You & Your Money

Monthly Market Update | March, 2023

March 15, 2023 Laurence Hale, AAMS® CRPS® Season 2 Episode 10
You & Your Money
Monthly Market Update | March, 2023
Show Notes Transcript

It's that time of the month again! Hear what's happening in the markets and how it may affect you in our latest Monthly Market Update, featuring Laurence Hale, AAMS®, CRPS®.

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I'm Jim Zahansky, principal, managing partner and chief goal strategist at Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors. And here's this month's Market Update. Take it away, Laurence. Laurence, what do you got in the way of how the market is behaving lately? Well, you know, markets have started the year much stronger than they ended the year last year. But we've seen some retreat. As you know, markets are down a little bit. Equity markets a little bit softer in the month of February as we're still remaining focused on Federal Reserve interest rate policy and their fight against inflation. And when you look at how markets have actually performed so far this year, we've seen bonds in positive territory, although rates have backed up and those have fallen a little bit recently. Then equities, in terms of where those stand, we see S&P 500 index in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up around 2%, S&P up around 3. And one story that that isn't making a lot of headlines is international markets are actually some of the strongest equity markets so far this year with the MSCI IFA up a little over 5% as we've seen the dollar devalue against foreign currencies. So not a bad start to the year, but we expect it to continue to be volatile as the Fed lands on where interest rate increases will stop. We don't usually have the two guys on, but Jim Zahansky you want to chime in on your thoughts on what's been going on in the last month with the markets. You know, we look at the market performance and the economic performance in what we call our investment committee. We had a meeting just last week. So most of those insights Laurence just brought you are coming from that investment committee, and that's how we position the portfolios we're managing for clients. But I mean, I think the thing that I would add to it is, you know, the factors that are driving markets are pretty similar over the last few years as we're sort of battling this high inflation scenario. And monetary policy is trying to combat that with increasing interest rates. So, you know, your listeners and all of us are paying higher prices. And so for debt for for gas, for food, and that starts to happen listeners just need to really think about where they're positioning their money and, you know, especially if they're in their retirement accounts and in their portfolios, just make sure that they're paying attention to at least looking at how their portfolios are positioned and are they positioned for success in this type of environment. That's all the updates we have for now. As always, thanks for listening to You and Your Money and find even more episodes, videos and other resources at our website whzwealth.com. Be sure to come back next week for more tips to help you live fearlessly and pursue your financial and life goals. Until then, live well. Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors offer securities and advisory services through Commonwealth Financial Network member FINRA, SIPC, a registered investment advisor. Fixed insurance products and services offered through CSC Insurance Agency. They practice at 697 Pomfret Street, Pomfret Center, Connecticut, 06259 and can be reached at 860-928-2341. Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors do not provide legal or tax advice. The tenured financial services team strive to support clients in achieving their financial life goals. For more information regarding wealth management and customized financial planning with Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors, please visit. WWW.whzwealth.com.