Well we made it through the 250th for our nation.
Not saying it was pretty but we made it.
The markets took the day off Friday for the holiday, but Thursday saw strengthening in optimism as the S&P 500 climbed back to just short of 7500.
I saw some speculation that the S&P index would be at 8000 by August.
Some of the optimism is the drop in WTI to below $70 a barrel. That will help on the inflation side to some degree.
There were reports last week of gas being sold in San Antonio for less than $3 and Diesel for less than $4.
That is all well and good, but the sticker shock at the grocery store keeps coming.
I hadn’t purchased coffee in a bit and was amazed at the prices for even the HEB generic brand.
Now that we have moved into July, the rollout of the Trump accounts for children are available.
I am going to establish one for each of my four grandsons.
It is essentially a tax deferred account much like an IRA.
It can be a building block for future education or housing needs as your child grows to maturity.
Not saying that everyone has cash sitting aside during these
costly times, but your government is trying to encourage you to put savings to work.
This week we will get the minutes of the first Fed meeting with the new chairman in charge.
Kevin Warsh appears to be attempting to move the Fed toward a different direction as it relates to interpreting data.
Moreover, it doesn’t seem as if he is carrying the banner for lower interest rates.
We did have a drop in jobs added last week, but the jobless rate continues to remain just above 4%.
Hard to say whether things are as bad as some would indicate.
It does appear though that any Fed rate cuts may have to wait till next year.
The world stage is still quite complicated.
The war goes on in Ukraine and no one can really figure out where we will be with Iran. There is a week-long funeral celebration for the slain leader that started this weekend.
It appears the negotiations are continuing on some sort of peace plan.
It does appear given the price of crude that ships are getting through the Strait.
How long this will last is anyone’s guess. Moreover, the President is headed to Turkey for talks with the other European nations about NATO’s future.
There is no putting foreign affairs away on the shelf and forgotten.
The facts though that earnings continue to come in at double-digit growth is a true wind in the sails for this market no matter what other troubles there may be. There are projections that double-digit earnings could continue into next year.
We still have to get past the November elections and all that could bring.
We are sort of balanced between optimism and pessimism.
It is always good to have a good bit of fear in the market.
I would still have you review your retirement accounts and take a little off the table.
We are at record highs.
I am not advocating a total fire sale, but you get to claim some profits and pay no tax. Sort of balancing the two drivers of this market in greed and fear.
In reflection on last weekend, I had to laugh at all the concern over the heat wave.
The temperatures were in the 90s on the East coast and those of us here in Texas look at that level and take it with a grain of salt.
We get concerned when it has been triple digits for a couple of weeks.
As always, it is just a different perspective. Here in the Hill Country we tool a time to pause and reflect on the tragedy of last year. You never forget but life does go on whether you want it to or not. So many lives have been impacted.
If it wasn’t one of us personally, we know of a many who were.
Life, like the market, is full of unexpected twists and turns.
You just hope you learn along the way.