Financial Briefs – September
In the month of September our Financial Briefs Newsletter covers 8 questions your financial plan should answer, when can you retire, and also decisions regarding college funding.
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Financial Briefs Newsletter
Weekly Market Commentary
Weekly Marketing Commentary – Week 40
10/2/2023
In August, for the first time in two years, inflation (excluding volatile food and energy costs) dropped below four percent.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 39
9/25/2023
Just as the market anticipated, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) chose not to raise interest rates last week.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 38
9/19/2023
The performance of United States economy in 2023 has been as unexpected as a lentil-avocado-cinnamon smoothie – a tasty surprise.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 37
9/12/2023
2023 has been a remarkable year so far. It has, “confounded economists, humbled forecasters, and rewarded investors. Despite a rapid rise in interest rates, the U.S. economy continues to grow.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 36
9/6/2023
The Federal Reserve (Fed) often acts as a counterweight to the economy; raising and lowering interest rates to achieve its goals. Recently, the Fed has been raising rates to bring inflation down.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 35
8/29/2023
The Chinese government’s zero-COVID policy took the wind from the sails of its economy. When the government finally ended the policy earlier this year, many economists anticipated that pent-up consumer demand would refill China’s economic sails, lifting the global economy, reported Malcolm Scott of Bloomberg.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 34
8/22/2023
After more than a decade of near-zero interest rates, the “free money” era – a time when people and businesses could borrow money and repay it with very low (or no) interest – may be over.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 33
8/15/2023
After rising sharply in June and July, consumer sentiment leveled off this month. The preliminary August reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was 71.2.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 32
8/8/2023
Last week, Fitch Ratings startled markets by lowering the credit rating of United States Treasuries from AAA to AA+
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Weekly Market Commentary- Week 31
8/1/2023
Central bank palooza!
While music lovers attended concerts and festivals across the United States, central banks had a lollapalooza of their own. The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) led things off last Wednesday, followed by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday.
Weekly Market Commentary – Week 30
7/25/2023
In January of this year, the Bloomberg’s MLIV Pulse survey collected and shared investors’ expectations for stock markets. Survey participants were generally a gloomy group.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 29
7/18/2023
To the great relief of the Federal Reserve, the American economy has been experiencing “disinflation,” which is a slowdown in the rate of inflation.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 28
7/11/2023
Last week, investors parsed the monthly Employment Situation Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for clues about whether the Fed will raise the federal funds rate at its next meeting or leave the rate unchanged, reported Megan Leonhardt of Barron’s.
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Weekly Market Commentary – Week 27
7/5/2023
Throughout the first half of 2023, the U.S. economy and financial markets proved to be resilient – and so did investors. U.S. stock markets moved higher amid enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and expectations that the Federal Reserve’s tightening cycle might be near an end.
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