Sometimes there’s a clear economic narrative that can help steer investors through the stock-picking process. In 2021 the guiding story was the stimulus-infused post-COVID rebound. In 2022 it was an inflationary hangover that brought back memories of the 1980s.
As for 2023, well, let’s just say it has stumped the storytellers. A year ago there was near consensus that the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting interest rate hikes would spark a recession in the U.S., but it didn’t turn out that way—or at least it hasn’t yet.
