A little over two years ago, White Raven Financial was approved to offer advisory services as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in the State of Washington. We felt, that as an RIA, the firm could provide better and more beneficial services to our clients and while at the same time lowering some of our fees. Last month, the two-year mark passed and alas, we hadn’t celebrated the fact that the decision was indeed beneficial . . .
Now if you had read the previous blog you will have learned about a man and his car. And as any of you will know, if you’ve restored a car, you’re pretty much obligated to drive it in your local (Arlington) Fourth-of-July parade. Here was the perfect opportunity to celebrate White Raven Financial’s success: A sign was ordered so that we could advertise how proud we are of the firm. The dog got involved as he always loves to ride in the auto, and besides he takes seriously his role as the official greeter at the White Raven Financial head office. Celebrating our successes was three-fold on the parade route that day: in successfully becoming an RIA, in restoring a vintage car, and in becoming an independent nation (for which we also go to look the part and wear the colors of our nation’s flag!). Here at White Raven Financial, let us know if you have accomplished something special; we would like to help you celebrate when you meet your own financial goals!
The Federal Reserve has quite a few financial goals as well, albeit in a slightly larger scope than our personal finances! In June, despite some political pressure, the Federal Reserve left the bank rate unchanged. Eric Winograd, senior economist at Alliance Bernstein, in his June blog provided his thoughts on why they think the Feds will cut rates at least twice this year. On June 28th, we learned that Chicago PMI fell into contraction territory. The barometer for city’s PMI read 49.7 and as the article mentioned, any number below 50 is not good as it indicates weak demand. The good news is the Institution of Supply Management did not follow suit. Trade tensions are still front and center. Even with the G20 meeting there still doesn’t appear to be a full resolution. Nuveen’s investment team, in their 2019 mid-year outlook, wrote that they don’t think that we are at the end of the current economic cycle but they do feel there is a possibility of a weaker economic environment over the coming months.
Steering our course beyond our home land, we learned that the European Central Bank also shifted to a more dovish stance. Blackrock commented in their June 24th commentary that they felt the dovish shift supports their view that the current global expansion has room to run – with moderating growth. Jeffrey Kleintop, Chief Global Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab & Co.in his Global Stocks Mid-Year Outlook acknowledged the concern for slowing global growth due in part to escalating trade tariffs and the U.K. heading toward a hard Brexit.
The markets appeared to shoot forward from spring into summer for the month of June. The blue-chip barometer (the Dow)* rocketed forward with a 7.19% gain. The S&P 500 (SPY)* sparkled by adding 6.89% and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite (COMPTR)* finished the fireworks finale by adding 7.42% for the June’s month-end. (*After linking, click on Quarterly & Monthly Total Returns, “Monthly” tab.) On Tuesday, June 25th, 2019, the Dow Jones Indices released the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller report; the report showed home prices rose at their slowest pace since August 2012. The 20-city composite April Home Price Index reported a 2.6% annual gain; down .1% from the unrevised 2.5% posted the previous month. Before seasonal adjustments, month-over-month data had the month of April posting 0.8% over the prior month of March for the 20-city composite index.
Regards and Thank you,
The Team at White Raven Financial
*Indexes are unmanaged and do not reflect service fees, commissions, or taxes. You cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Return for the DOW, S&P500 and the NASDAQ is the total return (price only) provided by Morning star Inc. as of 2019June30. Diversification and asset allocation do not assure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment loss.
*The Standard and Poor’s 500 is an unmanaged, capitalization weighted benchmark that tracks broad-based changes in the U.S. stock market. This index of 500 common stocks is comprised of 400 industrial, 20 transportation, 40 utility, and 40 financial companies representing major U.S. industry sectors. The index is calculated on a total return basis with dividends reinvested and is not available for direct investment.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average covers 30 blue chip U.S. companies selected by the editors of the Wall Street Journal. The Dow represents about 25% of the NYSE market capitalization and less than 2% of NYSE issues.
*The NASDAQ is a market-value weighted index that measures all NASDAQ domestic and foreign common stocks.
Advisory services are offered through White Raven Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor in the state of Washington.
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