{"id":232,"date":"2019-11-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/04\/fed-gdp-jobs-earnings-all-viewed-positive\/"},"modified":"2019-11-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T00:00:00","slug":"fed-gdp-jobs-earnings-all-viewed-positive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/fed-gdp-jobs-earnings-all-viewed-positive","title":{"rendered":"Fed\/GDP\/Jobs\/Earnings – All Viewed Positive!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I wrote \u201cA lot of stuff this week\u201d.\u00a0 Yes, it was a busy week!\u00a0 The Federal Reserve lowered rates as expected by 25 basis points.\u00a0 This is the 3rd<\/sup> rate cut in 4 months.\u00a0 Many are now speculating the Federal Reserve will be on hold until after the election unless the economic data alters their current view.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I will be a little surprised if the Fed doesn\u2019t act in one direction or another prior to our next Presidential Election!<\/p>\n

GDP<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The US economy grew an annualized 1.9% in the third quarter of 2019 which was higher than anticipated.\u00a0 Although this number is down from the 2% reading in the 2nd<\/sup> quarter, it was taken in a positive light because it is mostly the consumer driving the number with business basically absent from any numeric positive input at this time.<\/p>\n

Jobs Report<\/strong><\/p>\n

The monthly jobs report also did not disappoint with the economy creating 128,000 jobs in October, and September was revised higher by 44,000 to 180,000.\u00a0 The trailing 6 month jobs creation number is now 156,000 per month, down from the average in 2018 of 211,000 per month.\u00a0 My belief is the decrease is simply explained away as the trade tariff situation keeping corporate America at bay with their wallets.\u00a0 The unemployment rate is an amazing 3.6%.\u00a0 That is a Wow!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Corporate Earnings!<\/strong><\/p>\n

356 S&P 500 companies have now reported 3rd<\/sup> quarter earnings with 76% reporting above consensus.\u00a0 The overall corporate earnings forecast for the S&P 500 prior to reporting season was for a -3.2%.\u00a0 It certainly looks as earnings may end up flat or even slightly positive.\u00a0 Again, thank you to the consumer.<\/p>\n

Markets Last Week<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dow rose 1.44%; the S&P 500 gained 1.47%, the NASDAQ 1.74% and the Russell 2000 1.96%.<\/p>\n

Over the pond, the International EAFE rose 1.19%, Emerging Market Stocks up 1.30%.<\/p>\n

Bonds also rose in price as the Barclays\u2019s Aggregate Bond Index increased .45% after the Fed lowered rates.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Question of the Week…<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Which of the following is not a requirement to able to contribute to a Roth IRA?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Must have earned Income<\/li>\n
  2. Be under 70 \u00bd<\/li>\n
  3. Must have earned income under certain limits<\/li>\n
  4. Must have a long investment time horizon<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    **It\u2019s possible to have more than 1 correct answer**<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Answer to last week\u2019s question\u2026!<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Which parts of Medicare enable a Medicare Beneficiary to visit with any Doctor in the United States that accepts Medicare?<\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (It\u2019s possible that more than 1 answer is correct!)<\/em><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Medicare Advantage Plans<\/li>\n
    2. Medigap (Supplement) Plans<\/li>\n
    3. Parts A & B<\/li>\n
    4. Part D<\/li>\n
    5. Medicare Vision and Dental Plans<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The correct answers are both #2: Medigap (Supplement) Plans and #3: Parts A & B. <\/strong><\/p>\n

      For additional information about what you need to know about Medicare, please click here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Last week I wrote \u201cA lot of stuff this week\u201d.\u00a0 Yes, it was a busy week!\u00a0 The Federal Reserve lowered rates as expected by 25 basis points.\u00a0 This is the 3rd rate cut in 4 months.\u00a0 Many are now speculating the Federal Reserve will be on hold until after the election unless the economic data […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"post_statement":"","post_description":"","post_cta":"","post_button":"Read More","post_button_url":"","compliance_id":"","post_disclaimer":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,21,9,4,22,3,11,13,5,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}