Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

Check out the accompanying pdf and chart collection. Executive Summary: We’ll be glad to put this year behind us—pessimism reigned as inflation raged, the Fed tightened, and investors revalued stocks downward. But the resultant bear market was a mild one as bear markets go. If it ended on October 12, as we believe, the S&P 500 actually was in bear-market territory—down more than 20%—for only 45 days of the 282-day span. … Next year, the economic backdrop should be more bullish as inflation moderates and rising wages outpace rising prices. We expect a soft landing, not a recession. … Longer term, we stand by our “Roaring 2020s” thesis, anticipating that labor shortages and technological advances will unleash a productivity boom.