Your Weekly Summary – May 29, 2018

Small Caps only US Major Stock Index Down for the Week

(Direct opposite of last week)

 

2 weeks ago, Small Cap stocks were the only US Market Index in the “Black” for the week. Last week we witnessed the opposite, whereas Small Caps were the only major US Index to finish in the “Red”. The Market moves were very marginal and prior to today’s trading, all US Major Stock Indexes were up Year-To-Date.

 

The Barclays Aggregate Bond Index was up .74% for the week, as interest rates fell later in the week.

 

The major non-economic news last week had the US cancelling the Summit with North Korea; however, as of this writing, the news media is suggesting the Summit may take place as scheduled. Also US-China trade talks appeared to hit the pause button last week.

Interest Rates

 

Perhaps the most impactful news last week were the minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed indicated they may be less aggressive with interest rates, by allowing “a temporary period of inflation, modestly above 2%.”   This news sent the US 10-Year US Treasury down from the prior week-end yield of 3.06% to 2.93% last Friday. As of this writing, the 10 Year Yield is down to 2.87% with the news of the political issues in Italy. Italy is in the process of elections which have investors on edge if certain groups are in power, Italy may decide to leave the Eurozone. It will be interesting to watch this unfold over the next few weeks. 

 

Economic Data

 

Purchase applications for new home mortgages fell 2% reported last week, which is the 4th consecutive weekly decline. Existing home sales for April also were down 2.5%.

 

This week’s major economic report will be the Non-Farm Payrolls Report to be released this Friday morning. The consensus estimate for new jobs is 190,000 which follows last month’s number of 164,000.

 

Question of the Week

 

 

What is the last possible date someone can begin taking their first Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from their IRA?

 

a) The Day one turn age 70 ½.

b) By December 31st of the Year one turns 70 ½.

c) April 1st of the year after the year one turns 70 ½.

d) The IRS does not impose penalties, so it does not matter.

 

 

Answer to Last Weeks’s Question of the Week!

 

 

The question was, “What are the Requirements to do a Roth Conversion?

 

a) Have Earned Income    

b) Be Under age 70 ½

c) Earned Income under $189,000 filing a joint return

d) None, as long as you have an eligible account to convert

 

The Correct Answer is:  d) None, as long as you have an eligible account to convert.

 

A Roth Conversion does not have any income or age requirements. If you want to convert part or all of the Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, there is nothing in the tax code to prevent you from doing so. For a listing of our upcoming Retirement Income Workshops which review Roth Conversions in detail, please click here Retirement Income Workshops .

 

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