2019 – Many Questions!!
Rates/Tariffs/Brexit/Others
First I would like to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year. May 2019 turn out to be your most rewarding year!
Midnight tonight, the calendar will turn from 2018 to 2019 which brings many questions that need to be answered to determine the direction of the Global Economy and Global Markets.
Here is a short list that we need to keep our thumbs on:
- Will our Federal Reserve raise rates 2 or more times or will they be forced to stop short and perhaps even lower rates?
- Will the US Treasury Yield Curve continue to invert or will 10 and 30 year yields expand higher and what are the implications?
- Will the US Consumer continue spending as Holiday sales this year are up over 5%?
- Will the US and China reach an agreement on “Intellectual Property Rights” and Tariffs? If so, what will be the impact?
- Brexit is just around the corner. There is “no playbook” for this one. I believe this will have implications for the Global Economy!
- Will US profits continue to expand? If so, how much? Earnings have continued to surprise most people over the last year and most prognosticators are forecasting a significant slowdown in 2019.
- Will the US GDP continue at the current pace or will we see moderating numbers as the year progresses?
- Will the Emerging Markets rebound from a challenging year in 2018, as our rising dollar has hurt their Economies and Markets?
- What will be the path for Oil? Oil has dropped over 30% this year lowering the cost of gasoline, adding additional funds for consumer spending.
- Will the housing market rebound? As the housing market slows, so does durable-goods purchases, such as furniture and washing machines. Higher interest rates are certainly an impediment.
- Will the current economic expansion continue? If so, how far into record territory?
- Believe it or not, there are many other issues I’m sure will surface in 2019. I purposely have not included anything political.
2019 Workshops
The first of the series of our 2019 Workshops have been posted to our website. For a listing of our Retirement Income Planning/Taxation, Social Security and Medicare workshops, please visit our website at Retirement Refined, LLC and click on Educational Workshops.
Thank You for Reading!
I would like to thank all of our Blog subscribers. We will continue to publish Blogs in 2019 to include timely information on Income Taxation, Medicare, Social Security, Retirement Issues, as well as others.
If there are additional issues/topics you would like to read, please feel free to email suggestions!
Answer to Last Week’s Question of the Week
Although there are many theories as to where and why the practice originated, what country is generally credited with popularizing Christmas tress in the home?
a) Germany
b) France
c) Christmas Islands
d) England
The answer is –
(c) Germany – “Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century, when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.”
