Worst start in 50 years The S&P 500 fell 2% this week after a 7% rally last week. The US stock market is on track for its worst first half in more than 50 years, since the 1970s. Even investors in diversified balanced portfolios (with equity and bonds) have experienced drawdowns. Assets that were initially thought of as unaffected by the larger macroeconomic trends did not prove to be a safe refuge, with Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, down more than 50%. Image: New York Times The question on many investors’ minds would be how much worse can it get? We’ve looked at it historically here. Concerns shifting from inflation to growth As we mentioned last week, the latest consumer inflation expectations came in lower than expected. A more reliable indicator of inflation expectations that the Fed watches closely is the 5 year/5 year breakevens, which captures average inflation for five years in five years’ time....