How Assets Behave in Booms and Busts

Different assets shine in different economic weather. Here is how stocks, bonds, cash and gold have tended to behave in expansions, recessions, inflation scares and sell-offs, with real examples.

Economic weather

The economy moves through phases: growth, slowdown, recession and recovery, sometimes with inflation running high. Each asset class responds to these conditions in its own way, which is the whole reason to own more than one.

The business cycle: expansion, peak, contraction and recovery.

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