Presented by Rich Tegge
General market news
- The 10-year Treasury opened this Monday morning with a yield of 1.89 percent after a shortened holiday week. The 30-year yield was at 2.67 percent early Monday, and the 2-year opened at 0.85 percent. The short week brought much less volatility compared with previous weeks, which led up to the last Federal Reserve meeting.
- Equity markets finally took a breather last week, with the S&P 500 Index losing 0.65 percent. Despite the declines, the recent surge in stocks still has the S&P 500 and many other broadly diversified large-cap indices in positive territory for the year.
- Economic reports continue to show mixed results. Last week brought somewhat weak numbers in existing home sales and durable goods orders. Fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth was released on Friday, when markets were closed; though the 1.4-percent annual rate was better than expected, it still reflects sluggish U.S. growth.
| Equity Index | Week-to-Date | Month-to-Date | Year-to-Date | 12-Month |
| S&P 500 | −0.65% | 5.52% | 0.14% | −0.53% |
| Nasdaq Composite | −0.46% | 4.48% | −4.34% | −3.16% |
| DJIA | −0.49% | 6.19% | 1.22% | −0.20% |
| MSCI EAFE | −2.41% | 4.25% | −4.98% | −12.00% |
| MSCI Emerging Markets | −1.53% | 10.06% | 2.74% | −14.47% |
| Russell 2000 | −1.99% | 4.55% | −4.66% | −13.32% |
Source: Bloomberg
| Fixed Income Index | Month-to-Date | Year-to-Date | 12-Month |
| U.S. Broad Market | 0.29% | 2.39% | 1.44% |
| U.S. Treasury | −0.48% | 2.54% | 1.82% |
| U.S. Mortgages | −0.15% | 1.52% | 2.15% |
| Municipal Bond | −0.12% | 1.23% | 3.53% |
Source: Morningstar Direct
What to look forward to
Several important economic data releases are expected this week, beginning with Personal Income and Outlays. Spending and income are projected to have been muted in February.
Manufacturing activity and Consumer Confidence are expected to show slight rebounds.
The week will end with the Employment report for March.
Disclosures: Certain sections of this commentary contain forward-looking statements that are based on our reasonable expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. All indices are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment by the public. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The S&P 500 is based on the average performance of the 500 industrial stocks monitored by Standard & Poor’s. The Nasdaq Composite Index measures the performance of all issues listed in the Nasdaq Stock Market, except for rights, warrants, units, and convertible debentures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is computed by summing the prices of the stocks of 30 large companies and then dividing that total by an adjusted value, one which has been adjusted over the years to account for the effects of stock splits on the prices of the 30 companies. Dividends are reinvested to reflect the actual performance of the underlying securities. The MSCI EAFE Index is a float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure developed market equity performance, excluding the U.S. and Canada. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a market capitalization-weighted index composed of companies representative of the market structure of 26 emerging market countries in Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Basin. The Russell 2000® Index measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000® Index. The Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index is an unmanaged market value-weighted performance benchmark for investment-grade fixed-rate debt issues, including government, corporate, asset-backed, and mortgage-backed securities with maturities of at least one year. The U.S. Treasury Index is based on the auctions of U.S. Treasury bills, or on the U.S. Treasury’s daily yield curve. The Barclays Capital Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) Index is an unmanaged market value-weighted index of 15- and 30-year fixed-rate securities backed by mortgage pools of the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA), Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), and balloon mortgages with fixed-rate coupons. The Barclays Capital Municipal Bond Index includes investment-grade, tax-exempt, and fixed-rate bonds with long-term maturities (greater than 2 years) selected from issues larger than $50 million.
Rich Tegge is a financial advisor located at Wealth Strategy Group 300 S. Front Street Ste C Marquette, MI 49855. He offers securities and advisory services as an Investment Adviser Representative of Commonwealth Financial Network®, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. He can be reached at 906-228-3696 or at rtegge@wsginvest.com.
Authored by the Investment Research team at Commonwealth Financial Network.
© 2016 Commonwealth Financial Network®