Why Have Yields Risen Since the Fed Cut Rates?

In the latest LPL Market Signals podcast, LPL strategists explain why yields and stocks continued higher last week and preview third quarter earnings season.

Last Edited by: LPL Research

Last Updated: October 22, 2024

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Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Hello everyone and welcome to LPL Market Signals. Jeff Buchbinder here, your host for this week, with my friend and colleague Lawrence Gillum. Lawrence, the bond market's been quite interesting these days with yields going up, so I'm hoping you are going to explain to me why that's happening after the fed cut rates. And you know, I guess there's really nothing election related yet to push yields up. So you're going to help us explain that, right?

Lawrence Gillum:

I will do my best. It's been an interesting couple of of weeks post-Fed meeting. But remember, as a bond market guy, I don't like interesting. I'm more of the boring sort, so, but I think I have some answers for you.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Very good. Well, I look forward to those. If the bond content is not interesting enough, then we will have to try to spice things up with some discussions of earning season. Those are our two main topics today. Here's your agenda. You know, start of course, with a recap of last week where stocks went up, again. Actually bonds went up a little bit too. Then we'll talk about earning season, more about the outlook for the quarter and next year than an update on what we've already heard so far, which is not much. But certainly earning season, a big story this week. Next we'll hear from Lawrence and how he would explain this latest move up in yields, which my guess is some of you did not expect. Maybe many of you did not expect. And then we'll finish it up with the week ahead

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

where I'm calling it, less is more. Less economic data, more earnings. So let's get to it here. Starting off with the recap. First, you got to start with the fact that we are up six straight weeks, not just for the S&P, but for the Dow the Nasdaq as well. If you ask yourself why, I would argue that the primary reason is the soft landing narrative is really gaining steam. Some might argue that the slight increase in the odds of a Republican sweep or helping stocks because the market might be pricing in a greater chance of more tax cuts. Certainly hard to prove that, but that may be a little bit of this too. And then before the move in yields today, at least yields were pretty stable last week. So those were the things I'd highlight. S&P 500 up almost 1%. The the leadership certainly had technology kind of hanging in there, doing okay, in line. But the interest rate sensitives led the way, which is a little bit surprising. I think real estate, up three. Utilities, up three and a half roughly. Some of that is AI related because utilities are getting a lift from AI power demand.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

I think probably the anticipation of more rate cuts and at least stability in yields last week possibly at play there. It does not appear that this is a market move toward defensives to protect. I mean, that might be some of it, but the economy's just doing too well. Retail sales last week were very strong. That was the latest piece of evidence that this economy is going along just fine. So moving on. So Lawrence, the bond market. I mean, I said it was up, it's not at much, 0.1%. What worked and what didn't last week?

Lawrence Gillum:

Yeah, so it was a muted week. I'll say last week, AG up about 10 basis points. Remember it was a holiday shortened week, so only four days there to perform. After the Columbus Day, indigenous people holiday on Monday. But we did see kind of flattish yields, I'll say over the course of the past week. Treasury's up about 10 basis points. Mortgage is underperformed by about 10 basis points there as well. That's an area that we continue to like, to think valuations are attractive. The, you know, the repricing last week in yields maybe offset some of the the good news in the mortgage market with regard to valuations. But we still think that that's an attractive asset class. What worked last week was credit and high yield credit, in particular up 40 basis points.

Lawrence Gillum:

High yield munis up 30 basis points quietly up over 18% over the past 12 months for muni high yield bonds. Lastly, preferred up four base or 40 basis points up 23% over the past 12 months. Regular listeners know that we recently downgraded our view on preferred slightly given valuations. We think preferreds are still attractive, not as attractive as they were about a year ago, given the 23% returns out of that market. But we still think there's a lot of value in that market. But as you mentioned, kind of a muted week last week. This week is not starting out great given the backup and yields that we've seen, which we'll talk more about over the over the next 30 minutes or so. But it was a, I'll call it an okay week, given what we're about to talk about a little teaser there for the fixed income segment.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Yeah, I think commodities were really interesting last week because look at the natural gas drop almost 10%. Crude oil down a little over six. The reason for that it seems was, you know, the news that Israel was not going to strike Iran's oil producing assets. That could still happen, but certainly it appears unlikely. At this point, we're still seeing escalation, no doubt in the fighting over there. But it looks like it's more likely than not that the oil production will continue largely unaffected. The other thing that's interesting in the commodity space is precious metals. I mean, look at the move in silver last week, up 8%. Gold up almost three. Gold is at a new all-time high. That might be partly geopolitical, might be partly related to, you know, the market saying that rates will come down eventually. The dollar will come down eventually.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

