Press Pause | Steve Henderly, CFA
Printer Friendly PDF: Feb 2025 Commentary
Life seems to move at such a fast pace! Wouldn’t it be great if there was a button to just stop everything for a moment or two? The ability to pause was first invented in the 1960s for reel-to-reel tape decks, but it wasn’t until the advent of VCRs and DVRs when consumers became more familiar with it.
“Press Pause” seems a fitting theme for January from multiple perspectives. The Fed paused it’s recent interest rate cutting campaign and Mag-7 ascent paused following Chinese competition emergence in the red-hot Artificial Intelligence space. The news cycle was also dizzying, including the inauguration of a new President and a whirlwind of executive orders affecting various policies. Tariffs, although widely anticipated with the new administration, became reality at month-end and introduce one more uncertainty as we enter February (tariffs on both Canada and Mexico were unveiled, but quickly paused as well – more on that topic later).