Markets “In a Nutshell” for April 29, 2019

Investment Week at a Glance

Stocks were mostly up last week. The Dow Jones Industrial average dropped 0.1% while the S&P 500 was up 1.2%. The New York Stock Exchange Composite (2,000 stocks) gained 0.6%. The “average investor’s index” (Value Line index) rose 0.5%. Foreign stocks (DJ Global ex U.S.) were down 0.7%. Bond yields dropped (bond prices up) as the 10 year Treasury ended at 2.50%. (Data sources: Barron’s Financial, Wall Street Journal)

Investment Pro’s are growing cautious

The 148 professional money managers (of which we were one) polled by Barron’s Financial in their latest Money Poll have grown a bit cautious on the U.S. stock market. Not surprising given the dramatic increase so far this year which has stock returns well into the double digits. According to the poll, 49% of managers are bullish (positive) on the 12 month outlook for stocks while 35% are neutral and 16% bearish (negative). Other poll results show an economic downturn as the biggest danger to the stock market the next 12 months. And 83% of managers said they are net buyers of stocks while 64% are sellers of gold.

Top cities for growing incomes

Personal finance website GOBanking Rate analyzed cities across the country with populations of 500,000 or under, searching for places that experienced a combination of economic prosperity, population growth and rising incomes from 2012-2017. So what cities got the top rankings? Naples, Fla. was number one (income growth of 22.8%) , followed by Santa Fe, New Mexico (17.2% with a population growth of 21. 5%), Sebastian, Fla. (income growth 20.9%), Boulder, CO (income growth 24.3%) and Santa Rosa, CA (28.6% income growth).

U.S. economic growth looking good

The Commerce Dept. says the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.2% during the first quarter of 2019, far exceeding the 2.5% expected rate. CNBC reports that the economic expansion that started in 2009 will set the record in July for the longest expansion on record (going back to 1851)…” it looks like there is no stopping this economy,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG. Indeed, the economy seems to have overcome all manner of hurdles during the first quarter (i.e. government shutdown, frigid winter weather conditions, and the fears of a world growth slowdown).

Quiz:

According to the IRS, which state has the highest percentage of adult residents with a net worth of $5 million or more?

a. New York

b. Texas

c. Maine

d. North Dakota

Answer is below…

 

Have a good week!

 

Answer to quiz:

d. North Dakota