Everything Is Getting Worse. So Buy Stocks, Obviously
Fund managers are losing confidence in prospects for the economy and inflation, yet still see equities outperforming.
There is no alternative.
Photographer: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Gently, but steadily, economic expectations are coming down. It may be an overreaction to the wave of Covid-19 caused by the delta variant, or it may be a response to incoming data, or it could reflect dampening hopes for an expansive new fiscal policy in the U.S. as the standing of President Biden also dampens. But for whatever reason, hopes for a big new “reflation” or even a post-Covid “reopening” have dwindled.
One thing remains unchanged by this, however. The great majority of investors are still convinced that there is no alternative to stocks. Even with drabber economic growth in prospect, which should help fixed-income more than equities, the overwhelming consensus still calls for stocks to outperform bonds.