GRNTF - Q1 2024 Macroeconomic Review: Tenacious Inflation's Lingering Impacts
2024-04-02 06:40:00 ET
Summary
- Q1 2024 demonstrated that taming inflation would be a more arduous task than many had hoped.
- The skepticism directed towards EVs and renewable energy in Q1 stems from a misunderstanding of long-term transformational trends.
- Discerning investors can navigate this landscape by grounding their decisions on verifiable data–as opposed to on narrative–and a recognition of the transformational forces at play in the global economy.
The first quarter of 2024 revealed a more-persistent-than-hoped picture of inflation. While showing significant deceleration compared to 2023 peaks, inflation rates remained stubbornly above central bank targets. This defied earlier expectations of a rapid return to price stability, forcing a retrenchment in interest rate expectations. The Federal Reserve, and its global counterparts, signaled that rates will likely stay higher for longer than previously anticipated. Stock markets, with their fixation on immediate, and even incorrect but narrative-promoted results, entered a realm of extreme short-termism. Share prices became increasingly volatile, exhibiting rapid reactions to the smallest shifts in inflation data or monetary policy announcements. The focus on short-term fluctuations often overshadowed longer-term trends during the period; therefore, overlooked potential growth opportunities....
Q1 2024 Macroeconomic Review: Tenacious Inflation's Lingering Impacts