Market Commentary

from our Chief Investment Officer, Chris Proctor.

Consumers continue to drive economic growth.
YTD and one-year market returns look very different.
We continue to stress importance of using proper risk in your portfolios.
Geo-political events cause short term market volatility that historically recovers in a matter of weeks, depending on the severity.
Economic growth in 2019 is still in line with annualized gains experienced since the economic recovery began in 2009.

June was an historic month for stocks!
U.S. economy is slowing but growing.
Corporate profit growth is expected to contract for the first three quarters of 2019.
The Federal Reserve is expected to lower interest rates this year.
Recession risk is widely discussed but likely avoided in the near term.
This month marks the longest U.S. economic expansion on record.

The US is currently experiencing the longest economic expansion since World War II.
As of March 31, 2019, the S&P 500 had its best quarterly performance since 1998. This follows December 2018 that was the worst December for the US stock market since 1931.
The US economy grew 3 percent in 2018 and is expected to slow but grow in 2019. Expectations for inflation are relatively low despite a strong labor market.
A US-China trade agreement, Federal Reserve interest rate policy, US corporate earnings, Brexit and global economic growth are some of the primary uncertainties that continue to affect daily market sentiment.
We have recently reduced or eliminated small cap stocks, natural resources and some international exposure to reduce volatility and ideally provide better downside protection if a meaningful correction occurs in the equity market.