In Markets "In a Nutshell"

Markets “In a Nutshell” for July 13, 2021

Investment Week at a Glance

Stocks finished higher for the week.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.20%, the S&P 500 was up 0.40%, and the NASDAQ rose 0.40%.  Foreign stocks (MSCI EAFE) were up as well, rising 0.20%.  Bond prices were up for the week, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury ending the week at 1.36%.  (Data source: Wall Street Journal)

Recovery Continues

The economy continues to come back from pandemic lockdowns but has recently slowed. Initial jobless claims last week increased from the prior week and are still up more than 80% compared to pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate has also stalled a bit after falling from 14.8% in April, 2020 to 6.1% in April, 2021. Although we continue to add back jobs slowly, we still have a long way to go to be where we were before COVID. The GDP has rebounded very quickly as first half output rose the fastest it has in the last 80 years. As we move closer to fall, we expect hiring to increase as kids go to school and unemployment benefits expire. This should help continue the economy’s growth and keep consumer spending strong into the second half of 2021.

Strong Market Through the 1st Half of 2021

Large cap equities had their 10th best first half of the year in the past 40 years. Small cap equities had an even better half as the economy continues to rebound from the pandemic. There were also very few bumps in the market in the first half with the largest pull back of 4% happening twice. Although the overall market did not have any large downturns, there were certain sectors where we did see corrections even though the overall market never really showed that as a whole. While we expect more volatility in the short term, we still believe markets still have some room to grow over the next half of the year. Corporate earnings are expected to rise more than 30% in 2021 which will help lower the high valuations we are currently seeing.

Quiz:

Quiz

What was the first year that CPI was published in the United States?.  (Scroll Down for Answer)

  1.    1876
  2.    1902
  3.    1913
  4.    1921

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer below.

 

 

Have a Great Week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer:

   4.   Although we have CPI data starting in 1913, the first time an index was published for the United States for CPI was in 1921.