It's time for the Monthly Market Update! Hear what's happening in the markets and how it may affect you, featuring Laurence Hale, AAMS®, CRPS®. #YouAndYourMoney #MonthlyMarketUpdate
Welcome to the monthly Market Update on You and Your Money. Empowering you to reach your goals with tips and insights to help you Plan Well, Invest Well and Live Well. I'm Jim Zahansky, principal, managing partner and chief goal strategist at Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors. This month's market update comes from Laurence Hale, principal, managing partner and chief investment officer at Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors. Now on to today's topic. Today we have Laurence Hale, principal, managing partner and chief investment officer at Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors. Lawrence, always good to have you on the air. Good morning to you. It's great to be here, Wayne. The usual way we start the program is give us the latest news from the financial markets. What do you got? Well, you know, the first quarter of 2023 is in the books and it's been a pretty good one to start. Markets have generally been up, but necessarily all at the same rate. Standard and Poor's 500 index is up about 7.3%. The Dow is only up .7%. The Nasdaq up just under 17. The bond market is actually posting some positive figures as rates are higher. And we've seen them drop a little bit so far this year. So the Bloomberg aggregate bond index is up about 2.9%. And even international markets are posting some positive numbers with the MSCI EPA up about 8.4%. So, you know, there's a lot of economic data coming out. Consumer confidence is up a little bit. We're seeing the job market soften just slightly as well as wages. And I think that's giving the market some optimism that the Fed may start slowing down or maybe at the end of their rate increases, trying to combat inflation. Right I wanted to ask about the rate increases for the Fed. Are those done to control inflation? What's the effect those have on the market itself? And is that one reason why the markets have done better? Well, you know, the markets are always forward looking, so they're anticipating what might be coming six, 12, 18 months or even longer down the road. So, you know, definitely the Fed has made it clear that their mandate is to control inflation. And that seems to be the case, despite some of the headlines around the banking issues over the last month or two. However, you know, the fact that they only raised 25 basis points or one quarter of 1% most recently. And they are definitely aware of the tightening conditions as a result of both the banking issues as well as the job market is making them be a little bit more deliberate as they as they consider whether or not to raise rates. We have seen inflation numbers start to slow down and inflation is a lot lower than it was about a year ago. But, you know, there are pockets of it. And I think we we still have a little bit of time ahead of us before the Fed can breathe a sigh of relief and say, hey, job well done. That's it for this month's updates. As always, thanks for listening to You and Your Money and find even more episodes, videos and other resources at our web site 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 St. 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 customize financial planning with Weiss, Hale and Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors, please visit. www.whzwealth.com.