I think that's mostly consensus, but it just hasn't happened yet. So we'll call it a pretty resilient performance for precious metals, despite the fact that the dollar really isn't helping. And at least in the last few weeks, I don't think rates have been helping either. You see here in the bottom right hand panel, the dollar up 0.2% for the five day. It's actually, you know, been up over the last month, even though it's not obvious based on the timeframes that are showing here. So that's certainly a key area to watch. You know, a stronger dollar, market sees it as a safe haven, and if it's strong enough, it can affect earnings negatively, and it can also tighten financial conditions. As Lawrence, you certainly know all too well. So the S&P just keeps going up.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

You know, the LPL Research team is sticking with the neutral stance on equities, and it's really mostly about technical analysis because valuations are high. I mean, the fundamentals are certainly supportive in general, but you could argue that election uncertainty and geopolitics may be offset the strength in the economy and in earnings, and maybe you give fundamentals kind of a neutral score. So it really just comes down to technical as the momentum of this market is so strong, it's not even overbought yet. The RSI 14 relative strength index on a 14 day trailing basis is not yet over 70. And that is the trigger when an index becomes overbought. We're not even there yet. I think the 10 year yield is overbought. That's certainly a little bit of a different story. And we're also not seeing the components all that overbought either.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

You see that on the bottom panel in red. That red line up to 14% is nowhere near some of the highs of the past year. So you have an index that's not quite overbought, and you have a lot of constituents that are not yet overbought. So we think there's probably a little bit more upside from a technical perspective. Let's turn to earnings now. This is the topic of our Weekly Market Commentary for this week. I think the headline is expectations but the bar is low, right, for Q3. And the growth rate won't be very good in Q3, but expectations are for a really nice acceleration in Q4 and beyond. Those expectations might be too high, but we still think we're going to get a pretty nice earnings acceleration over the next year. And this is really an important piece of the bull case, right?

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

This market's doing very, very well. The economy we know is doing very well, certainly better than most people expected. You add on top of that, the potential for double-digit earnings growth over the next year. And there could even be a little bit more upside to stocks. Not necessarily our base case. We still think this market is maybe worth something around 5,500 on the S&P, even though we're already over 5,800 right now. But if this market's going to keep going, it's going to be earnings driven. These expectations are too high, but analysts expectations are pretty much always too high. So that in and of itself, if estimates come down, is not a reason for concern. This is the first quarter where we're really seeing the gap close between the Mag Seven earnings growth and the rest of the market.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

It's still fairly wide. You know, we're still talking about roughly 20% earnings growth for the Mag Seven and marginal earnings growth for the rest of the market. But at least we've gotten closer. And then over the next several quarters, we'll probably get a little bit closer and, you know, we'll see double digit earnings growth out of the rest of the market while the Mag Seven potentially continues to grow in the, call it mid- to high-teens. So that that narrowing gap between Mag Seven and the rest of the market should help support value, and it should help the equal weight S&P 500 do better relative to the market cap. So that's something that we continue to watch. The operating margins are about to take a nice uptick. Now, here, again, just like with earnings estimates, we think margin estimates are probably too high. But you look in this chart, the arrow really starts going up in the first half of 2024.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

We'll hopefully see these numbers actually come through. Now they're just estimates, but companies are actually in pretty good shape. They're controlling costs well. As inflation comes down, you're actually seeing the consumer price index rise faster than the producer price index, wholesale prices. And that widening gap, it's kind of minimal, but that widening gap is helping support margins and, you know, we expect 'em to go higher, just maybe not quite as high as these consensus estimates reflect. And then lastly, and then I'll hand it over to you, Lawrence, for any thoughts you have on earnings. It's certainly supporting corporate credit because balance sheets are in such good shape and companies are growing earnings nicely. Here are the estimates. The key number to watch is that 2.75 for consensus 2025. If that only goes down a buck or two, that's a win. Stocks should do well.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

