How Eaton Vance managers navigate today's markets

There's an old adage that markets climb a wall of worry. Alan Greenspan called it “irrational exuberance.” However it is characterized, nothing has given the Fed-fueled COVID-19 bull market pause to look back. Not Joe Biden’s election, the pandemic’s growing second wave, the change in Washington to unified Democratic control, or the ransacking of the U.S. Capitol. The S&P 500 Index stands near record highs, and spreads in credit sectors are near all-time tight levels. In 2021, investors will have to take the measure of the vaccine rollout, combined with the potential for fiscally driven cyclical growth, inflation, higher taxes and regulations. Plenty of worry and exuberance are likely to stay in the mix as well.