How fast the world can change. Not long ago, in a world of extremely low and even negative interest rates around the globe, stocks flourished as investors claimed “there is no alternative” (the “TINA” acronym) to equities. Investors justified large equity overweights and applauded higher profits but ignored ever increasing valuations as stocks rose much more rapidly than those profits. It worked well. The Federal Reserve (“Fed”) funds rate started 2019 at 2.50% and ended 2021 at 0.25%. Stock prices as measured by the S&P 500 Index rose 100% during those three years.

Click here to read entire piece.