Before, giving a brief update on the markets. I wanted to start with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King as here in NYC and in many other cities throughout the country tensions have reached a boiling point.
“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”
Now to the week that was in the markets, the S&P 500 closed above 3,000 for the first time since early March. The Nasdaq ended the month less than 4% below its all-time high. The Russell 2000 small-cap index, which was slow to join the market rally, ended up gaining more than 6% in May. Markets continued to positively greet every bit of optimistic news on vaccine and therapeutic developments. As more businesses reopen continuing jobless claims actually fell from 25 million unemployed to 21 million. Amid the positive news there remains many reasons to be cautious. We still have seen no sign that the economy is improving, the latest reading on first-quarter U.S. GDP showed a decline of 5%, the worst quarterly performance since the Great Recession. The President was careful with his speech on Friday about China and White House officials maintain that the rising tensions haven’t yet affected the U.S.-China trade deal reached at the end of 2019, which has been reassuring markets. But with tensions rising, a market response could happen suddenly, causing the markets to give back some of their recent gains.
Stephen Caruso is a Financial Advisor and here to help!
I am here to help at any time. If you would like to schedule a phone appointment. I have included a link to my calendar below and you can self schedule. For those of you who prefer an in person meeting I am hoping to begin having face to face again starting the week of June 22nd.
https://calendly.com/laurel-ws
