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It’s Earth Day
You don’t have to be a tree hugger to acknowledge and respect this incredible planet that we all inhabit. And, you don’t have to be a Rhode Scholar to know that each of us human beings have a roll to play in the management and maintanence of this grand globe we call home.
Knowing that, make sure to take some time today to go outside, take the phone away from your ears, the earbuds out and look around. Then, wherever you’re standing, be still for a minute and tune in to notice that you’ve got air to breathe, look up at the sky above, feel the earth below and be very much aware of the fact that in that moment of your personal time, all is well.
If that doesn’t move you to celebrate our magnificent planet Earth, see a shrink.
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Earnings Season
Hey everybody, it’s earnings season. Once again. And this week will be a hugely busy one as 140 of the S&P500 companies are scheduled to report their earnings—or lack of them—to the public and their shareholders.
If you’re a newbee investor, here’s a question: How often does earnings season roll around: A) Once a year; B) 2 times a year; C) 4 times a year; or D) 6 times a year; or E) every other year?
The correct answer is C, 4 times a year. Or quarterly. Each season typically begins a week or two after the last month of each quarter.
How a company’s earnings impacts your holdings can provide some insight into how well your investment pick is doing. Then again, unless you’re an active day trader, a quarterly earnings report might not amount to much of a hill of beans if you’re a long term investor in a well financed, well-managed and well established company.
But ain’t that always the case.
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Market Quick Glance
The stock market was closed on Friday, but Thursday’s closing numbers continued to reflect a performance many investors are pleased with as it’s still a double-digit year-to-date return world for the three indices followed here.
Below are the weekly and 1-year index performance results for the three major indices—DJIA, S&P 500 and NASDAQ — including the dates each reached new highs. Data is according to CNBC.com and based on prices at the close of business on Friday, April 18, 2019.
–DJIA 13.86% YTD up from the previous week’s 13.22%.
- 1 yr. Rtn 7.68% down from the previous week 7.88%
Most recent DJIA a new ALL-TIME CLOSING HIGH was reached on Oct.3, 2018 of 26,951.81. The previous high was reached on Sept. 21, 2018 of 26,796.16.
-S&P 500 15.88% YTD up from the previous week’s 15.39%
- 1 yr. Rtn 7.87% down from the previous week’s 8.633%.
The S&P 500 reached a BRAND NEW CLOSING ALL-TIME HIGH on Sept. 21, 2018 of 2,940.91. The previous closing high was reached on August 29, 2018 of 2,916.50.
-NASDAQ 20.54% YTD up a bit from last week’s 20.33%%
- 1yr Rtn 10.50% down and worth noticing from last week’s 11.82%.
Nasdaq reached a BRAND NEW 52-week CLOSING HIGH on August 30, 2018 of 8,1333.30. The previous high was reached on August 24, 2018 of 7,949.71.
-Mutual funds
At the close of business on Thursday, April 18, 2019, the year-to-date cumulative total reinvested performance of U.S. Diversified Equity Fund was 15.86%, according to Lipper. That’s up a hair from the previous week’s close of 15.73%.
Of the 20 different types of funds that fall under that broad U.S. Diversified Equitiy Fund heading, only two types had year-to-date performance figures under 10%. They were Specialaity Diversified Equtdy Funds, (there are 31 of them) had an average return of 7.96%. And, Alternative Long/Short Equity Funds of which there are 350 funds sporting an average year-to-date return of 7.36%.
Continuing its under water performance given current market conditions, the average total return of the 165 different funds that make up the Dedicated Short Bias Funds category was -21.26%.
One more kinda stinker—Alternative Equity Market Neutral Funds (there are 96 funds in this group) are underwater too with an average return of 1.71%.
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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