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We are a national wealth management firm servicing entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, family offices, and institutions.
Learn about the rich history of the firm and today’s mission for our clients.
View our national presence with our offices across the country.
Meet our leadership team at the firm and learn how we support advisors.
Learn more about how we help advisors in the Solutions section! Find out more about our culture, central resources, investments, wealth planning, technology, marketing, and how we empower our advisors.
“I joined Robertson Stephens because I saw an opportunity to collaborate with a group of extremely talented individuals to bring a truly institutional-grade experience to wealth management.”
Michael Ridgeway
Learn more about our insights in the Resources section! Find helpful articles and news from our leadership, including our Investment Office, Chief Economist and Wealth Planning Team.
Economic Commentary – March 3, 2025
The data keeps piling up on the side of economic caution and weakness for this first quarter of 2025. Retail sales, residential real estate (including home improvement), consumer spending (including on services), business spending, and inventories all have indicated a slower pace for US economic activity for the start of the year, coming off a fourth quarter of 2024 that also reflected decelerating growth. Rather startlingly, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow real-time estimate of first-quarter GDP growth currently stands at -1.5%. In the US, the first quarter is often the quarter where inflation numbers will spike, and economic growth will disappoint, possibly even turning negative, but current developments have something of a different feel about them. So, just like businesses and consumers, economists are watching and waiting with a certain amount of nervousness.
The nonfarm payroll numbers for February, due out at the end of this week, have the potential to ameliorate the concerns — or throw fuel on the fire. Consumer spending weakness is thought to be partly a result of adverse weather in many parts of the United States, a view supported by the continuing strength of income growth. And the influence of consumer confidence on consumer spending is usually strongly outweighed by income trends. Yet, a weak payroll number and/or rising unemployment rate will call into question the trajectory for future income growth and quite possibly feed into consumer and business anxieties. Another statistic out this week also should not be overlooked for its importance, as trade worries dominate the headlines. The January Balance of Trade report, along with details on exports and imports, is often a snoozer of a stat, but it will be watched closely for much of this year. Given the declining export trends in the second half of 2024 and the number of employees working in global trade industries, January exports and imports will be a subject of great interest.
Data to Watch:
Suggested Reading:
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