Coldstream Missives QUARTERLY UPDATE CALL

Unlike gains in the S&P 500 in 2023, gains in the first quarter of 2024 were broad based and driven by companies other than the large mega-cap tech companies. Indeed, the equities of two of the Magnificent Seven suffered significant declines in the first quarter of 2024 with Tesla falling 29% and Apple falling 12%. [...]

GDP grew at 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and is predicted to grow by over 2% in the first quarter of 2024. Driven by strong growth and continued optimism about the potential of Artificial Intelligence, the S&P 500 gained 10.56% for the quarter, the best quarterly performance since the first quarter of 2019. [...]

What a difference a year makes.  In 2022, both the equity and fixed income markets suffered significant declines over market participants’ fears that Fed tightening would lead to a recession but not curb inflation.  Contrast this to 2023 when the Fed indicated the tightening cycle was coming to an end, inflation was receding, growth remained [...]