Gamecocks beat the #1 ranked Alabama Tide and other important financial market news

I’m often accused of not being able to help myself, this is one of those times – congratulations to all the South Carolina Gamecock fans everywhere, it was an historic win for our program and a moment for all University of South Carolina fans to relish.

Be sure to check out the Monument Wealth Management weekly column on U.S. News & World Report.  Last Friday’s column was one of the Top 5 most read articles on Yahoo Finance.  Posted every Friday, you can read the column here.

Earnings season is now underway, with Alcoa kicking things off last week alongside better than expected earnings and increased revenue.  However, it was the bad news about jobs that really got the market’s approval as stocks expressed optimism over one thing in particular.

The poor jobs report on Friday showed a gain of +64,000 private sector jobs but a cut in government jobs, specifically at the state and local governments levels, This created a net loss of -95,000 jobs overall and further increases the probability that the Fed will take additional action to stimulate the economy when they meet in November – more on that below.

The equity markets finished higher across the board last week with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) finishing above 11,000 for the first time since May.  The DJIA gained 1.63% to finish the week at 11,006, the S&P 500 Index gained 1.65% to finish at 1,165 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.31% to finish at 2,402.  The Russell 2000, which measures smaller capitalization stocks, gained 2.14% to finish at 693.82.

Ahh – the start of a new fresh quarter can only mean one thing – IT’S EARNINGS SEASON!!!  We think we will see another strong earnings season from the 3rd quarter; however, many analysts are beginning to show concern that the earnings out into 2011 will slow down on the weakened economic picture.  However, watch for companies starting to guide expectations of growth down in 2011 as they release their earnings over the next several weeks.  It’s only natural to see expectations for growth ratchet down given the pull back in GDP growth over the last quarter.

It looks like the Fed is poised to keep easing interest rates until we see growth and, quite frankly, some inflation.  The Fed will lower interest rates by printing money and then using that money to purchase government bonds and other debt in the open market.  The simple law of supply and demand takes over from there – the government creates demand for the bonds by purchasing them.  The price of bonds will increase as demand increases (and their supply decreases).  Because bond prices and interest rates move in opposite directions, this increase in bond prices forces the interest rates down.

The market seems to think that this will be an effective program and benefit most asset classes…except the U.S. Dollar.  Again, a simple supply and demand will be at work.  When the Fed prints more money, the supply of dollars goes up and the price comes down.

Call us for help or if you have any questions.

Securities and Financial Planning offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor.  Member FINRA/SIPC

**Standard Compliance Disclosures
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.  To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing.  All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.  All indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.  Stock investing involves risk including loss of principal.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average is comprised of 30 stocks that are major factors in their industries, and widely held by individuals and institutional investors. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index (S&P 500) is an unmanaged capitalization weighted index of 500 stocks designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries. The NASDAQ Composite Index measures all domestic and non-U.S. based common stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market. The market value, the last sale price multiplied by total shares outstanding, is calculated throughout the trading day, and is related to the total value of the Index. The Russell 2000 Small Stock Index is an unmanaged index generally representative of the 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index.  The Russell 2000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.

Get Monument #Unfiltered: Our Free Private Wealth Newsletter

Our no B.S. wealth advice delivered 2x per month, max. Tuned specifically for busy, high-net-worth business professionals and investors who want straightforward advice without the fluff.

David B. photo

David B. Armstrong, CFA

President & Co-Founder

Dave got into the industry when he discovered his passion for finance in his mid-20’s. He’s a combat veteran and served as an officer in the United States Marines Corps on both active duty and in the reserves, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. While serving on active duty, Dave was unable to spend money on deployments, so he became a self-taught investor. Along with a few bucks cash as a bouncer, his investing performance grew to be good....

Learn more ...

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION

Please remember that past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by Monument Capital Management, LLC [“Monument”]), or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this blog will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful.  Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions.  Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this blog serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Monument. To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing. No amount of prior experience or success should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if Monument is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. Monument is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the blog content should be construed as legal or accounting advice.

A copy of Monument’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available for review upon request or at www.monumentwealthmanagement.com/disclosures. Please Note: Monument does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to Monument’s website or blog or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility for any such content. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly.

Historical performance results for investment indices, benchmarks, and/or categories have been provided for general informational/comparison purposes only, and generally do not reflect the deduction of transaction and/or custodial charges, the deduction of an investment management fee, nor the impact of taxes, the incurrence of which would have the effect of decreasing historical performance results.  It should not be assumed that your Monument account holdings correspond directly to any comparative indices or categories. Please Also Note: (1) performance results do not reflect the impact of taxes; (2) comparative benchmarks/indices may be more or less volatile than your Monument accounts; and, (3) a description of each comparative benchmark/index is available upon request.

Please Remember: If you are a Monument client, please contact Monument, in writing, if there are any changes in your personal/financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services, or if you would like to impose, add, or to modify any reasonable restrictions to our investment advisory services.  Unless, and until, you notify us, in writing, to the contrary, we shall continue to provide services as we do currently. Please Also Remember to advise us if you have not been receiving account statements (at least quarterly) from the account custodian.