No, we are not talking about crossing over, seeing the light, or any other euphemism for experiencing death. Quite the opposite actually. We’re talking about animals passing over I-90 on a purpose built overpass. Scheduled to finish in fall 2019, it will allow larger animals, like elk, continue on their way uninjured by traffic, and vehicles (and their human occupants) to continue on their way uninjured by large animals. The I90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition website includes a film chronicling the story unfolding as well as construction updates.
The Stump Farm, where White Raven Financial is located, isn’t part of any wildlife corridor that we’re aware of. That doesn’t mean we don’t get a number of animals such as deer, a black bear and more rabbits then we want passing though. We haven’t built an overpass – in fact we haven’t built anything. Where our property doesn’t border the yards of other houses, we have chosen to leave the boundary unfenced so that animals can wander at will.
Speaking about passing, there’s the current tax reform here in the US. We have watched several webinars to stay informed of the changes in tax benefits for businesses and individuals. For those of you that are currently working, the IRS has a new tool (verify that your java script is enabled) to help you decide whether to change your tax withholding because of the tax law changes that occurred on December 22, 2017.
Stepping away from taxes and into the markets, the recent volatility in the market and the possibility of inflation in the economy has raised justifiable concern amongst investors. The team of Sonders, Sorensen and Kleintop at Schwab recently addressed concern over the previous market correction and indicated they do not see more aggressive FED and the recent tariff announcements to be a threat to the bull market; it is consistent with the heightened volatility they had been expecting. In early February, Andrew R. Willey IV, CFA Product Strategist for Lord Abbett, wrote out four perspectives an investor should remember when market volatility occurs. He reminds us that drawdowns are common, not unusual.
Global Chief Investment Strategist for Blackrock, Richard Turnill, in his most recent Global Weekly Commentary discussed the current volatility of cryptocurrencies and how they are gaining wider world appeal. In addition, he reminded us about the upcoming elections in Europe and how Blackrock still sees steady economic expansion and a steady earnings outlook. The Chinese New Year officially started on February 16th. In the event you wish to know a bit more than your fellow investor, Reuter’s published some of the information for CLSA’s Feng Shui Index, a tongue-in-cheek financial forecast for the Year of the Dog. Remember, there are no guarantees!
The month of February brought the correction that had been predicted for some time. The market saw some recovery, but it was a volatile month and it appears to be continuing into the month of March. The blue-chip barometer (the DowTR)* did not fare well and posted a monthly loss of -3.96%. The S&P 500 (SPYTR)* also decline in the same percentile and posted a -3.69% for the month. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite (COMPTR)* managed the month a tad easier and showed a loss of -1.74%. On Tuesday, February 27, 2018, the Dow Jones Indices released the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller report showing that the national core home price index are still moving forward. The 20-city composite December Home Price Index reported a 6.3% year-over-year gain; down from the previous month’s gain of 6.4%. Before seasonal adjustments, month-over-month data had the month of December posting a 0.2% gain over the prior month of November 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. Returns for the DOW, S&P500 and the NASDAQ is the total return (price only) provided by Morning star Inc. as of 2018February28. Diversification and asset allocation does not assure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment loss.
Advisory services are offered through White Raven Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor in the state of Washington.
