By Kevin Flanagan
Here we are, ready to begin a new calendar year. Economic and rate forecasts filled the just-finished holiday season, but the question now becomes: Will these prognostications actually prove accurate? Remember, it is a long way to December 31, and as we have seen in the last few years, a lot can happen between the opening days of January and New Year's Eve.
There seems to be very little doubt that the lion's share of market participants are beginning 2017 under the assumption that economic growth will improve, inflation expectations will increase, and of course, interest rates will be on the rise. We're not about to debate any of these assumptions, but the journey on the rate front that we begin on New Year's Day does not often go according to script. The last three years offer a clear illustration of this phenomenon, and we "won't get… Read More …