May 17, 2021
By Bill Hornbarger, Chief Investment Officer
Three Things to Watch
- Retail sector earnings will be in focus after last Friday’s report that retail sales for April were unchanged following a 10.7% increase in March. This week will feature earnings reports from household names Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Target. The weak April employment report has investors cautious on the recovery and any forward guidance in these reports will be closely parsed.
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May 17, 2021
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President
On Thursday and Friday, as the market drove up and away from the early week carnage, it could look back at the damage and be thankful that it hadn’t gotten any worse. Through late-Wednesday, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) was already showing a 4% loss for the week. The NASDAQ Composite Index (COMP) was down about 5 ½% at that point, and the Russell 2000 Index of small-cap stocks (RUT) was in the hole by more than 6%.
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May 11, 2021
By Jeffrey R. Wolfe, Senior Vice President and Manager, Wealth Planning Strategies
As we come to the end of an extended tax season, there’s still a little time left to complete your tax return if you haven’t already done so; there’s also time to review your tax situation.
As tax season started, we discussed that while most tax rules didn’t change, COVID caused tax season to start a little late.
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May 11, 2021
By Bill Hornbarger, Chief Investment Officer
Bill Hornbarger – Latest Thoughts on the Market and Economy
Bill Hornbarger, Chief Investment Officer, of Benjamin F. Edwards shares his latest thoughts on the markets and the economy in an interview with Kevin Simpson of Capital Wealth Planning. Capital Wealth Planning is an institutional wealth management firm specializing in managing discretionary strategies.
Capital Wealth Planning’s SMA is a strategy available on our Separately Managed Portfolios platform.
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May 10, 2021
By Ben Norris, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President
If you follow horse racing or if you’re a gambler, you’ve probably heard the news. Medina Spirit, winner of the Kentucky Derby, has reportedly tested positive for a banned performance enhancing drug. If the test is confirmed, then Medina Spirit will have its title stripped and the crown will go to the runner-up, Mandaloun. This is a relatively shocking development for the Kentucky Derby given that just two horses have been disqualified in the nearly 150-year history of the race.
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May 10, 2021
By Bill Hornbarger, Chief Investment Officer
Three Things to Watch
- The economic calendar is headlined by April’s Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday. The monthly gain is expected at 0.2% with the “whisper” numbers higher. On a year-over-year basis CPI is expected at 3.6%, which will add fuel to the inflation conversation.
- Gas prices will be in focus this week as futures jumped more than 4% after a cyber-attack shut down a key east pipeline.
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May 4, 2021
By Theresa Fry, Senior Vice President and Manager, IRA’s, Retirement and Education Planning
At one time, all Social Security benefits were tax free. Today, if your only source of retirement income is Social Security, then your benefits may still be tax free. Most people pay income taxes on a portion of their Social Security income. The higher your income, the more taxes you’ll pay on your benefits.
Taxes on Social Security are determined based on your combined or “provisional” income.
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May 3, 2021
By Bill Hornbarger, Chief Investment Officer
Three Things to Watch
- The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing survey will be released Monday morning. The consensus estimate is for an overall reading of 65, which would be the highest since the early 1980s. The prices paid component is also expected to be strong (consensus estimate 86.1), which would further fan inflation concerns.
- Other key reports include factory orders (Tuesday),
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May 3, 2021
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President
Have you heard? Economic activity is accelerating. People are spending money again. Unemployed workers are finding jobs. Restaurants, bars and sports arenas are packing in the patrons. Vaccinated people are hugging one another. Happy days are here again. So why did the market just have its dullest week of the year?
It’s true, in a week that featured an FOMC policy statement,
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Apr 27, 2021
By Dan Schulte, Senior Vice President and Manager, Annuities and Insurance
Like most things, taxation ebbs and flows. Today’s environment is no different – and it appears that, for now, taxation is on the rise. When the tax burden on individuals is increasing, the importance of tax deferral becomes especially important.
In this environment it’s important to consider tax-deferred strategies in your financial plan.
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