Recessionary fears and a flight to safety remain investors' top priorities.
Last week inflation reached its highest level since 1981 (CPI MoM = 8.5%), aligning with the whirlwind of macro, policy, geopolitical, and social uncertainty, putting downside pressure across asset classes throughout 2022.
Even though the term “stagflation” remains an unconfirmed fear for investors as they try and draw parallels to the 1970s, that does not mean that opportunity does not exist. Rather, it is quite the opposite. A proper understanding of the intricacies of stagflation would indicate that gold, soft commodities, floating-rate bonds, short-term corporate bonds, and legacy non-agency RMBS remain the key asset classes that investors should seek to gain exposure to not only mitigate stagflation risk but to generate higher risk-adjusted returns as well.
Volatility has plagued the markets so far in 2022 as steadfast inflation at almost 8% (a 40 year high), geopolitical strife from the Russia-Ukraine war, commodity price appreciation from agricultural products to industrial metals (because of inflationary pricing and geopolitical sanction hurting supply), and the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening agenda (to tame inflation) have been risk-on trades for markets, highlighting macroeconomic uncertainty and projecting a possible slowdown in GDP growth globally.