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Trading places
Lots of talking heads have lots of things to say about the likelihood of trade wars developing should the mighty US of A decide to let President Trump rule and impose additional tariffs on goods and services from places where tariffs already are in place.
In general, many talking heads agree that there is an imbalance in our trade agreement with China. And many think that getting into a tariff war with that country could be very disruptive and costly to us, as in the average consumer.
What’s important to remember is that no new tariffs have been imposed on any country, anywhere, yet.
It’s also important to remember that it’s really smart to remember to pick your battles.
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Market Quick Glance
Q: Dear Wise One:
Any perspective investors ought to keep in mind with respect to the markets’ recent volatility?
A: Yes.
Right now the stock market is as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers. And that’s just how it is. Today.
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, April 6, 2018.
–DJIA -3.18% YTD down more than the previous week’s -2.49%
- 1 yr Rtn 15.82% down from the previous week’s 16.28%
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 -2.59% YTD down more than last week’s -1.22%
- 1 yr Rtn 10.48% down from last week’s 11.52%
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 0.17% YTD down from last week’s 2.32%
- 1yr Rtn 17.62% down from last week’s 19.43%
Nasdaq reached a brand new all-time high on March 13, 2018 of 7,637.27. The previous high was reached on March 9, 2018 of 7,560.81.
-Russell 2000 -1.45% YTD down more than last week’s -0.40%
- 1yr Rtn 10.91% up a tiny bit from last week’s 10.64%
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
At the close of business on Thursday, April 4, 2018, the average fund that falls under the broad U.S. Diversified Equity Funds heading had a year-to-date return of +0.32%. That’s up—yes up—from the previous week’s average of -0.37%.
Large-Cap Growth and Small-Cap Growth funds were up on average well over 3% last week. Science & Technology Funds and Global Science & Technology Funds both up at 4.92 and 5.08% respectively.
Latin American Funds, too, were up—averaging almost 6% y-t-d.
The biggest loser fund type of all were Energy MLP, down on average -10.02%.
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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ETF returns
I heard Jack Bogle, Vanguard’s founder, point out that mutual funds have had better returns than exchange-traded funds, ETFs, a point I found worth thinking about. Seems the big push to advertise big time by various ETF brand families is one thing. But, out performing various categories of index funds however, is another.
So, while some consider the ability to buy and sell ETFs throughout the day –as one can do with both stocks and ETFs– is appealing, it isn’t necessariy financially rewarding.
One reason is that Bogle thinks ETFs could encourage individuals to trade their holdings more often rather than holding their investments for the long term. Doing so, he said makes it difficult for an investor/trader to outperform the market.
Good point.
Then again, Bogle loves index funds.
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allaboutfundsdotcom 