{"id":2722,"date":"2023-01-09T21:18:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T21:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/?p=2722"},"modified":"2023-01-09T21:18:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T21:18:25","slug":"markets-optimistic-start-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/markets-optimistic-start-of-2023","title":{"rendered":"Markets \u2013 Optimistic Start of 2023<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first major report<\/strong> of the year gave the markets reason for an optimistic<\/strong> first week of trading.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Last Friday\u2019s job report<\/strong> showed we gained 233,000 jobs in December.\u00a0 The unemployment rate decreased to 3.5%.<\/strong>\u00a0 The reason for the market surge<\/strong> higher was the wage component<\/strong> of the report.\u00a0 Wage gains came in less than the market anticipated, reporting a .3% rise versus a .4% rise<\/strong>.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t seem like much, however if wage gains can in fact moderate, that can go a long way toward reducing inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, on Friday we heard the ISM Manufacturing report<\/strong> for December which showed downward contraction to the lowest level since May 2020<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jobs report<\/strong> and the manufacturing report<\/strong> pushed<\/strong> the markets higher<\/strong> for the week.  The Dow rose 1.5%,<\/strong> the S&P 500 1.47%,<\/strong> the Nasdaq 1.01%<\/strong> and the Russell 2000 1.81%.<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the pond, international markets are continuing the stretch of outperformance with foreign stocks rising 2.68% and Emerging Markets up 3.39%.<\/strong>  The US dollar weakening<\/strong> is a major reason for foreign markets moving higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflation \u2013 Fed \u2013 Earnings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week<\/strong> we\u2019ll hear the all-important Consumer Price Index (CPI) report<\/strong> on Thursday morning.\u00a0 Expectations <\/strong>are that both the headline rate and the core rate will decrease.\u00a0 Assuming this transpires, the markets should respond favorably.\u00a0 However, we also have a bunch of Federal Reserve speeches this week<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last 2 CPI reports have been favorable<\/strong> with the markets responding favorably.<\/strong>\u00a0 Each time, the Fed then grabbed the microphone and said, keep the horses in the barn, we have a ways to go…. pushing the markets back down.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope for a good CPI report and a modest bunch of Fed talks. <\/p>\n\n\n

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On Friday, 4<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong> Quarter Profit reports begin<\/strong> with the banking sector. Over the next 6 weeks, we\u2019ll hear how the higher rate environment is now impacting corporate America.  Profit (earnings) expectations are very low and keep in mind, earnings reports typically beat the all-ready reduced estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retirement Changes <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secure Act 2.0 was passed into law<\/strong> on December 23, 2022 with many significant changes. For today, I\u2019ll highlight the major changes<\/strong>. Be on the look-out for a separate blog with all the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The major changes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requirement Minimum Distributions (RMD)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n