Affinity "Mark" et Minute - October 1, 2015

Affinity “Mark” et Minute – October 1, 2015

Investment Commentary – September 30th, 2015
Dow 16,285 (-8.63 % YTD)
S&P 500 1,920 (-6.74% YTD)
NASDAQ 4,620 (0.35% YTD)
Global Dow 2,247 (52 week low 2,203/high 2,644)
10-year Treasury 2.05 (52 week low 1.64/high 2.52)
Gold $1,115 (52 week low $1,074/high $1,310)
Oil $45.48 (52 week low $38.51/high $87.14)

“U.S. economy expands more than expected”

On Friday, reports showed that the U.S. economy expanded at a 3.9% annual rate in the second quarter, which was more than previously estimated, boosted by gains in consumer spending and construction.
T. Rowe Price Chief U.S. Economist Alan Levenson said he expects final third-quarter demand to be strong. “Available evidence indicates that core demand (consumer spending, residential, and business fixed investment) sustained this steady growth pace through the third quarter, continuing the recovery from the first quarter’s subpar 2.0% advance in core demand,” Levenson said.

“Why You Should Stay the Course during Market Volatility”

KEY POINTS

Although volatility is an inevitable part of investing, markets may reward those who stick to a
long-term strategy.

From January 1, 1926, to December 31, 2014, the S&P 500 Index has produced positive returns in every rolling 15-calendar year period.

Your portfolio’s stock/bond allocation should reflect your investment time horizon and tolerance for risk—for most investors, stocks play a more prominent role with longer time-horizons. In general, the longer your horizon, the more prominent role stocks should play.

Diversifying your portfolio with a wide range of stocks and bonds can help you manage volatility and market uncertainty, although diversification is not a guarantee that you won’t lose money.

“Investors look past weak Chinese data”

Investors largely looked past news that manufacturing in China contracted at the fastest pace in more than six years. The recent data, which further underlined the weakness in the world’s second-largest economy, came out shortly after China’s President Xi Jinping tried to send reassuring signals during a U.S. visit about the health of the Chinese economy. In a policy speech at the start of his visit, Xi insisted the Chinese economy was operating within the “proper range” with a growth rate of 7%. He also defended Beijing’s August intervention in stock markets, as well as the decision to carry out a small devaluation of the Chinese currency and the move to a new exchange rate mechanism. T. Rowe Price sovereign analysts say they expect that China will likely experience a soft economic landing because the country’s policymakers have a number of tools at their disposal to manage the economy.

The views presented are not intended to be relied on as a forecast, research or investment advice and are the opinions of the sources cited and are subject to change based on subsequent developments. They are not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy.

http://individual.troweprice.com/public/Retail/Planning-&-Research/T.-Rowe-Price-Insights/Market-Analysis/Weekly-Wrap-Ups
http://individual.troweprice.com/public/Retail/Planning-&-Research/T.-Rowe-Price-Insights/Personal-Finance/Why-You-Should-Stay-the-Course-During-Market-Volatility
http://individual.troweprice.com/public/Retail/Planning-&-Research/T.-Rowe-Price-Insights/Market-Analysis/Weekly-Wrap-Ups

About the Author: Mark Roberts

In addition to managing clients’ money and giving investment and diversification advice, Mark offers something that “the other guys” don’t - a unique approach to Retirement Tax Strategies and distribution. Time and time again, Mark meets with new clients who tell him they have a great relationship with their financial advisor but have never been offered information on this kind of approach to securing their financial futures. Mark has taken this feedback to heart and works tirelessly to ensure that his strategies focus on taxes and distribution. Mark started selling insurance for a major insurance company right out of high school to help put himself through college. After graduating with a degree in finance, he dove into estate planning on the financial side to set himself apart from other financial advisors. However, as changes were made to estate tax laws over time, Mark shifted his focus to income tax strategies. Mark’s philosophy is “the blue prints are more important than the wall paper or carpet.” The wall paper and carpet represent products like investments and insurance policies, whereas the blue prints represent the strategies. Once strategies that truly fit the client’s needs are put in place, our focus can shift to providing you with the right products. According to Mark, “It doesn’t matter what carpet we use if the walls are not in the right place.” Our approach to money management is designed to generate the largest alpha (quality) with the lowest standard deviation and beta (risk). By doing this, we help provide clients with the highest return on the lowest risk. Generating income for our retirees is also very important. Because withdrawing money from your portfolio hurts the account rather than helping it, our goal is to design income strategies to harm the portfolio the least making the money last longer.

Affinity “Mark” et Minute – October 1, 2015

Affinity “Mark” et Minute – October 1, 2015

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About the Author: Mark Roberts