If that goes down $5 or more, then the market might have a little bit of a tough time justifying current valuations. We're at 22 times forward earnings. So you really need those earnings to come through to support these these valuations. Now, the fact that stocks have been expensive for the past several years hasn't mattered, right? We're up something like 63% in this bull market, little over two years old. At some point it'll matter. And you know, it's up to earnings to maybe delay that, I hate to call it a reckoning because that's a little too strong, but delay that pullback in the market that really, you know, tells investors that we've got a little bit over our skis. What do you think, Lawrence?

Lawrence Gillum:

No, I think you're absolutely right. I was going to mention spreads as well, and we talked about corporate credit doing well this year. And certainly the better economic conditions are helping keep corporate spreads tight. But the earning season is also allowing these credit spreads to remain tight. What's been interesting is that you really haven't seen any sort of big widening of spreads at the individual bond level either. Even if a company misses earnings expectations, and you know, it is been one of those things where there's such demand for corporate credit. I would even argue that even if earning season doesn't end up well, you're likely going to continue to see tight spreads. So I think there's just that much demand, but certainly the earnings environment is helping justify spreads at secularly tight levels as they are currently.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Yeah, really the only weak spot in earnings right now is the energy sector. So it's possible that you would see a little bit of wider spreads maybe in the lower market cap energy names. I mean, other than that, it's pretty broad. Well, Boeing, too. Boeing by itself is potentially going to be a near a one point drag on S&P 500 earnings, but outside of that, even industrials are probably going to grow earnings, and that's one of the slowest growers right now. We still like that sector and it's doing quite well, but you're not seeing the earnings growth quite come through in Q3. It'd probably come start coming through in Q4. So any thoughts on energy or potential risks from Boeing?

Lawrence Gillum:

Well, yeah, Boeing has been a laggard in the fixed income markets. There's been a lot of talk about Boeing getting downgraded. It's not so we have, you know, a corporate credit focus list. It's not on that list, thankfully which it wouldn't be on there anyway given our quality screens. But yeah, that's, that's that's a name to certainly avoid in the fixed income markets. Energy, I mean, spreads haven't really done much there. You know, other than stay secularly tight as well as the rest of the corporate credit universe. So like I said, I think we, you know, talk about corporate credit spreads leading as a leading indicator. Spreads are tight and they're, you know, at levels which would suggest that everything is hunky dory in the world. And, and maybe that's, you know, a bit too optimistic on the corporate credit side, but you know, it's not flashing any sort of red, you know, warning signals or any sort of red flags at this point. So we'll keep watching, but I mean, the corporate credit markets are surprisingly and extremely resilient despite everything that's going on in the world right now.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, because you can understand why, you know, Israel attacks, Hezbollah attacks, Hamas attacks, all of that, you can understand why that wouldn't affect corporate profits in the U.S. Actually, it helps corporate profits, right? Because it helps energy companies maybe make a little more on selling oil. And then it also supports defense spending. So that's not really an earnings driver, which is important to keep in mind. But what is an earnings driver is the energy sector, you know, losing, let's call it 70% of its earnings year over year. That if that's not affecting credit markets, then that really underscores the resilience of S&P 500 profits. So, good earnings picture, again. We're not going to have a great headline earnings growth number. The consensus is around three. So maybe you get to five, maybe six, something like that ex bowing anyway.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

That's a deceleration. It's really a lot of comparisons from the prior year, kind of creating that tougher base to grow off of this quarter. So don't think about this as a 3% earnings growth environment. Think of it as, you know, high single digits, maybe low double digits. We're going to get right back to that it appears in Q4. So that's kind of a high level take on what to expect for earning season. We are going to get 112 S&P 500 companies this week. So it's a very busy week. The banks got us off to a good start. We got some pretty good commentary around net interest margins, which is a key element of bank profits. The difference between borrowing costs and lending revenue, essentially. And then capital markets actually were pretty good.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

You know, things like bond underwriting, Lawrence, your world. Even general investment banking and equity trading were a little better, I think, than the market expected. And you ended up with a pretty good start. I think the average upside surprise for banks was 6%. That's really most of what we've gotten so far. So it'll be interesting to see what we get this week as we broaden out. So let's turn to bond market. Lawrence. you know, here, you kind of answer the question we teed up at the front, which is why are yields going up, right? The Fed just cut 50 basis points. They're going to cut more. Inflation's coming down, and yet rates go up. I think, here's your answer right here on the title slide.

