"Inflation may be abating, it's time to take a serious look at the market," says Cade Knudson, hedge fund portfolio manager. Knudson is a financial professional that has extensive experience managing multi-million dollar portfolios. Starting at the age of 26, he was thrust into the world of financial analysis without much warning, putting enormous pressure on himself, and on his colleagues, in order to deliver the finest results. Through deliberate macroeconomic analysis, valuations, and a tenable portfolio modeling system, Knudson has been consistently able to perform for his clients, even when the going got tough.

Cade attributes most of his success to his upbringing. As a small child, he had the American dream ingrained in his mind and would develop his entrepreneurial love for business through the form of sales. There wasn't anything in the neighborhood that he couldn't analyze and say "how can I turn this profitable?". He was shocked to find a lack of financial education throughout his secondary school curriculum, so it wasn't until Cade Knudson's undergraduate program in Denver that he began to start his serious journey toward financial modeling and investing. After completing his graduate program, and taking on prestigious clients, Knudson is undoubtedly qualified to speak about the current outlook of the market.

The Tide May be Turning

2022 has been akin to a roller coaster for the capital markets. Many macroeconomic factors and indicators have truly tested the public at large in their ability to weather the storm. Coming in hot from the near-unprecedented sell-off in the early period of the pandemic, the world would eventually shrug it off and restore its confidence in all 11 sectors as soon as 2021 began. What seemed like a surefire start to another glorious decade of bull market gains, actually was extremely short-lived.

The war in Ukraine began Feb 24th, 2022 and with it launched a spiral of myriad events that would catastrophically plunge the markets into despair. The ensuing war would cause a global energy crisis, increasing the price at the pump for all citizens internationally, and skyrocketing food costs. Furthermore, the subsequent inflation to the tune of near double digits in the west has brought on various interest rate hikes from the fed, bringing rates to levels that haven't been seen in greater than 30 years.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2022, was a pivotal moment. The Fed would again analyze the inflation rate and judge whether they would continue with their proposed 75bp hike on their next decision date: Sept 7th. Due to a decrease in inflation for the first time in months, the Fed's decision is more likely to favor a 50bp hike instead. This has caused a near 2% rally of the SP500 because of positive investor sentiment.

Has the Bull Market Been Confirmed?

Cade Bradford Knudson believes the next few months will be critical. If all macroeconomic factors stay on the same path as they are now, we are looking at a possible green scenario. The key event that has everyone biting their nails is the issue in Taiwan, and the real estate crisis happening throughout the Chinese provinces.