If unemployment rises and corporate margins compress, it could signal a downturn. Things seem to be looking up.
On one end, the Fed is nearing the end of its rate hikes for this cycle, and the economy has not yet fallen off a cliff, he said. Corporate profits have weakened but remain steady, and higher savings and low unemployment have helped consumers buffet inflation, he added. This has pushed more investors to buy rather than sell.
The firm has two fixed-income funds, an aggressive growth equities fund, and a diversified fund known as the Permanent Portfolio that has been around since 1982. The latter is an alternative to the traditional stocks-and-bonds makeup that invests in six broad categories, including stocks and bonds, natural resources, real estate, and cash. It's managed according to the conditions of the economy, central banks, and global events. data.
"And the equity market, by bleeding up, is signaling a 'worst is over,' soft-landing-type of scenario," Cuggino said."I think one of them is going to be wrong, and one of them is going to be right, but we don't have enough data right now to determine which one is which."