Lawrence Gillum:

Yeah, I've done a couple advisor events here in the past couple weeks, client events in the past couple weeks. And I would say that the question that is routinely asked is that very question about why are treasury yields higher after the fed cut rates? And if you look at this chart here, this is a chart of the 10-year treasury yield. If you look around that September time period that the, the low actually happened on September 16th. So the Fed cut rates 50 basis points two days later, and yields are about, call it a half a percent higher since those September 16 lows. So it has been a bit perplexing, you know, after enduring one of the worst or actually the worst calendar year for fixed income back in 2022 given the rate hiking cycle that took place back then, investors thought perhaps that that rate cutting cycle would be an easy one, and a positive one for fixed income investors.

Lawrence Gillum:

It hasn't happened yet, and the reason why it hasn't happened yet if you want to go to the next slide, is it's just that, we've seen better economic data than what economists and what markets were expecting. So this is kind of a messy chart here, but the blue line represents the Bloomberg U.S. economic surprise index. That takes into consideration things that are impactful to economic growth. You have payrolls, you have retail sales, you have a lot of kind of growth metrics in there. And since around the, you know, August timeframe that economic data has been coming in better than what economists had expected. Now, you could interpret this as saying that, you know, economists have been wrong or the economy has been better than expected. Probably some of both given the difficulty in trying to read this economy.

Lawrence Gillum:

But nonetheless, the economic data has been coming in better. If you look at the last jobs report we got back in when was that? It was last month with over 250,000 jobs were created significantly outpacing expectations. Jeff, you mentioned retail sales too coming in better than expected last week. So the trajectory has been an economy that seems to be kind of, I mean, I hate to say expected again, but better than expected. So in that environment, Treasury yields tend to trend higher and that's exactly what we've seen. And the reason why Treasury yields are trending higher is because, the next slide, it will show you that we continue to get rate cut rate cut expectations priced out. So if you think about what markets were expecting in terms of rate cuts markets had a pretty aggressive rate cutting cycle priced in already even before the meeting. Markets were expecting the Fed to cut rates eight times before the Fed even cut rates once so markets were trying to front run the Fed once again.

Lawrence Gillum:

And that's that blue line there. Markets had a 2.87% kind of neutral rates. And there's a neutral rate. Remember, that's an interest rate, that's neither accommodative nor restrictive. It's just the rate that doesn't influence economic activity. But markets were thinking that the Fed was going to take that fed funds rate from 5.5% down to around 2.87% this rate cutting cycle. Whereas, that better economic data has pushed that terminal rate higher, it's around 3.4% now. So that has in turn pushed Treasury yields higher as well. So really what the market is saying is that given the better economic data, there isn't as much need for an aggressive rate cutting cycle at this point. Now, that can change if we get softer data, particularly softer labor market data. But as we sit here today on October 21, it's the economy seems to be in pretty good position.

Lawrence Gillum:

And you know, absent any sort of economic slowdown, we tend to get higher treasury yields, you know, in an environment that continues to perform well. So that's really been the reason. You could also argue though, that, as you mentioned earlier too, Jeff, that the prospects of perhaps a red wave or a Republican sweep in the election could start to matter a bit more. I was actually talking to media today about this, that the Treasury Department released its 2024 fiscal year information. Budget deficits were 1.8 trillion. The expectation is those budget deficits are going to continue to grow regardless of who wins the presidency. But if you do have a sweep, either a Democratic sweep or Republican sweep, meaning, you know, either party controls the White House as well as both chambers of Congress, that means, you know, spending will likely continue unabated, which means higher deficits, which means higher Treasury issuance.

