Robertson Stephens Weekly Commentary – October 7, 2024

This week largely will be about last week. After numerous Federal Reserve officials (as expected)  tamped down expectations for 50 bps rate cuts as the “new normal,” Friday’s boffo nonfarm payrolls report for September put to bed the notion that more aggressive Fed rate cutting was needed to boost a rapidly weakening US economy. Last week, stocks were mixed, and bonds were down (price down/yield up). The MSCI Emerging Markets index outperformed the S&P 500 and the MSCI EAFE non-US developed index. Several items also caught our attention last week including higher in Chinese stocks, geopolitical risk pushing up oil prices, US economy continuing to power ahead, and fundamental insights and guidance from the S&P 500 Q3 earnings season. On the wealth planning front, we discuss income tax planning for the TCJA sunset.