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•Trading places
It appears as though President Trump has a bug across his bum. One that insists America gets involved in war. Some kind of war. Any kind of war. The latest is focused on trade wars.
Most people aren’t keen on wars. They are always destructive, cost millions upon millions of dollars and impact thousands of individuals in a not-so-positive fashion. In other words, there’s basically nothing to like about a war. And none of them are ever easy to win.
So whether it be a war amongst nations or one over trade, there are always losers no matter which camp one is in. Except, of course, for the political, corporate and business profit-takers whose see their coffers bulge as a result of the woes of war.
Although most presidents rely on history to be a guide to understanding current situations, Trump, I’ve read, is said not to be much of a reader. But if he were, he might recall one time in our history when President Thomas Jefferson, through the Embargo Act, cut off all international trade with Europe. That was back in 1807. The result was, one year after those actions were taken, America’s economy collapsed and Congress repealed the act.
Will someone please tell President Trump that? America has enough economic problems to deal with without him intentionally starting a war.
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Market Quick Glance
All cleaned up. Whew. That was quick.
Last week I wrote that if you had invested into an S&P 500 index fund or one that tracks the Russell 2000 you wouldn’t have made any money this year. But that was last week. This year, it’s a much different—and more profitable—story.
When the markets closed on Friday it was a clean plus-side return sweep for all the indices followed here. One index, Nasdaq, even hit a new all-time high. And the Russell 2000 gained heaps.
Below are the weekly and 1-year index performance results for four major indices— including the dates each reached new highs—according to CNBC.com based on prices at the close of business on Friday, March 9, 2018.
–DJIA 2.49%% YTD up from the previous week’s -0.73%
- 1 yr Rtn 21.21% up from the previous week’s 16.83%
Most recent DJIA all-time high was reached on January 26, 2018 of 26,616.71. The previous high was reached January 18, 2018 was 26,153.42.
-S&P 500 4.22% YTD up from last week’s 0.66%
- 1 yr Rtn 17.83% up from last week’s 12.99%
The S&P 500 reached its most recent all-time high on January 26, 2018 of 2,872.87. The previous high was reached on January 19, 2018 of 2810.33.
-NASDAQ 5.13 YTD up from last week’s 5.13%
- 1yr Rtn 28.99% way up from last week’s 23.83%
Nasdaq stepped out reaching a brand new all-time high on March 9, 2018 of 7,560.81. The previous high of 7,505.77 was reached on January 26, 2018.
-Russell 2000 4.01%YTD up significantly from last week’s –0.15%
- 1yr Rtn 16.98% up lots from last week’s 9.85%
The Russell 2000 reached an all-time high on January 24, of 1,615.52. The previous high was reached on January 16, 2018 of 1,604.02.
-Mutual funds
What a difference five trading days can make.
It didn’t take long for the year-to-date average cumulative total reinvested returns for equity funds to gain some strength. And, as of Thursday, March 8, 2018, the average fund that falls under the broad U.S. Diversified Equity Funds heading was on the plus-side of things: 0.57%. That’s up from the previous week’s average return of -0.31%, according to Lipper.
It’s Large-Cap Growth Funds that led this pack’s performance with an average year-to-date return of 5.50%.
Behind it came Multi-Cap Growth Funds at 4.49%. Then, Mid-Cap Growth Funds, 2.55%.
Small-Cap Value and Dedicated Short Bias Funds lost the most ground, with and average return for funds falling under those headings of -3.64% and-3.40% respectfully.
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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Time changes
It appears that some Floridians have become fed up with the spring-ahead fall-back time changes. So, the powers that be are considering bowing out.
Trouble is, the idea might sound appealing but the reality of what would happen as a result isn’t.
Here’s one example: Floridians would have to forget becoming a part of any New Year’s Eve celebrations with the big ball dropping at 12 midnight. While the ball may be falling in New York City at that hour, it would take another hour for it to hit ground for those living in Florida.
Doubt many in Florida would go for that. Citizens in the Sunshine State are already confused enough.
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