Lawrence Gillum:

So we're going to write about this tomorrow, but that Treasury term premium, which is you know, it's a theoretical construct, but it kind of tries to price in the expected or the required compensation for owning longer maturity securities that has started to trend higher. It's positive now. So, you know, investors may start demanding more compensation for owning longer maturity securities, and with the amount of Treasury debt coming into market over the next decade or so you know, we could continue to see those that term premium pushed higher. But bottom line is better economic data, more government spending, more Treasury issuance. You know, it's been a rough place to be invested right now, and particularly in the long end of the Treasury curve given all the things we just talked about. But yeah, it's not gone according to history, right? So normally when the Fed starts cutting rates, Treasury yields fall as well, but that has not been the case this year.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Yeah. I also understand that rates tend to move higher post-election. So, you know, as we say with every study we do around the election, there's small sample size. But I wonder if a little bit of this move is not just related to you know, prospects for Trump to win and for deficit spending, but just for prospects for the election to potentially be over. And the market may be front running the clarity that comes regardless of who wins after November 5.

Lawrence Gillum:

Yeah, during our so we released that election piece not too long ago. And, you know, the bond market does provide a safe haven space in terms of that policy uncertainty. So we do tend to see yields fall bonds particularly high quality bonds do well in an environment where you know, policy uncertainty is high. I guess as you know the election gets closer, there's more certainty with potentially more certainty with the outcome. We have historically seen bond yields move higher in that environment as well. So it's a confluence of events, but you know, it hasn't really been an easy narrative for a lot of investors that kind of went through 2022 and that, you know, aggressive rate hiking campaign and to see yields move higher as the Fed starts to cut rates, I think is a bit perplexing to a lot of individuals out there.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Yeah, I mean, I guess what's clearest is that a solid economy is putting some pressure on yields. We know that for sure some of these other factors, you know, election deficit spending, Fed positioning, you know, over time that that probably won't matter as much as economic growth. And of course, inflation, right? You put those two pieces together and that's going to explain a lot of where where the bond market is. Is that fair?

Lawrence Gillum:

Yeah, it is. And we'll see. I mean, there was a lot of discussion going into that Fed meeting, about 25 basis point cut, 50 basis point cut. I think it's too early to tell if it was an error or not on the behalf of the Fed by cutting 50 basis points and not 25 basis points. We have seen market implied inflation expectations creep higher as well. If that continues, I think you could probably say that that 50 basis point cut may have been an error, but you know, we'll have to see how this plays out. But it was pretty remarkable what was priced into markets right before the Fed meeting. I mean, we've talked about this in our strategic and tactical asset allocation committee meeting. What was priced in the markets this time around was a lot more aggressive than a typical rate cutting cycle would normally be priced in right now. So I think I've told, I think I've mentioned this each time I've been on the podcast, the bond market continues to try to front run Fed activity only to get pushed back when the, you know, economic data continues to come in better than expected.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Yep. Over and over again. At the start of the year, we were at six cuts for this year, and we, you know, might get three, I guess, or four if you count the 50 as two. And maybe the 50 was a mistake, but if they broken it up into two 20 fives and maybe been more hawkish with their language, you know, maybe they would've kept rate cut expectations in check.

Lawrence Gillum:

It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. But the Fed's job is not easy. It's not something that I mean, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't. So you know, that's not a job I would ever want to have as the head of the Federal Reserve because it's really a no-win position.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Yeah. Powell may not want to have it either after he finishes up his current term. So of course he may not be reappointed. We won't get into that right now but that is a fun discussion for another day. So back to the bond market, we we're still sticking with our 3.75 to 4.25 forecast for the 10-year Treasury yield at year end, right, Lawrence?

