Now leaving ThriventFunds.com

 

You're about to visit a site that is neither owned nor operated by Thrivent Asset Management.

In the interest of protecting your information, we recommend you review the privacy policies at your destination site.

Financial Professional Site Registration

Complete this form to get full access to the entire financial professional site.

By clicking “Register”, you agree to our privacy and security policies and that you are a financial professional.

Access will be granted immediately, but the registration process may take up to 5 business days to complete.

Thank you for registering

You can now enjoy all financial professional content.

If your download does not start automatically, click here.

An error occurred

Please check back later.

COVID-19 UPDATE

V or U-shaped recovery?

4/7/2020

By Mark Simenstad, Chief Investment Strategist | 4/7/2020

Recent price action in the equity market supports the notion that positive news on the COVID-19 infection statistics will be accompanied by rising stock prices. Monday saw glimmers of hope that the infection and death rate curves may be flattening in Europe. Meanwhile, the best that can be said of the tragedy in New York is that it isn’t getting overwhelmingly worse. Stocks surged 7% Monday and were only very slightly down today on this news. As of now, COVID-19 statistics remain the single biggest factor influencing markets.

As we have said repeatedly, volatile markets will be the norm for a while longer. Over the last 21 trading days, the stock market has seen 47 moves of 3% either higher or lower. Yes, this implies we have experienced many days where the market has moved in increments of at least 3% more than once during the day. This type of intraday volatility is why fixating on market swings, trying to time entry or exit points, is a fruitless endeavor.

The “VULI” question

Investors, market analysts and even economists frequently use letters of the alphabet – “V”, “U”, “L” and “I” – as shorthand to describe the various possibilities for the direction of economic activity and/or markets. Below is a description—and our view—of prospective “VULI” paths that the economy and investors are facing.

  • “V” describes a swift, but relatively short decline, followed by an equally swift recovery and ascent. The economy and markets followed this pattern at the end of 2018 and into 2019. The downside was driven by a manufacturing and capital spending slowdown induced by trade frictions. It seems quite unlikely this path will be followed again in 2020. The economic impact from global economies being shut down, tens of millions of people unemployed (at least temporarily), and plummeting consumer and business confidence are too much to overcome. A “V” pattern is typical in an economic slowdown accompanied by a market correction, not in a recession and bear market.
  • “U” describes a steep decline in economic activity and markets due to a recessionary environment. Recessions typically take more time to work through, as markets work off and reprice the excesses of the previous cycle. They involve a longer bottoming process and a series of bear market rallies in the capital markets before a durable economic recovery can be established. We believe that the ultimate recovery in the economy and the markets in 2020 will follow this “U”-shaped path.
  • “L” describes a steep decline in economic activity followed by a long period of stagnation. This type of pattern is less frequent. It’s an environment of a recession followed by poor economic policies and/or secular shifts in demographics or other economic variables. A good example of an “L” is the economy and markets of the 1970s that were driven by OPEC price shocks. An “L” pattern seems much less likely given that the economy did not appear to have significant imbalances before this crisis hit. Furthermore, significant government policies have already been enacted to respond to the economic challenges created by the government-mandated closures of large sectors of the economy.
  • “I” describes a scenario like the Great Depression. Fortunately, with the multitude of automatic economic stabilizers, such as unemployment insurance, and an economy that is now far more flexible and oriented around services rather than cyclical manufacturing, another depression seems highly unlikely.

“U” recovery seems likely

The “U”-shaped recovery seems the most likely path as the global economy comes out of this crisis. Economic statistics will soon show the breadth and depth of the near-term damage from the coronavirus pandemic. It’s wishful thinking to presume that once the contagion has been significantly reduced or even eliminated, economic activity will immediately bounce back to pre-crisis levels, forming a “V”-shape recovery. Business and consumer confidence will take time to recover from the shock of this event. However, the more ominous “L” or certainly “I” scenarios seem overly pessimistic. The economy was on relatively solid footing before the crisis, the banking system was in strong shape, and market valuation—although somewhat stretched—was not excessive. Investors should also not underestimate the degree to which fiscal and monetary policy has aimed to provide a bridge to economic stability later this year and into the next. In fact, even more support from a policy perspective is being considered.

It takes patience and discipline to weather “U”-shaped recoveries. We are striving to adhere to our discipline of patiently and systematically rebalancing portfolios, while carefully examining and taking advantage of marketopportunities to help our members and shareholders achieve their long-term goals. 

 

Media contact: Samantha Mehrotra, 612-844-4197samantha.mehrotra@thrivent.com

Learn how Thrivent is responding to Covid-19: for our customers, workforce, members and communities.

Mark Simenstad
Chief Investment Strategist

All information and representations herein are as of 4/7/2020, unless otherwise noted.

The views expressed are as of the date given, may change as market or other conditions change, and may differ from views expressed by other Thrivent Asset Management, LLC associates. Actual investment decisions made by Thrivent Asset Management, LLC will not necessarily reflect the views expressed. This information should not be considered investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or product. Investment decisions should always be made based on an investor's specific financial needs, objectives, goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance.

Any indexes shown are unmanaged and do not reflect the typical costs of investing. Investors cannot invest directly in an index.

Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

Related content

February 2024 Market Update

02/07/2024

On the road to recovery

On the road to recovery

On the road to recovery

2024 is likely to deliver positive total returns in both stocks and bonds broadly. We remain mindful that volatility can spike or remain elevated for extended periods as economic or geopolitical uncertainty rises.

2024 is likely to deliver positive total returns in both stocks and bonds broadly. We remain mindful that volatility can spike or remain elevated for extended periods as economic or geopolitical uncertainty rises.

02/07/2024