81 Search Results for: covid
-
Market Commentary: GDP Surges After Stimulus, Fed Reiterates Low Interest Rates
U.S. GDP surged an annualized 6.4% in the first quarter (Figure 1). Two rounds of government stimulus helped the economy climb within 0.9% of its all-time high. If expected growth is included, the economy remains 3.7% below pre-COVID trends. Personal income jumped 21.1% from February as a second round of stimulus checks pushed money out to most Americans. Spending increased as well, but not as much as income. Personal consumption rose 4.2%, and services consumption, hindered by COVID concerns, rose only 2.2%.
Read more -
Market Commentary: S&P Shows Strong Growth as Housing Prices Continue to Climb
S&P 500 earnings are exceeding elevated expectations. Before earnings season began, S&P 500 earnings were expected to grow 23.6% as businesses rallied from lower earnings during the COVID shutdowns from one year ago. Based on the first quarter of companies reporting, earnings are now expected to grow more than 33.8%, and revenue is now expected to rise 7.5%.
Read more -
Nourish Series
Monthly Webinars to Bring You Greater Financial & Personal Nourishment We got such great feedback from our fall Nourish webinar series and spring COVID videos, that we decided to develop a new live monthly webinar to help bring you more ways to find ease, clarity, and nourishment in your personal and financial lives. Together over the course of the year we are going to bring you discussions with nationally recognized wellness and financial educators to explore important wellness and financial topics. We’ll talk about health strategies, healthy cooking, sustainable investing, how to write your ethical will, medicare, education planning,…read the full article
Read more -
April Letter from Bob & Kerry: COVID A Year Later; Avoiding 7 Retirement Traps
Happy April! We hope you are staying healthy and nourished as we move into Spring. As we continue to talk with many of you during our reviews, it’s become clear that many of you are cautiously optimistic about the markets but also understand that the road could continue to be a little bumpy. In our April letter, we thought it would be helpful to share some thoughts on the last year, as well as a few thoughts for those of you near/approaching retirement.
Read more -
Market Commentary: Inflation Could Be On the Horizon, Service Businesses Make a Comeback
Producer prices climbed 4.2% last week (Figure 1). Energy prices contributed to the largest gain since the index rose 4.5% in September 2011. The jobs market continues to see a high level of initial jobless claims while steady progress is being made in reducing the number of unemployed receiving continuing benefits. Last week initial claims rose 16,000 to 744,000 and continuing claims dipped by 16,000 to 3.7 million.
Read more -
Market Commentary: Jobs Market Shatters Expectations, Housing Prices on the Rise
The U.S. jobs market roared back to life in March. The economy added or reclaimed 916,000 jobs, shattering expectations of a 150,000 increase. Workers being recalled or hired to fill openings at restaurants and bars contributed 176,000 jobs to March’s gains. Previous months were revised higher by 156,000.
Read more -
Market Commentary: Personal Income Fell in February, Stimulus Clouds Underlying Economic Health
Slow improvement in economic data is being masked by the surging nature of government support. The gush of personal income growth in January was followed by a 7.1% decline in February. March will likely surge again with the latest round of stimulus. Employee compensation, which excludes government payments, was flat last month and has increased 0.2% over the last year.
Read more -
Market Commentary: Retail Sales Fell After January Stimulus Surge, Don’t Expect Interest Rate Hike
Retail sales were unable to keep pace with a stimulus-induced surge. Retail and food service sales dropped 3% in February after spiking 7.6% in January. The January data was revised 2.3% higher than first reported. Core retail sales, which exclude autos, gasoline, and restaurants, fell even farther, dropping 3.4%. Over the last year, core retail sales have increased 10.7%.
Read more -
Market Commentary: Biden Signs Stimulus Bill, U.S. Surpasses 100 Million Vaccine Doses, Recovery Continues
Events are aligning to give the U.S. economy a big boost. The Biden administration approved a $1.9 trillion stimulus package that will provide immediate relief to millions of American households. Last week the U.S. surpassed 100 million vaccine doses, and expectations are the U.S. will be vaccinating all age ranges by mid-late April.
Read more -
Rebate Checks, Child Tax Credits, Unemployment Benefits and More: What You Need to Know about the $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Package
The latest stimulus package – signed into law Thursday by the Biden Administration – is built to boost the middle class and low-income Americans, the goal being of course to speed up economic recovery.
Read more