2 Outta 12 – Still Pretty Sweet
Today’s blog will be a little short since I’m just returning from the Barron’s Top Independent Advisor Conference where I was honored to be a panel speaker on Friday morning. This was my 4th Barron’s conference and the energy about the independent advisor space was inspiring and encouraging.
On to a quick market review.
Friday’s ultimately (since it sold off early in the day) positive market action was not enough to bring the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) up for the week to end a winner. So over the past 12 weeks, we logged our second loser, but the S&P 500 is still up over 11% for the year.
That’s a pretty nice year so far…and as of this writing we have a little bit of a rally going on today.
For the week, the DJIA lost -1.15% to 13,081, the S&P 500 lost -0.50% to 1,397, but the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.41% to 3,068. The Russell 2000 Index, which tracks the performance of small capitalization stocks, was basically flat finishing down 0.02% to 830.
There will be a lot of news this week as the Supreme Court considers the Affordable Care Act. There is plenty of time to take it all in since a decision is not due until late June. Most legal experts think a full repeal of the law remains unlikely. There are a lot of people touting the Health Care sector as an investment idea on the anticipation that the Act will be repealed. We think that this is akin to betting and think it may be a foolish investment thesis for the disciplined investor.
So, if you are looking for that kind of action, go to Atlantic City – it’s probably more fun, especially with that huge new hotel opening up.
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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 is an unmanaged index generally comprised of companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
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....
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