In Markets "In a Nutshell"

Markets “In a Nutshell” for August 30, 2021

Investment Week at a Glance

Stocks finished higher for the week.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.00%, the S&P 500 was up 1.50%, and the NASDAQ rose 2.80%.  Foreign stocks (MSCI EAFE) were also up, rising 1.40%.  Bond prices were down for the week, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury ending the week at 1.31%.  (Data source: Wall Street Journal)

Afghanistan

On Thursday the terrorist attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan took the lives of 13 U.S. service members. This was the deadliest day in Afghanistan for the United States military since 2011 and the first U.S. fatalities in Afghanistan since February of 2020. The market had a slight dip on this news but overall did not have a large impact as the United States continues their evacuation efforts and is expected to be out of Afghanistan completely in the near future. As the evacuation continues it is expected there will be more attacks on the airport which may cause some volatility in the market but it should be short-lived as we continue to move out of the Afghanistan War.

Powell’s View on the Economy

On Friday Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave his speech at the virtual Jackson Hole economic policy symposium. Powell defended the central bank’s monetary policy and commented on how quickly the economy has bounced back from the Pandemic. Although the job numbers have come a long way from the lows of the Pandemic he still see’s room for the unemployment number to come down. He also said that the Fed could begin to taper their asset purchases toward the end of this year. However, he was committed to leaving rates unchanged and markets took kindly to this as they jumped about 0.5% during his speech on Friday. The Fed has been very accommodating to markets and Powell signaled this would continue as he wants there to be easy access to money as we move further from the Pandemic giving the economy room to grow.

Quiz:

Quiz

When was the economic symposium first held at Jackson Hole in Wyoming?  (Scroll Down for Answer)

  1.    1965
  2.    1978
  3.    1982
  4.    1987

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer below.

 

 

Have a Great Week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer:

  3.     1982.  Although the first economic symposium was in 1978 held in Kansas City, the event was moved to Jackson Hole in 1982 and has been held there ever since.