2023 Market Outlook
Here we are after a very tough market in 2022, kicking off a new year and heading into a fresh start for 2023. The reality is that we do still have some challenges ahead in the markets. In this 2023 Market Outlook, I'll share a little about those challenges and what we see as far as opportunities in the year ahead.
Before I jump into that, I want to back up and review 2022. Looking back, 2022 was a challenging year. I believe the market priced in a recession and higher rates early on in the year and based on these assumptions, we saw both stocks and bonds take a big hit. Throughout the year, the market bounced around from March until now, January of 2023, based on speculation around what the Fed was or was not going to do. It is likely that the market still expects a recession which is why we now see short-term volatility, depending on the news of the week. However, what is important is that there were glimmers of hope. During this inflationary period, value companies with solid balance sheets and strong assets did very well, as did commodities. There were still some pockets of opportunities, even in a very tough year for the broader markets.