Markets had a down week, reflecting the plethora of competing information, in my opinion. Here is a short list of what investors are digesting:
- 10 Year US Treasury plummeting to 25% this morning (July 19th)
- Corporate Quarterly Profit Reports – very strong
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) reported up 5.4% over the last year
- When will the Federal Reserve “taper” their $120 Billion per month bond purchases?
- Housing/Automobile prices and shortages
- Covid-19 Delta Variant developments
- LA County re-masking
- Back to school and Fall/Winter approaching
- Stretched Stock and Bond Valuations (my opinion)
Plenty of Market Moving Information Potential!
Last week witnessed the Dow dropping (.52%), the S&P 500 (.96%), the Nasdaq (1.87%) and the Russell 2000 (5.11%). Over the pond saw a mixed bag with Foreign Stocks down (.46%) and Emerging Market stocks up 1.72%.
The 10 Year US Treasury finished last Friday with a yield of 1.3%. As I’m typing, the pre-market open yield has dropped further, to 1.22%. Who would have guessed????
It’s certainly hard to anticipate the direction of the markets and interest rates for the remainder of 2021. It’s a reminder, asset allocation and diversification are very important!!
Estate Planning Importance
A small benefit of Covid-19 – more people are reviewing their wills/estate paperwork, along with the make-up of their assets to determine what will happen if they become ill/pass away?
We already have a recent major “permanent” change to how IRAs are treated when passed to a non-spouse beneficiary. I’ll be happy to provide specifics in a later blog.
It’s no secret, President Biden wants to change other laws when we pass away… such as altering or eliminating the valuable stepped-up basis rule, and reducing the amount we can pass down to the next generation without the imposition of Federal Estate Tax.
It’s a great idea, if you have not already done so this year, to review your Estate Planning situation. 
Gather together a current listing of your assets and values, your Estate Documents, obtain actual copies of beneficiaries of all Life Insurance Policies, IRA’s, 401K’s, Annuities, Transfer of Death designations and meet with a qualified professional. If you’re a client of ours, this will automatically happen during the course of upcoming reviews. If you are not yet a client and would like to schedule a complimentary consultation, please feel free to click here to get on our calendar. Your family will be so very thankful that your estate plan was in order!!!
Hooky Next Week
I will be on vacation from July 21st, returning to the office Wednesday July 28th @ 12:00pm. Our weekly Retirement Report will resume on Monday August 2nd!
