Q1 2018: Welcome to the Stock Market Rollercoaster

Welcome to the stock market roller coaster! It’s a bit jarring, especially on the heels of the tranquil 2017 merry go round, but as the bull market in stocks enters its tenth year, volatility abounds. Investors probably feel a bit of relief that the major indexes finished the first three months of the year with relatively small losses (Dow down 2.5 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 1.2 percent and the Russell 2000 was off 0.4 percent) or gains (NASDAQ up 2.3 percent, despite a 9.5 percent drop in Facebook) but that’s like saying the roller coaster ride ended in the small place that it started: what happened in between is where the action occurred.

BlogMark TalercioMarch 30, 2018Wall St, Wall Street, Stock Market, stocks, Dow, S&P

Housing, We Have a Problem

It’s been more than five years since housing prices bottomed out. Since then, the economy has strengthened, the labor market has improved and mortgage rates remain historically low. All of those factors should add up to a robust spring housing season, but that’s not what’s going on. Instead, realtors and builders are lamenting the low number of homes for sale.

Did Chinese Tariffs Alone Cause Market Slide? (Hint: NO)

Stocks dropped by nearly 3 percent Thursday and another 2 percent on Friday, closing out the steepest one-week percentage decline for US indexes since January 2016. The proximate cause was President Trump's announcement that the U.S. would levy 25 percent tariffs on up to $60 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports.

BlogMark TalercioMarch 24, 2018China, Trump, tariff, tariffs, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Fed, Federal Reserve, interest rates, stocks, Chinese

What to Shred/Keep 2018

The folks at the Internal Revenue Service have an uncanny sense of timing. Most of us prepare our individual tax returns just as the clocks spring ahead and the calendar says that the Vernal Equinox will bring longer and warmer days. To celebrate, clean out the cobwebs, fire up the shredder, prepare to hit the delete button and get ready to clean up your financial life!

First Powell Rate Hike Coming

Get ready for the first Fed rate hike of 2018. Newly minted Fed Chair Jerome Powell will preside over this week’s two-day meeting, where officials will also release their updated economic projections and future rate hikes. Analysts at Capital Economics believe that Fed “consensus is shifting from three to four rate hikes this year.”

Goldilocks Appears for a Bull Market Anniversary

What better way to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the bull market than with a strong employment report? The economy created a better than expected 313,000 new jobs in February, higher than the anticipated 200,000. The strength was seen across a variety of sectors: retail increased by 50,300, construction was up 61,000, manufacturing added 31,000 jobs and professional & business services employment added 50,000.

BlogMark TalercioMarch 11, 2018bull market, stock market, stocks, Wall St, Wall Street, S&P, economy, jobs, jobs report

Trump Tariff Talk Rattles Markets

After announcing that he would introduce new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, the President tweeted “Trade wars are good”…investors are not so sure. While some would argue that Trump is just making good on his promise to level the international trade playing field, others are concerned that this potential action will hurt the US economy and more importantly, trigger a trade war that could result in the next global recession. You know it’s serious when the Wall Street editorial board called the tariffs “the biggest policy blunder of his presidency”!

BlogMark TalercioMarch 4, 2018Trump, trade war, trade wars, tariff, tariffs

Lessons from Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett just released the 2017 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, an annual
missive that is part performance review and part market wisdom, often offered with a
healthy dose of humor and a few jabs at the financial services industry. (One of my
favorites: “When trillions of dollars are managed by Wall Streeters charging high fees, it
will usually be the managers who reap outsized profits, not the clients.”)

BlogMark TalercioFebruary 24, 2018Warren Buffett, Berkshire, Berkshire Hathaway, WarrenBuffett, #ASW18, America Saves Week

Inflation-Proof Your Life

Worries about rising inflation have spooked stock and bond investors. As a reminder, inflation occurs when the prices of goods and services rise and as a result, every dollar you spend in the economy purchases less. The annual rate of inflation over from 1917 until 2017 has averaged just over 3 percent annually. That might not sound like much, but consider this: today you need $7,272.09 in cash to buy what $1,000 could buy in 50 years ago.

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