In this video Steve provides a recap of the stock market in April. He discusses investor sentiment, the S&P index PE ratio, and a new economic indicator.
We’re sure you know the stock market has been getting pummeled these last few weeks. If you are concerned whether your financial plan is still on the right track and are worried about taking more risk than necessary, schedule a free 30-minute consultation by clicking on the button below.
WWM Financial is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor
The opinions expressed in this program are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry. To determine which investments may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. Any past performance discussed during this program is no guarantee of future results. Any indices referenced for comparison are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. As always please remember investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital; please seek advice from a licensed professional.
In this stock market update, Steve Wolff (Managing Partner at WWM Financial) discusses what has occurred in December. He discusses Jerome Powell and the Fed’s stance on interest rates, Covid and its variants and how the market has reacted. He also discusses small cap stocks to large cap stocks, the unemployment rate, and the US economy.
FREE Report: 5 Investing Secrets Every Investor Needs to Know
Avoid making bad investment decisions. This little-known report reveals 5 better ways to invest in stocks.
Click on the video above to watch August's Market Update.
Stock Market Update 8/4/2021
In this informative yet brief market update, Steve Wolff discusses amazing stock earnings, the Delta Variant and mortgage rates.
Transcript below:
This is Steve Wolff, and we’re going to talk a little bit about what happened in July of 2021, and we’ll do our Monthly Market Update. So this was the month that the COVID variant seems to have made its reappearance. There’s a lot of talk about, should you wear a mask? Should you not wear a mask? People getting vaccinated, et cetera, and that’s had an effect on the market. Earlier in the month, the marketplace actually had one day that was really bad, but then it seemed to come back. I’m not convinced yet that the COVID virus coming back at all is going to really affect the stock market, but it has affected it a little bit so far.
What happened this month? Well, bond yields actually went down a little again, which means mortgage rates are once again on the table. If you haven’t refinanced your mortgage, you might think about doing that right now. I’m seeing rates that you can get under 3%, and that’s pretty cheap. People today think when rates go to 4% that that’s expensive, or 3.5%. I can only tell you that my first house way back when, I had a 10 and three quarters percent mortgage rate. I’m sure some of the people who are watching here, who are older, will remember that; so when we’re talking about 3%, in my opinion, that’s really low.
What else happened? Stock earnings. Stock earnings this month, they’ve really been great. I mean, they actually outperformed high expectations. Now, some of the stocks have pulled back a little bit because I think even with high expectations, you had stocks that ran a little bit maybe ahead of themselves. But that’s okay. They reset a little bit. We talked about this before. I still think that we’re still in the midst of a bull market. As you can see my little friend, Mr. Bull over here, who’s still hanging on. I think that we’re going to be hanging on here for a little bit longer.
Interestingly though, when you’re looking at the stock market, you really should differentiate between the “market” and really what it represents. For instance, what I’m talking about here is that in the S&P 500, the top five stocks make up about 22% of the portfolio, and the top 10 stocks in a 500 stock portfolio represent somewhere around 30% of the portfolio. So really, when you’re talking about the market, you’re really talking about maybe 10, 15, 20 stocks having a big mark on what’s going to happen as far as the markets, and what they’re going to do. So, I would actually look at individual stocks.
When I look at big tech and big online retailers, their earnings were outstanding. They really were. A matter of fact, it’s hard to believe. Usually, you say, in the ocean, the battleship, it takes a long time to turn it around. A rowboat, you can turn real fast. Yet, these huge behemoths of companies have just been… terrific. Until that changes, I still think that the bull market is intact. I don’t see any reason to change where we’ve been for the last couple of months. That’s where we’re at. Mr. Bull, you’re still hanging on and we love it. We’ll talk to you next month. Thanks.
Steve Wolff is a Managing Partner at WWM Financial in Carlsbad California.
