The US equity markets moved counter to the economy and the bond markets in the fourth of 2019. US equity markets had their best quarter in years as the S&P 500 advanced 9% and MACM’s dynamic growth portfolio (DG) and diversified equity (DE) advanced 11.9% and 12.9% respectively. The rally was rooted in several beliefs that grew deeper in the minds of investors as the quarter unfolded. The attacks on capitalism by liberal Democrats began to wane as Warren and Sanders retreated from their strong rhetoric of tearing apart corporate American superstars like Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google, and Netflix. The trade picture also improved during the quarter as a deal was struck with the Chinese that would be incorporated in two phases. While trade has really not impacted the economy in America it has slowed the Asian economies dramatically and hurt global growth. These manufacturing areas of the world purchase significant amounts of American industrial equipment and this part of the US economy has been soft for several quarters. These areas of the economy came to life in the fourth quarter and we also saw Netflix and Amazon return to the top of the leaderboard.Read more
