It was a cool fall day but not at all uncomfortable. My Mom and I were outdoors, and she was directing me on the locations on where to plant the bulbs in the different gardens, along with the amount of fertilizer and spacing required between each planting. There were multiple colors and multiple types and she had them all laid out in her mind’s eye on how they would look the following spring and summer. After musing a bit more, she said to me, “remind me again why I am doing this – I may not be here by spring-time next year!” My reply was, “for the next person to enjoy”. Back we went to the task at hand with a purpose in mind.
We recently had a visitor to White Raven Financials’ office. Initially, they thought they were lost as they were expecting some type of strip mall, several office buildings, or anything but what they came upon when they entered the drive of the Stump Farm1 (the place where White Raven Financial has their office). They were amazed with the flowers, greenery, and pathways surrounding the buildings. They wondered why all the plantings and pathways; I explained that I had inherited my Mom’s love of flowers and the outdoors. I then continued on how the plantings are for others to enjoy and hopefully find peace and serenity in the surroundings. That we, here at White Raven Financial2,are more than finances, financial plans, or investments – we are also about enjoying what the Earth provides us, trying to be socially responsible, and leaving the world a better place.
June brough a bouquet of good news as far as the economy is concerned. Encouraging manufacturing data hit the news wire with the ISM Manufacturing index3 recording a 52.6 reading for June, better than the expected 49.5 by economists. Also helping with the economy was the bright news that 850,000 jobs4 were added for the month of June; a better than expected jobs report. Wisdom tree, in their Mid-Year Market Outllook5, noted that if the U.S. trend of masks being tossed in the garbage, fear abating, restaurants with waiting lists continue – then they expect a solid growth outlook to continue through 2022.
Wisdom Tree also mentions, in their Economic & Market Outlook Mid-Year 20216, that the global economic recovery has continued to accelerate. The largest risk they noted to the recovery is the catalyst of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. In their Third Quarter Global Market Outlook7, Alliance Bernstein reported that they raised their growth forecasts for the global economy and expect it to grow by 6.1% this year – a sign that the recovery continues to gather pace. Altogether, not a lot of bad news on the re-opening front – for June. July may tell a different story.
Here at the Stump Farm, where White Raven Financial is located, our native plants have been ‘re-opening’ as well. Environmental sustainability, recycling, upcycling, and energy renewability are all major components of what the Stump Farm dedicates itself to. We then, in turn, use these values in our quest to also be more socially responsible in our approach to ESG investing.
June’s major indices were an interesting contrast when you compare them to each other. The blue-chip barometer (the Dow)* declined for the month and posted a -0.08% loss. The S&P 500 (SPY)* did a turn-about from the Dow and posted a 2.22% gain. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite (COMPTR)* decided to reverse last month’s loss and jumped on a 5.49% gain for June. (*After linking, click on Quarterly & Monthly Total Returns, “Monthly” tab.) On Tuesday, June 29th, the Dow Jones Indices released the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller10 report. The report showed that for the reporting month, home prices once again chose to continue their increases, with Seattle adding another month for being one of the top 3 areas. The April 20-city composite Home Price Index11 reported a 14.9% annual gain; up 1.5% from the previous month year-over-year posting. Before seasonal adjustments, month-over-month data had the month of April showing a 2.1% increase over the prior month of March for the 20-city composite index.
Regards and thank you (as always) for reading,
The Team at White Raven Financial
Advisory services offered through White Raven Financial Services, Inc. a Registered Investment Advisor in the State of Washington.
*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&P 500 and the NASDAQ are the total return (price only) provided by Morningstar as June 30, 2021. 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.
Sources:
- https://stumpfarm.com/
- https://www.whiteravenfinancial.com/financial-services/socially-responsible-investing/
- https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/01/manufacturing-bounces-back-stronger-than-expected-in-june-ism-reading-shows.html
- https://www.schaeffersresearch.com/content/ezines/2021/07/02/stock-futures-inch-higher-following-upbeat-employment-data
- https://www.wisdomtree.com/-/media/us-media-files/documents/resource-library/quarterly-outlook/on-the-markets.pdf
- https://www.wisdomtree.com/-/media/us-media-files/documents/resource-library/quarterly-outlook/on-the-markets.pdf
- https://www.alliancebernstein.com/library/global-macro-outlook-third-quarter-2021.htm
- * https://Morningstar.com (index)
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sp-corelogic-case-shiller-index-shows-annual-home-price-gains-surged-to-14-6-in-april-301322155.html
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sp-corelogic-case-shiller-index-shows-annual-home-price-gains-surged-to-14-6-in-april-301322155.html