Steve can be reached at 760-692-5190.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry. To determine which investments may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. Any past performance discussed during this program is no guarantee of future results. Any indices referenced for comparison are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. As always please remember investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital; please seek advice from a licensed professional.
WWM Financial is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where WWM Financial and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by WWM Financial unless a client service agreement is in place.
Click on the image above to watch this podcast episode.
Market Update: 7/9/2021
Transcription below:
There’s been a lot of good news in the last month. With COVID cases declining, there are more people getting vaccinated, there has been a lot of re-openings in the economy and the earnings have been good as well. This resulting in a really good time to be in the stock market. The market is still favoring rotation into the pandemic recovery plays. Those stocks that lagged last year have caught up a lot this year. It might even be slowing down just a bit, but June was a good month for that. Financials and energy continued to lead the way with tech stocks being a little bit further behind, although everything grew a little in the last month.
Let’s talk a little bit about inflation because in the middle of June, there was a pretty good-sized dip in the market. This dip was probably 5% to 7% and people got a little bit nervous because suddenly, bonds were spiking up in yields and people were getting afraid because of inflation.
It is really is funny because when the economists talk about inflation, they do ex-oil and ex-food, which means without including those. I think that’s a load of bull hockey for anybody who likes to eat and goes to the grocery store. They know that food is way more expensive than it was just a few months ago. Also, if you are not in one of those battery-operated cars and you have to go to the gas station, you know that you’re paying a lot more for fuel than you were paying before. Inflation is real in your pocketbook, even if the economists aren’t including that.
Crude oil prices are up to $75 a barrel, and that’s the highest they’ve been since 2018. In the U.S., it now costs more than an average of a dollar or two a gallon than it did just a year ago, according to GasBuddy who analyzes fuel prices. If you were paying maybe three bucks last year and you’re paying four bucks today, that’s a 33% increase. I don’t know about the economist, but I think that’s inflation in my pocket.
There’s also been a shortage of semiconductor chips, which is causing some havoc because semiconductors are in everything we have, from toasters to ovens to microwaves to computers to cars. As a matter of fact, the auto industry has really been hit the hardest because they cannot finish producing a car without computer chips. Companies like Ford, Volkswagen, Jaguar, have all had to stop production because they just don’t have enough chips in supply for those cars. Right now, demand is far outstripping the supply of computer chips. Those computer chip companies are probably happy because as soon as they have a chip, they can sell it; and generally speaking, supply and demand means they could probably raise the price a little bit. So those companies probably are doing very well.
Now, looking at the market for the first half of this year, some people might call this a Goldilocks market, and we’ve heard that many, many times in the past. I call it a duck market. Why? Because everything is ducky right now out there. You almost couldn’t ask for a better market.
Now, I think there’s going to be continuing to be bouts of volatility as we go. But if you’re looking forward a little bit, I really think that stocks are still the right place to be because the re-openings are there, for example, anybody who wants to get a job can get one. There are help wanted signs all over the country. Unfortunately, some people are still staying at home because they’re getting a little bit more money to stay at home than to work, but eventually, that’s going to run out. Those people are going to get jobs and I think employment will get back to a pretty good level. Matter of fact, I think tomorrow July 2nd, there’s an employment report coming out. My guess is that as we continue to go into the future, the job market will continue to get better.
For all of you out there who are wondering what you should do, I still think that stocks are the right place to be. I think they’re better than bonds, at the moment. If yields do spike up, bonds will go down in price. It may hurt stocks a little bit too, but that’s a ways down the road. I still think we have time to go before that ever happens.
Steve Wolff is a Managing Partner at WWM Financial in Carlsbad California.
Steve can be reached at 760-692-5190.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry. To determine which investments may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. Any past performance discussed during this program is no guarantee of future results. Any indices referenced for comparison are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. As always please remember investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital; please seek advice from a licensed professional.
WWM Financial is a Registered Investment Advisor. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where WWM Financial and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by WWM Financial unless a client service agreement is in place.
