It’s not often that we don’t run a relevant quote in at the beginning of an Evergreen Virtual Advisor (EVA).  However, there are enough gems in this week’s Guest edition to obviate the need.  The lead soundbite is by one of the people I most admire in the investment ecosystem, Howard Marks. 

Over the past several weeks, a sharp spike in bond yields has created volatility in equity markets. In particular, the Nasdaq and many tech companies have come under scrutiny as investors have reconsidered their exposure to these historically expensive securities. Inflation has also been a red-hot topic as new stimulus gets distributed and further stimulus is being discussed in Washington.

Lewis Carrol’s tale summarizes the intuition behind the paradox of quantum superposition: in Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment, a cat can be both alive and dead at the same time. Schrödinger’s twisted logic was surely required to make sense of a week during which a mob stormed the U.S. capitol and stock prices broke multiple records.

Thanks to our partnership with Gavekal, Evergreen has a unique view into what’s happening in China and, more broadly, Asia. Over the last couple of years, the tit-for-tat trade and technological war between the United States and China has been consistent front-page news, raising alarms as to how badly the relationship might further devolve.