While we remain optimistic that we avoid a recession in the near-term, sticking a perfect landing seems overly optimistic hence we will keep our newly adopted more defensive stance in place until we see a reason to change in either direction. We want to remain exposed to areas where we see high-growth potential (innovation), on-shoring effects while keeping a watchful eye on a slowing but thus far resilient consumer and rising geopolitical escalations present risks that call for broad diversification and a moderately defensive stance at present. Its always something!

As we move through 2024, the current macroeconomic environment is challenging as we contend with domestic political issues, the larger geopolitical conflicts, and the Fed’s impact with the current rate environment. That being said, the American economy and country has always proven itself to be resilient and we believe that resilience will hold. The upcoming presidential election is sure to be one of the most challenging elections that we’ve ever seen, yet the turmoil that might come about will be limited by the likelihood of a mixed government made up of both parties. Having split control and the resulting necessity of bipartisanship helps suppress extreme ideas that have been discussed in the past such as taxing unrealized capital gains.