Ryan Bushell's Top Picks: March 24, 2022
BNN Bloomberg
Top picks from Ryan Bushell, president and portfolio manager, Newhaven Asset Management
Ryan Bushell, president and portfolio manager, Newhaven Asset Management
FOCUS: Canadian dividend stocks
MARKET OUTLOOK:
At the beginning of this year, I felt a strange divergence of confidence between our infrastructure-based, energy-focused portfolio and the level of broader equity markets. So far in 2022, the feeling has been correct with our portfolios up nearly 10 per cent year-to-date while the S&P 500 is down more than 6 per cent and the Nasdaq down 12 per cent.
Clearly, the conflict in Ukraine has shifted the paradigm for commodities, however the fundamental reason for the changes in investor positioning likely has more to do with interest rate expectations, and that process began last fall before accelerating in 2022.
Unfortunately, the conflict in Ukraine is poised to continue and exert tremendous pressure on inflation expectations leading to an even faster pace of interest rate increases than previously anticipated. An already-stretched consumer is likely to have difficulty powering the economy forward in the coming quarters and thus I am very cautious on both economic growth and stock market valuations for the foreseeable future.
