The Roundup
Quarter in Review – Q4 2023
As I sit here writing this article at the beginning of the year the same question is blaring on the TV from behind me that was last quarter and, for that fact, all of 2023: will a soft landing be orchestrated, or will we have a recession? The other theme that will ring through 2024, and particularly gained momentum in the last half of the most recent quarter, is the speculation on the number of times that the Fed will cut interest rates, which helped lend a hand to a good November and December this quarter. We ended the last quarter with an ugly equity market in September (the worst quarter of the year and worst month of the year), and that downward momentum continued into the first month of the quarter (October), before the so-called “Santa Clause Rally” kicked in, which really was a result of the themes mentioned above (further speculation of a soft landing and optimism of several rate cuts coming in 2024).
