Income Insights

Leland Abrams, who serves as Chief Investment Officer for the investment manager Wynkoop LLC and a portfolio manager of a fixed income strategy at...

A stubbornly hot economy drove a large upward move in interest rates that took a bite out of the securities markets in September.

As we bid farewell to the third quarter of 2023, it’s time to reflect on the market’s performance and prepare for what lies ahead in the final stretch of the year.

The Nasdaq 5HANDL Index was up 7.3% through the end of August, versus returns of 8.3% and 10.8% for the Nasdaq 7 HANDL Index and Nasdaq 10 HANDL Index, respectively.

Equity categories that make up the Nasdaq Dorsey Wright Explore portion of HANDLS Indexes generally outperformed the fixed-income categories, with MLPs leading the way with a 6.4% return for the month.

Today's much anticipated release of economic data including the Employment Cost Index (ECI) and the Fed's preferred inflation measure, the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) all painted the picture of a goldilocks scenario.  Inflation is abating, wages and labor market conditions are cooling, while the economy continues to grow, and spending remains resilient.

Markets were a mixed bag in June. Optimism about the Federal Reserve ending or at least slowing its rate-rising program pushed up the equity markets, with the Large Cap Core Equity category delivering a 6.4% return for the month. Nevertheless, inflation remained persistent, albeit at a lower annualized rate, and the Core Fixed Income category responded with a -0.3% return in June.

Markets were a mixed bag in June. Optimism about the Federal Reserve ending or at least slowing its rate-rising program pushed up the equity markets, with the Large Cap Core Equity category delivering a 6.4% return for the month. Nevertheless, inflation remained persistent, albeit at a lower annualized rate, and the Core Fixed Income category responded with a -0.3% return in June.