Hope you had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend, kicking off the start of summer.
I spent time fixing roof damage from a storm and mowing.
Remarkable how rain makes grass grow.
Last week was no bargain either with the S&P 500 losing over 2% closing just above 5800.
You Crypto buffs were rewarded as Bitcoin climbed up to just short of $110,000 and gold continued to find favor.
Interest rates continued to climb with the 30-year Treasury moving up to 5%, which is no help for the real estate market.
It appears that Congress will have to acknowledge that all of this spending has to be adjusted.
We all can be concerned about our one area that should be funded but collectively, we will have to cut.
The only real answer is to cut a flat amount each year until we are back to a sustainable level.
Bring back the sequester that was so vilified.
We will hear from market darling Nvidia this week.
Trump kept the pressure on trade talks targeting the EU with a proposed 50% rate that he will hold for a short period of negotiation.
He also sighted in on Apple for manufacturing outside the U.S.
Wonder what Tim Cook thinks about his inauguration contribution now.
The higher interest rates will pull some investment money back into interest-bearing instruments.
It seems that speculation about lower rates may take a back seat to the realization that the debt has gotten far too large.
Remember earlier this year when June would be the first rate cut by the Federal Reserve?
June is next week. How time flies when you are having so much fun.
Never ignore the fact that there are still problems in Gaza and Ukraine, to mention just a couple.
I don’t see this being the lazy, hazy days of summer in 2025.
On the brighter side of the ledger, we haven’t seen inflation get out of hand and the jobs market is still relatively strong.
Possibly the new reality is that 4 to 5% Treasury rates are low, and zero rates are a long, lost memory.
I am concerned, however, about the housing market.
In case you haven’t been looking, nothing is selling.
I have a home down by the coast and the appraisal district sent me my new valuation and it was down significantly.
That was a first for me.
The rest of my property didn’t increase at all.
That will have an impact if it hasn’t already.
So much for real estate always going up in value.
I find it hard to envision a real pullback in this market.
Given my past track record, you might want to get out of the market altogether, but I still find it hard to see why the market will climb significantly.
There are so many head winds.
We have bucked each and every obstacle over the last 4-plus years and they were not small in nature aka the pandemic.
You have to love the Mag 7.
In fact, how do you see any of these market leaders doing poorly?
At the very worst, they will pause.
You only have to take Nvidia for example, much less Netflix.
These companies are leading the way for a reason.
The only negative is they are priced for perfection.
Not a great argument.
Not saying they are values, but if you own them does it make sense to sell out?
I do not have problem with taking a bit off the table each time they hit a new record high.
Old trite expression, but it is never a gain until you take it.
Looks great on paper but you can’t use it to buy groceries.
That cash you get will at least earn you more than inflation these days.