Market Volatility Is More About Sentiment Than Fundamentals

Reminiscent of August, this week markets turned rockier, with many pundits citing “weak data” and renewed US recession chatter. World and US stocks sold off on Tuesday and Wednesday, falling a total of -2.7% and -3.0%, respectively.[i] Headline reactions to the swings ranged from “Stocks Tumble, Bonds Climb as Slowdown Fears Mount” and “Stocks Are Off to Ominous Start in Fourth Quarter” to worrying that weak manufacturing is infecting the stronger services sector. While we agree there are weak spots in the global economy presently, we think the growing talk of a recession is going much too far. Here we will try to share some perspective on what is fueling the fears—and why we don't think it is a call to action now.