Bank Failures and Narrative Whiplash

By Jack Janasiewicz, CFA®



Jack Janasiewicz offers his tactical take on the macroeconomic environment in this podcast recorded on April 6, 2023.
  • Markets are all about narratives – and we saw the narratives come full circle this past month. From hard landing to soft landing to no landing and then back to hard landing – the market has run the gamut.
  • The soft landing narrative was in full force when we suddenly were blindsided by the Silicon Valley Bank saga which ushered in a whole new series of concerns regarding the health and safety of the banking system.
  • The swift response from the Fed, Treasury and FDIC helped to short-circuit the negative feedback loop and bring some much needed calm to the markets – but the Global Financial Crisis is still fresh in many investors’ minds.
  • Impressively, the S&P 500® closed March at a higher level than when the banking woes first began on March 8…
  • And while inflation didn’t get any worse, it remains sticky – so the Federal Reserve’s job is still far from complete – but the balance of risks has shifted again.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. The views and opinions are as of April 6, 2023 and may change based on market and other conditions. This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. There can be no assurance that developments will transpire as forecasted. Actual results may vary. Although Natixis Investment Managers believes the information provided in this material to be reliable, including that from third party sources, it does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of such information.

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