Vantage Point Newsletter: October 2019
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Quarterly Market Review
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Overview
The world's economies and stock markets have been rocked by the spread of COVID-19. Investors' fears prompted a major sell-off in February and March, plunging stocks well below their 2019 closing marks. Nevertheless, 2020 started off in a positive way. Following a strong 2019, stocks were slow to move forward as investors cashed in some of their 2019 gains. But by mid-January, each of the benchmark indexes were safely ahead of their 2019 closing marks. However, concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak in China quelled investor optimism. The first quarter of 2020 closed with each of the benchmark indexes securely in the red compared to their 2019 year-end values.
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Monthly Economic News
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Employment rose by 273,000 in February after adding 225,000 new jobs in January.
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The Federal Open Market Committee held several emergency meetings in March, dropping the target range for the federal funds rate 150 basis points to 0.00%-0.25%.
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According to the third and final estimate for the third-quarter gross domestic product, the economy accelerated at an annualized rate of 2.1%.
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Over the last 12 months, consumer prices are up 1.8%.
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After falling 1.3% in January, existing home sales jumped 6.5% in February. Year over year, existing home sales are up 7.2% (9.6% for the 12 months ended in January).
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For the first time in three months, industrial production increased, climbing 0.6% in February after falling 0.5% the previous month.
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Since February 2019, import prices have fallen 1.2%. Prices for exports decreased 1.3% on a 12-month basis from February 2019.
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The spread of COVID-19 sent world markets and economies tumbling.
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Not surprisingly, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® declined sharply in March. The index fell to 120.0 from February's 132.6.
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Note from JMG
As ordered by Governor Pritzker, all JMG employees will continue to work from home through April 30. We continue to service our clients without any disruption. As always, clients should contact their JMG advisor and client service teams with any questions. We wish you and your families good health and safety during this very challenging time.
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Important Disclosure:
Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product made reference to directly or indirectly in this newsletter, will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), or be suitable for your portfolio. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions. Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this newsletter serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from JMG Financial Group, Ltd. To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing. JMG is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the newsletter content should be construed as legal or accounting advice. If you are a JMG client, please remember to contact JMG, in writing, if there are any changes in your personal/financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services. A copy of JMG’s current written disclosure statement discussing advisory services and fees is available for review upon request. Historical performance results for investment indices and/or categories have been provided for general comparison purposes only, and generally do not reflect the deduction of transaction and/or custodial charges, the deduction of an investment management fee, nor the impact of taxes, the incurrence of which would have the effect of decreasing historical performance results. It should not be assumed that your account holdings correspond directly to any comparative indices.
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