F.I.G.’s 35th Year Client Event and Celebration:
By now all of you should have received a personal invitation to our client event on Wednesday, September 26th. We are excited to celebrate our 35th anniversary year as an independent investment advisory firm with you, our clients. Our event will be at the top of the Devon Tower and are very excited to welcome Bob Stoops as our guest speaker for the evening. Please be sure to RVSP if you have not yet done so as there are still some seats left, but we expect the event to fill up soon. Also, if you have reserved your seats, but for some reason you cannot attend, please let us know as well so we can plan accordingly. We hope to see you all at the event on September 26th!
Third Quarter/Mid-Year Review:
The third quarter is quickly coming to an end, and if you have not yet scheduled your personal mid-year review, either in-person or online with our Go-to-Meeting option, call now to schedule yours at your convenience. Call us today at 405-844-9826.
MyWealth:
We encourage all of you to utilize your MyWealth website for both monitoring your personal finances as well as your long-term financial plan. There is also a “Vault” available to you for storing documents digitally as well as investment performance reports. We can provide a current update at any time and upload to your vault. The MyWealth website also updates the values/holdings of your investment portfolios daily and you link other outside accounts to update as well. Call today if you need any assistance in using the system or need to reset your password for access.
The Markets:
August saw the major U.S. stock indices end higher, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the NASDAQ Composite both hitting new all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended August 651.89 points below its previous high reached back on January 26th of this year, but did gain 2.16% in August, ending the month at 25,964.82. For the year through August 31st, the Dow was up 5.03%. (Google Finance
August also ushered in the longest running bull market to date. The stock indices have generally been in an upward trend since the bottom reached back in March of 2009 after the financial crisis. A “bear” market is technically defined as a drop of 20%+ from a market high for the stock indices, while a “bull” market is when stocks rise 20+% off a market bottom.
Interest rates dipped in August, with the yield for the 10-year U.S. Treasury dropping to 2.85% from 2.96% at the end of July. (CNBC) The rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage is now 4.4% while the 15-year fixed rate is 3.82%. (Bankrate.com)
Trade tensions, moderating global growth, political drama, rising rates, and turmoil in Turkey-these all may pose risks, but collectively they have not yet prevented key stock indices from claiming new highs in August. A new trade agreement was reached with Mexico in August while talks with Canada failed, but they will resume this week Wednesday, September 5th. The less uncertainty for the markets, the better the chance of continued upward movement.
When will the current “bull” market end? No one knows for sure, but normally “bear” markets typically coincide with recessions. At this time, at least in the short term, a recession is not likely given recent economic data.
The Economy:
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter came in at 4.2% beating estimates. This is the measurement of the U.S. economy. This compares with the 1st quarter of 2.2%. (Bureau of Economic Analysis). Job growth has continued to improve, along with retail sales and consumer confidence, which hit an 18 year high in August. Add tax cuts, continued low inflation, and increasing corporate earnings to the equation, and it seems very unlikely that a recession will be occurring any time soon.
Eventually, however, a recession will come and stocks will fall as always occurs in the economic cycle. Investing is a long-term process which includes rebalancing portfolios and diversification. Keeping a long-term outlook helps to both temper and weather various market cycles. We have diversified portfolios and positioned all risk levels in an effort to help mitigate volatility while still having the opportunity to participate in the market’s upside to some degree as well.
We hope you and your families had a great Labor Day weekend. As always, please don’t hesitate to call or email us at any time if we can be of further service or if you have any questions or concerns.
God Bless,
Your TEAM at F.I.G. Financial Advisory Services, Inc.
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Uncertainty and Volatility