Market Commentary

Market Commentary: Housing, Equity Markets Decline with Fed Expected to Hike Interest Rates

Equity markets have given back some of last year’s gains. Higher interest rates appear to be the major cause. As the Federal Reserve prepares for its first meeting of the year, investors have raised the odds of four interest rate hikes to approximately 70% from less than 30% one month ago (Figure 1). Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference after the meeting will likely be scrutinized for further guidance concerning interest rates.

Videos

Quarterly Market Outlook Highlights: Q1 2022

Carson Partners’ Scott Kubie shares key events we saw in the past quarter and how we think they’ll affect markets in the upcoming quarter. Contact us to speak with a financial advisor.

Videos

Q1 2022: Quarterly Market Outlook

Watch this webinar hosted by Carson’s Senior Investment Strategist, Scott Kubie, and Portfolio Strategist, Patrick Sittner, as they cover the market outlook for 2022.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: U.S. Inflation Challenges Likely Linked to Robust Government Aid, Policy Changes

Inflation remains a challenge to the U.S. economy. CPI rose 0.5% in December and surged 7.1% during the last year. It wasn’t all food and energy prices. Core inflation, which excludes those more volatile elements, increased 0.5% as well. As the bright blue line in Figure 1 shows, inflation has reaccelerated after dipping in the third quarter.

Videos

New Tax Legislation for 2022

Watch this webinar hosted by Carson’s Managing Partner, Wealth Solutions, Jamie Hopkins, as he covers the new tax legislation for 2022.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: Job Surveys Show Conflicting Data; Fed May Shrink Balance Sheet Sooner Than Expected

The employment report released last week may have raised more questions than it answered. The establishment survey, which surveys businesses, showed only 199,000 jobs were created, missing expectations of 400,000 (Figure 1). The household survey gave a very different picture. Unemployment fell to 3.9%, employment rose by 650,000, and 170,000 people joined the labor force. The gap is partly reconciled by reports new businesses are being formed at a rapid pace and the usually more accurate establishment survey isn’t keeping up with the underlying changes.

Blog

The Opportunity in Change: How Changing Goals Change Financial Plans

During the pandemic, my family moved into a new house. We weren’t planning on moving, but that didn’t stop us from participating in the pandemic housing boom. But we did so at a time where the kids weren’t yet out of school, so for about three weeks, we owned two homes. Instead of having to take out home equity or get a bridge loan, we were able to put a down payment on the second home and be OK for those three weeks.

Resources

When Shifting Goals Mean Shifting Plans

Your plan shouldn’t look the same when you’re 55 as it did when you were 35, and part of that is because you have ever-changing goals. So how do you know when it’s time to adjust your financial plan?

Use this checklist to evaluate your goals and decide when it’s time to contact your advisor for an update.

Download the checklist today to get started.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: S&P 500 Finishes Second Year of Pandemic 28.7% Higher Than It Started

2021 was a very happy year for U.S. stock investors. The S&P 500 finished the second year of a pandemic 28.7% higher than it started the year. Other countries did not do as well. The MSCI ACWI, which includes U.S. stocks, rose 18.5% in 2021. Those returns are still very impressive, but they lag behind the S&P 500. Bonds declined slightly. The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index slipped 1.5% last year.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: Inflation Continues to Challenge U.S. Economy as Key Indicators Rise

The PCE price deflator confirmed inflation remains a strong challenge for the U.S. economy, rising 0.6% last month and 5.7% in the last 12 months. The annual increase was the highest since 1982. Core PCE inflation rose 0.5%, suggesting food and energy prices rose only slightly more than broad consumer prices (Figure 1).

Insights