Wide Equity Dispersion, Cetrini’s Intelligence Crisis and Another Private Credit Cockroach (E252)

DoubleLine Portfolio Manager Jeff Mayberry and Fixed Income Allocation Strategist Ryan Kimmel review February performance during the final market week of the month ended Feb. 27. The S&P 500 finished the month down only 1% despite all the negative headlines and volatility. While tech and financials struggled, equities experienced wide dispersion, with the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index marking its biggest outperformance versus its market-weighted sibling since the GFC era. Also of note, a Cetrini paper on a dark AI future for the economy stoked tech sector concerns. Over in fixed income (6:21), the Agg turned in a nice month while a new bankruptcy continued to mount about private credit. Commodities were up on the week and month (10:55), with oil prices impacted by the Iran situation, and Bitcoin (12:31) may have found a floor. It was a light week in Macro Land (13:19), with updates on consumer sentiment; employment; and inflation, with these numbers not going the Fed’s way. Next week’s releases (18:05) will include ISM PMI prints as well as January retail numbers.