For the week ending Feb. 27, 2016
- Good news for snail-mailers
Yahoo! Come April 10, a first-class stamp will only cost 47 cents instead of its current 49-cent price, according to CNNMoney.com.
When that happens it will be the first time in 97 years that the price of a stamp will have been decreased. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is the 2-cent savings per stamp is estimated to cost the Post Office $2 billion a year.
So why do it?
According to the Feb. 26th CNNMoney story, “The reduction is part of a pre-arranged agreement with Congress. The Post Office got to increase the price of stamps by 3 cents in 2014 to help it raise $4.6 billion in revenue. But the price hike was only set to last two years. (It gets to keep one cent of the increase to keep up with inflation)….”
How’s that for not making a lot of cents.
- Market Quick Glance
-Indices:
Below are year-to-date performance figures for the major indices through February 26, 2016 according to Bloomberg. To provide a longer performance perspective, 1-year returns have been added.
–Dow Jones -3.97% YTD
1yr Rtn -5.85 %
-S&P 500 -4.31% YTD
1yr Rtn -5.43%
–NASDAQ -8.11%YTD
1yr Rtn -6.34%
-Russell 2000 -8.52% YTD
1yr Rtn -14.71%
If year-to-date performances are any indication of a trend, all four market indices are doing better. For how long, however, remains to be seen.
-Mutual funds
Through Thursday, February 25, 2016 the average U.S.Diversified Equity fund was down 6.03 percent, year-to-date, according to Lipper.
Without sounding like a broken record, Dedicated Short Bias funds continue to be the top performing fund type under the General Equity Funds heading. They were up on average 8.18 percent. And, Diversified Leveraged funds down the most, off 12.11percent on average. In both instances the high return isn’t as high as it was last week and the down group not off as much.
Precious Metal funds also continue to be top performers under the World Equity Funds heading—up on average almost 33.38 percent. That figure is about 4 percent higher than last week’s.
Visit www.allaboutfunds.com for weekly updates to see how 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.
Lipper’s weekly performance figures for stock and fixed-income funds are at www.allaboutfunds.com in the left column on the home page.
-Vizualization pays off
Having a war chest fat enough to cover the cost of the decades many will live in retirement is no easy task. And often unattainable.
But not to worry, there’s hope in imagining.
Results from a recent TDBank survey found that people who visualize stuff—either through imaginations or via photos and vision boards—have an easier time succeeding at meeting their goals. Even financial ones.
Of the 1,100 people in the study, 38 percent reported better financial health when they visualized things.
From the CBSNEWS.com story: “Financial advisors may tell you to keep your emotions out of money, but the psychologists will tell you that’s impossible,” said Dr. Barbara Nusbaum, a psychologist who partnered with TD Bank to analyze the study. “You’re better off bringing emotions in positively to help your financial planning.”
Huh.
So why not give picturing a try. It won’t cost you anything and who knows, it could be rewarding.
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allaboutfundsdotcom 