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Income investors
Funny thing about investors—seasoned as well as newbies. For some reason they imagine, hope for and quite often expect annual returns that just aren’t likely to happen. Call it dreaming. Call it denial. Call it believing a sales pitch. Call it whatever you’d like but it turns out believing less is more is better for your psyche that expecting more and getting less.
But hasn’t expecting less always been a sound route to take in everything life and money related?
On that money score, Lisa Abramowicz wrote a piece for Bloomberg.com titled, “Stop Fooling Yourself About 8% Easy Returns”. The piece focuses on the results of a Legg Mason, Inc. survey of fixed-income investors.
Most were expecting average annual returns of 8.6%. Those still working expected 9%.
Both are in-your-dreams like state of annual return hopes. Unless, of course, your dreams are risky and racy.
Want to maybe be kinda sorta happy with your annual and longer term investment returns—fixed income or otherwise? Then think somewhere in the neighborhood of 5%—give or take.
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Market Quick Glance
Any short-term investor and day trader looking for sound evidence that this market is headed in one direction or another probably understands better than most that each day is a new day. And as such, brings with it new opportunities and financial challenges and rewards.
Long-term investors would be wise to remember that as well.
Below are the weekly and 1-year index performance results— including the dates each reached new highs— according to data from CNBC.com. Data is based on prices at the close of business for the week ending on Friday, June 23, 2017.
-DJIA + 8.26% YTD up a hair from last week’s +8.21%
- 1 yr Rtn +18.79% down from last week’s 20.59%
The DJIA reached a new all-time high of 21,535.03 on June 20, 2017. (Previous high of 21,391.97 reached on June 14, 2017; before it 21,305.35 on June 9, 2017; 21,225.04 on June 2, 2017; and 21,169.11 on March 1, 2017.)
-S&P 500 +8.91% YTD up a hair from last week’s 8.68%
- 1yr Rtn +15.38% down a chuck from last week’s +17.09%
The S&P 500 reached a new all-time high of 2,453.82 on June 19,2017. (Previous high of 2,446.2 was reached on June 9, 2017. Before that 2,440.23 was reached on June 2, 2017; 2,418.71 reached on May 25, 2017; 2,405.77 reached on May 16, 2017; 2403.87 on May 9, 2017; 2,400.98 reached on March 1, 2017.)
-NASDAQ +16.39% YTD up attractively from last week’s +14.28%
- 1yr Rtn +27.60% up from last week’s 26.97%
The Nasdaq reached its most recent new all-time high of 6,341.7 on June 9, 2017. (Previous highs include: 6,308.76 on June 2; 6,217.34 reached on May 25; 6,170,16 on May 16; 6,133 on May 9, 2017; 6102.72 on May 2, 2017; 6074.04 on April 28, 2017; and 5,936.39 on April 5, 2017.)
-Russell 2000 +4.25% YTD up a tidy amount from last week’s +3.65%
- 1yr Rtn +20.69% down from last week’s +22.52%
The Russell 2000 reached its latest all-time high of 1,433.789 on June 9, 2017. (Previous highs include 1,425.7 reached on April 26, 2017 and of 1,414,82 reached on March 1, 2017.)
-Mutual funds
No big change in the average total return for funds that fall under the broad heading of U.S. Diversified Equity Fund. At the close of business on Thursday, June 22, 2017 the average equity fund’s year-to-date return was 7.57%. The previous week’s figure was 7.58%.
Those looking for attractive returns found them in World Equity Funds. Year-to-date the average return for the 4,533 funds under this heading was 15.28%. Wouldn’t you just love to lock a return like that in for the year?
The biggest scorers were India Region Funds, up on average 26.84%; Pacific Ex Japan Funds, 21.83%; China Region Funds, 21.46%;; and International Small/Mid-Cap Growth Funds, at 18.52%.
There are 26 different fund categories under that heading and only three of them had average total returns of under 10%. They were Latin American Funds, 9.61%; Global Multi-Cap Funds, 9.11%; and Global Equity Income Funds, 9.00%.
Visit www.allaboutfunds.com for more information about how various equity and fixed-income funds have rewarded investors over the short-and long-term, based upon Lipper data. Short-term meaning weekly and monthly performance returns; longer-term includes quarterly, year-to-date, 1-yr, 2-yr, 3-yr and 5-yr returns.
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This could make you sick
Fingers crossed that the revised health-care plan the Senate has proposed will not get enough votes to pass. If it does, the poor, elderly and sick will become poorer and health care costs and premiums will continue to go up as they always have. Additionally, grandma will likely be asking you if she can move in as a number of those who need full-time care in nursing homes will get the boot.
And don’t believe the way too bleached blonde Kellyanne Conway who says those on Medicaid who lose health care coverage can always get a job with a company that has health insurance and will cover them. That’s just plain poppycock and simply not true. It’s also a perfect example of how out of touch this White House and its administration is with millions upon millions of people who make up our population in America.
So, if you’re looking for some startling data on where in the country and in which states a repeal of Obamacare would impact people the most, BusinessInsider.com can help. In a story titled, “MAP: Areas of the US where an Obamacare repeal would hit the heardest”, are two maps worth looking at.
In one map you will see the areas in the U.S. where a repeal of Obamacare would impact people the most. In the second is a state by state look. Do check out both.
The story and the maps can be found here: http://www.businessinsider.com/where-obamacare-repeal-would-hit-the-hardest-map-2017-6
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