Go back to all blogs
We are in a healthy bull market, and will be good as long as there is no recession, says Cathie Wood.

As Cathie Wood points out, the stock market's bull market has proved its endurance by withstanding rising pricing pressures, and it is likely to continue to outperform the market unless there is a significant economic disaster.

The CEO of Ark Invest acknowledged the "wall of concern" that investors are experiencing as a result of the quick spike in inflation in an interview with Barron's on Wednesday.

On the other hand, Wood emphasized how the equities markets were able to withstand the volatility in the bond markets earlier this year.

Because of this "heart attack" in the bond market, she added, the stock market gained although bond yields increased by more than 100% in the first quarter.

In Wood's opinion, "it was a loud signal to us that we're in the midst of a very robust bull market, and as long as we don't slip into a recession, we'll probably be alright."

Following the rise in inflation in the United States to a 31-year high last week, government bond yields soared on the expectation that it would lead the Federal Reserve to act more quickly on an interest rate hike. According to some economists, significant inflation could persist until the second half of 2022 at the earliest.

Despite this, the stock market in the United States has set record high after record high. ARK Innovation, the flagship fund of Wood Investment Management, has lost 8 percent this year, but it has gained 175 percent over the past three years, compared to the S&P 500's rise of 75 percent.

Wood explained her reasons for remaining optimistic, which she based on her personal experience with inflation and the stock market in recent years.

She noted that the most successful bull markets she has been a part of have often scaled a wall of fear, and when she began out in the 1980s, inflation was a concern – albeit it was on the decline, in a cyclical sense – and the issue was inflation.

"Growth stocks, particularly those connected with innovation, such as our strategies, were on fire last year, and we couldn't have done anything to improve our position. If the market continued to narrow, we didn't think it would be a very healthy market for investors."

The deflationary forces that Wood perceives in her Twitter discussions with Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey have been spelled forth, demonstrating her belief that the current inflation rates will recede in the future.

Wood, on the other hand, believes that the market has broadened this year. While the economy is reopening following the COVID-19 outbreak, she remarked that value stocks, cyclical companies, and even defensive stocks had done pretty well in the face of the shifts in the economy.

Other concerns for investors include a proposal to implement a 15 percent global corporation minimum tax, which was agreed upon at the G20 Summit in late October and is expected to take effect in 2019. One plan provision would allow countries to tax multinational corporations' profits that exceed 10% of their total income.

"It appears to me that the market is climbing a big wall of fear and is effectively saying, 'No, we are not going to be hammered by these tax rates in the next plan.' This inflation will not be sustained in the long run. 'In fact, it's going to unwind very rapidly,' says the author. "Wood expressed himself.