Market Commentary, 03/08/18

Last week, following President Trump’s proposed 25% tariff on steel and 10% on aluminum, the stock market had what is being called a “tariff tantrum” and regardless of whether tariffs will or will not have significant economic impact, the fact is that the stock market doesn’t like uncertainty. Accordingly, last week the market (S&P 500) was down just over 2%. This week the President explained certain details about the tariff, including the fact that allies like Mexico and Canada would be exempt, and the Dow ended the week up 3.33% while the S&P rose 3.54%.

Further, the market responded positively to the February jobs report, released today, indicating 313,000 new jobs last month. This is well above the anticipated 242,000 and is the largest gain since July 2016. For the fifth straight week, unemployment came in at 4.1%, the lowest in almost 18 years. Through Thursday (03/08/18) the market was already going the right direction but these reports provided a bit of adrenaline and today the Dow closed up 440 points and the S&P closed up 47 points (Source: Yahoo Financial).

As an aside: After an 18 month, 57% decline, the stock market hit its bottom on March 9, 2009 when the S&P closed at 677 and the Dow at 6,547 … thus today is the ninth anniversary of the second-largest and second-longest bull market in history.

Despite market choppiness in February, I expect the market to even out over the next several weeks and continue its upward momentum.

Wayne Copelin, CFP®
President, Copelin Financial Advisors, Inc.
514 Brooks Street
Sugar Land, TX 77478
Phone (281) 240-2902
Fax: (281) 240-2856
sugarlandfinancialadvisors.com

Securities offered through ProEquities, Inc., a Registered Broker-Dealer and Member FINRA & SIPC Advisory Services offered through Harvest Investment Services, LLC., a Registered Investment Advisor Copelin Financial Advisors, Inc and Harvest Investment Services, LLC are independent of ProEquities, Inc.

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