The difficult start to the year for the markets continued into the second quarter with high inflation, global growth fears, geopolitical concerns, rising interest rates and worries that a recession may be looming. Stocks entered a bear market (a decline of at least 20%) in June. The S&P 500 (US large cap stocks) is down …
Monthly News
2nd Quarter 2022 SWMG Newsletter
Economic Update (Jason Guenther) High inflation, global uncertainty, rising interest rates, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine have all contributed to this year’s market downturn and negative sentiment. Faster growing, growth-oriented companies have been especially hard hit this year. This has investors more focused on steady cash distributions as compared to the promise …
1st Quarter Capital Market Review
Volatility returned in the first quarter of 2022 after a historically calm 2021 amid war, rising inflation, oil prices and higher bond yields. The markets started the year with a downturn in January and ultimately suffered their first correction in nearly two years. The S&P 500 was down at one point about 12% from its …
1st Quarter 2022 SWMG Newsletter
We have had a much different market experience in 2022 compared to last year. Through the end of the first quarter, the S&P 500 is down 4.6% after ending 2021 near all-time highs. The COVID situation has improved but the markets have been on edge due to the devastation in Ukraine. Also, the markets have …
4th Quarter 2021 SWMG Newsletter
This past year served as a continuation of the bull market, which began in mid-2020. Stimulus packages from Congress and efforts by the Federal Reserve to provide liquidity boosted the markets. Once COVID vaccines became available, the economy experienced a surge in growth, a strong job market, increased wages, and pent-up demand for everything from …
3rd Quarter 2021 SWMG Newsletter
For the first time in several months, September has brought more volatility in the U.S. markets. We had the first 5% pullback we have seen in many months. Normally we would experience a few pullbacks of 10% or more in any given year. After participating in the fastest economic growth since 1984, strong earnings growth, …