Lawrence Gillum:

We are. Yep. So we're at around 4.18 right now. So, you know, we got two months left in the year, so I think we are going to really kind of stay in this 3.75, 4.25 range throughout the rest of this year. I mean, we could get above that by a couple basis points or below by a couple basis points, but I kind of think we're around these levels to end the year.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

Yeah, we'll still eventually have an economic slowdown, but there's very little evidence that it's coming anytime soon. So thanks for the thoughts on the bottom market, Lawrence. Let's move to the week ahead, where, as I mentioned, it's over a hundred earnings reports from S&P 500 companies. So that is going to get by far and away the most attention from investors unless something certainly meaningful comes out of the Middle East. There is some economic data on the calendar. You know, the Beige Book I think will be interesting. Again, we're just looking for evidence that this economy is slowing, you know? The job market has slowed a little bit, that last report aside, and you know, you have seen some other pieces of evidence that the U.S. economy slowed a little bit, but really not much. So I don't think you're getting anything dramatic from the Beige Book, just a report of the economic activity from all of the districts across the country.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

It's more of a main street type of report. So, we'll look through that and you know, see what is interesting. But other than that, I mean, claims is always interesting when, you know, you think you're moving more toward a late cycle economy. Plus we have the hurricanes distort those numbers the prior weeks. So we'll be interested in seeing what happens there. Otherwise, I just don't think there's that much interesting. So, Lawrence, how about on your side, anything interesting coming out of the Fed this week, Treasury auctions or any of this data you think worth highlighting?

Lawrence Gillum:

No, it's supposed to be, maybe jinx myself here, but it's supposed to be a quiet week for economic data, for Fed data. No real Treasury auctions to speak of. There's a 20-year auction later this week. But other than that, it really is kind of a quiet week. But I think the point you made earlier too is that the economic data, given the strikes and the hurricane data. It might start to get messy lack of a better term there as we get further along into the, you know, this calendar of economic data. But so we'll have to see how this data comes out and if there's revisions necessary. But other than that, it should be a quiet week. I'm knocking on wood here. I don't know if you can hear me that not, but we'll see.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

I don't hear the knocking, but I'll take your word for it. Certainly, you know, I'm interested to hear what companies have to say about the earnings environment. Tesla's the only Mag Seven this week,. I believe. Boeing will be interesting, certainly given their challenges. And you know, otherwise it's just a variety of kind of blue chip names. You know, your IBMs, your Texas instruments, your Johnson and Johnsons of the world, right? But I think will give us a good picture after you get through a quarter of the companies having reported you really have a good sense for the environment. So this will be an important week. And you know, as we're recording this on Monday we do have a little bit of red on our screens. Hopefully we'll get some good news out of corporate America that can help lift this market.

Jeffrey Buchbinder:

As I said, I think the earnings picture is probably the number one most important thing if this market is going to go higher certainly. Again, you could argue that the potential for more tax cuts under a Trump administration would be important too, but we won't know that, obviously for at least a couple of weeks. So with that, we'll go ahead and close. Thanks so much, Lawrence, for your thoughts on the bond market. I really do find yields interesting, even though I'm an equity guy. It's just a fascinating environment. There are a lot of counter railing forces, and there's a lot of narratives people are trying for, and they don't all fit perfectly, which just makes it interesting telling stories about the market and trying to figure out where it's going to go, and certainly earnings are interesting as well. So thanks everybody for listening to another LPL Market Signals. We appreciate your support. We will see you next time. Have a great week, everybody, and take care.

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In the latest LPL Market Signals podcast, LPL Chief Equity Strategist Jeffrey Buchbinder and Chief Fixed Income Strategist Lawrence Gillum explain why yields and stocks continued higher last week and preview third quarter earnings season.

The S&P 500 rose for the sixth straight week last week on solid economic data including better-than-expected gains in retail sales. Small caps and interest rate sensitive sectors outperformed, while precious metals delivered solid gains amid heightened geopolitical risks.

The strategists then discuss why Treasury yields are higher despite the Fed cutting rates last month. Since the Fed cut rates in September by 0.50%, the 10-year Treasury yield is higher by nearly 0.50% because recent economic data has come in better than expected, reducing the need for the Fed to cut rates aggressively.

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This material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. There is no assurance that the views or strategies discussed are suitable for all investors or will yield positive outcomes. Investing involves risks including possible loss of principal. Any economic forecasts set forth in the podcast may not develop as predicted and are subject to change.

References to markets, asset classes, and sectors generally regarding the corresponding market index. All indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Index performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment and do not reflect fees, expenses, or sales charges. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.

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