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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.
July 8, 2024 – Economic Commentary
The U.S. economy is slowing down. Nonfarm payroll numbers for June, released last Friday, were accompanied by a downward revision in the numbers for May and April. When combined with an increase in the unemployment rate, a deceleration in personal spending growth, a softening of the purchasing managers indices for the critical services sector, sluggish durables goods orders, and an abundance of stories about weaker pricing power in the hands of retailers . . . small wonder that the Atlanta Fed GDPNow real-time estimate of second-quarter economic growth has dropped from almost 4% in April to 1.5% on July 3. It is quite important to keep in mind that the June report of 206,000 net new jobs created was an essentially solid report, supporting personal income growth numbers released at the end of June that were actually higher than expected. Yet the preponderance of evidence seems to suggest that this is quite a different U.S. economy than July 2023. If the ground is, again, shifting under the Federal Reserve’s feet, the next few months are going to require some fancy footwork— from a notoriously clumsy dancer.
N.B. If you thought I was going to attempt to make sense of the political upheavals in the U.K., France, and the U.S., guess again. Britain suddenly appears to be the paragon of sanity and dignity, symbolizing exactly how much has been turned on its head. Since there is undoubtedly more to come on all this, the guidance of Jerome Powell may be the best to adopt: Be data dependent and wait for more data.
Data to Watch:
Suggested Reading:
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