It’s time to refinance your mortgages and any other “fixed-rate” loans. Interest rates have plummeted. The interest rates used by mortgage lenders to set mortgage interest rates have not been this low for over 60 years. Interest rates can vary rapidly and the size of the move can be large. Thus, we recommend you move quickly to refinance.
Contact our office if you wish to discuss your situation, various strategies, and how to save money on your refinancing.
Most of the time, the U.S. stock market looks to 3 factors (call them the “pillars” which support the stock market) to support its upward trend – let’s grade each of the pillars.
CONSUMER SPENDING: This grade is A- (very favorable). Favorable activity in the housing market continues to support growth in the level of spending.
THE FED AND ITS POLICIES: This factor is rated B (favorable). The U.S. economy can handle higher rates as long as the pace of future interest rate increases is slow. Fed Chair Janet Yellen made clear in her press conference after the June meeting that the path higher would be “gradual”. And, the BREXIT vote has reduced the possibility of a rate rise soon.
The Fed’s plan to gradually raise rates in the coming years won’t derail the economy and brings some certainty to the market, says Morningstar’s Bob Johnson.
BUSINESS PROFITABILITY: This factor’s grade is a C- (below average). Next week, corporations will start to release their second quarter corporate-earnings reports. We will monitor this closely.
OTHER CONCERNS: The “Heat Map” is indicating the U.S. stock market is in OK shape ASSUMING no international crisis. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest level of crisis, we rate these international risks collectively as a 4, a decrease from last week. These risks deserve our ongoing attention.
Last week, U.S. Stocks, Foreign Stocks and Bonds all increased. During the last 12 months, BONDS outperformed STOCKS.
|
Returns through 7-1-2016 |
1-week |
Y-T-D |
1-Year |
3-Years |
5-Years |
10-Years |
|
Bonds- BarCap Aggregate Index |
.8 |
5.5 |
6.6 |
4.1 |
3.8 |
5.2 |
|
US Stocks-Standard & Poor’s 500 |
3.3 |
4.1 |
3.5 |
11.5 |
11.8 |
7.4 |
|
Foreign Stocks- MS EAFE Developed Countries |
3.5 |
-3.7 |
-10.1 |
2.0 |
1.7 |
1.6 |
Source: Morningstar Workstation. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Three, five and ten year returns are annualized excluding dividends.
The show airs on WDIY Wednesday evenings, from 6-7 p.m. The show is hosted by Valley National’s Laurie Siebert CPA, CFP®, AEP®. This week Laurie will discuss:
“Having Financial Conversations with Family and Why”
Laurie will take your calls on these topics and other inquiries this week. Questions may be submitted early through www.yourfinancialchoices.com by clicking Contact Laurie. This show will be broadcast at the regular time. WDIY is broadcast on FM 88.1 for reception in most of the Lehigh Valley; and, it is broadcast on FM 93.9 in the Easton and Phillipsburg area– or listen to it online from anywhere on the internet. For more information, including how to listen to the show online, check the show’s website www.yourfinancialchoices.com and visit www.wdiy.org.
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
In just four trading days, beginning Tuesday, world equity markets recovered most of the ground lost following the June 23 Brexit vote. U.S. major stock indexes, which at one point had fallen 6% after the United Kingdom’s surprising decision to leave the European Union, finished near levels reached just before the referendum.
On the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 549 points to 17,949.37, up 3%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index jumped 66 to 2102.95. The Nasdaq Composite increased 3.3% to 4862.57.
After heavy selling the previous Friday and Monday, the market reversed course Tuesday, as further reflection allowed investors to revise their view of Brexit’s implications to “Let’s wait and see” from “Let’s dump stocks.” In the U.K. Thursday, the Bank of England signaled that further monetary stimulus is on the way, and some believe the European Central Bank will follow suit. Brexit means expected U.S. rate hikes are on hold, perhaps until 2017. High trading volume characterized the tumultuous week. By the lows Monday, the U.S. market had fallen nearly 6% before rebounding roughly the same amount. Financial stocks took the brunt of the uncertainty, falling 8% after the vote. Afterwards, the sector rebounded but still remains 2.6% below its pre-Brexit level.
Kevin Kelly, Recon Capital’s chief investment officer, says investors went from “feeling like they were walking on broken glass” to the view that it will take two years for the U.K. to leave the EU, so nothing has really fundamentally changed.
Near-term, the market will look for any potential Europe-derived fallout in U.S. corporate earnings, says David Donabedian, chief investment officer at Atlantic Trust. There’s an expectation that second-half U.S. profits will rebound, but that could be called into question if the European economy tanks, he says.
(Source: Barrons Online)