Market Swings Make Atlantans Wonder: "How Bad is It?"

Balentine Chief Investment Officer Adrian Cronje spoke with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on some of the headwinds the economy is facing and how that played into the extreme volatility in the first month of 2016.

Writes Kanell in the story, "Market swings make Atlantans wonder: ‘How bad is it?’"

Adrian Cronje, chief investment officer of Atlanta-based Balentine which manages investments, said he isn’t gloomy but does worry about the mix of “headwinds” — including the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to start raising interest rates.

The mostly unpredicted plunge in oil prices has kneecapped what had been a strong sector of the national economy, while also threatening many banks that had made loans to fund exploration, Cronje noted.

Meanwhile, lower gas prices have not spurred consumer spending. He also sees troubling signs in the prices of other commodities, and in the bond and credit markets. Orders for big-ticket items fell 5 percent last month. The index of leading indicators, too, dropped – as did several manufacturing measures.

Adrian details the key indicators Balentine's Investment Strategy Team is watching closely in his paper "Making Sense of It All? What Capital Markets Will Tell You Before Economists Will."

Click here to read the entire Atlanta Journal-Constitution article "Market swings make Atlantans wonder: ‘How bad is it?’"