May 18, 2022

Greater Cincinnati stocks dropped today, along with the rest of the markets, amid investors’ fears regarding inflation, rising interest rates, and disappointing corporate earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 3.6%, the S&P 500 fell 4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 4.7%. The Cincinnati Business Courier’s index of 23 locally based stocks (including Kroger, Procter & Gamble, and Cintas) lost 4.2%.

Reporter Steve Watkins asked our Jim Russell his thoughts on the slide:

“A number of factors are simultaneously impacting stocks,” Jim Russell, principal and portfolio manager at downtown-based Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel, told me. “Higher inflation and higher interest rates both provide a downward pull on the valuation investors place on stocks. Investors have become increasingly concerned over higher costs at the corporate level and the possibility of lower than anticipated earnings in 2022. Selected retailers have reported that compensation and transportation costs are resulting in lower margins.

“The fear of lower profitability across the board is now evident in the capital markets.”

 

 

 

Jim Russell
Portfolio Manager
jrussell@bahl-gaynor.com

See the entire article HERE