The table below shows the financial markets update as of March 6, 2020. The week ending March 6th was slightly up from the previous week for all US indices like the S&P 500, Dow Jones, NASDAQ, and for foreign stocks. Even though year to date numbers are down, the one year performance is still in a positive territory for all except Emerging Markets.
The panic in the media has created additional volatility that has pushed some people to rushed decisions. As with any prior short term volatility, the stock market has always recovered in the long term. Having a balanced portfolio is critical to minimize large swings in the short term.
Staying the course is more important for long term investors than selling and locking in losses. On the other hand, this has created an opportunity for investors to enter the market if they are sitting on large cash positions. Even if the market continues to fall in the short term, eventually things will rebound, just like they have any other time in the past.
WEEK ENDING 3/6/2020 (CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURNS)
Equities1 Week YTD 1-Year Close
S&P 500
▲ 0.65%
▼ -7.7%
▲ 9.4%
2,972
DJIA
▲ 1.79%
▼ -9.0%
▲ 3.2%
25,865
NASDAQ
▲ 0.12%
▼ -4.3%
▲ 15.5%
8,576
Foreign Stocks
▲ 0.35%
▼ -10.6%
▲ 0.2%
Emerging Markets
▲ 0.69%
▼ -9.1%
▼ -1.3%
Top Three S&P 500 Equity Sectors1 YTD
Utilities
▲ 3.8%
Real Estate
▼ -0.5%
Consumer Staples
▼ -1.9%
Bottom Three S&P 500 Equity Sectors1 YTD
Energy
▼ -29.5%
Financials
▼ -16.9%
Materials
▼ -12.8%
Bonds2 Week YTD 1-Year Yield
10-Yr. Treasury3
▲ 3.07%
▲ 9.8%
▲ 18.4%
0.74%
US Bonds
▲ 1.88%
▲ 5.7%
▲ 13.6%
1.37%
Global Bonds
▲ 2.47%
▲ 4.5%
▲ 10.8%
0.90%
Munis4
▲ 0.26%
▲ 3.4%
▲ 9.6%
1.21%
Market Indicators5 As of
Fed Funds Target 1.25% 3/6/2020
Inflation (Core CPI) 2.30% 12/31/2019
Unemployment 3.50% 1/31/2020
GDP 2.10% 9/30/2019
All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal.

  1. Source: MacroBond Financial AB. S&P 500 is represented by the S&P 500 Index, DJIA is represented by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ is represented by the NASDAQ Composite Index, Foreign Stocks are represented by the MSCI EAFE Index and Emerging Markets are represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Sectors based on S&P 500 Index sector indexes.
  2. Sources: MacroBond Financial AB, Morningstar Inc., Bloomberg LP. 10-Yr Treasury is represented by the MacroBond 10-Year Treasury Bond Index, US Bonds are represented by the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Index, Global Bonds are represented by the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index and Munis are represented by Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index.
  3. 10-Year Treasury yield is calculated using the Federal Reserve H.15 Report.
  4. Munis yield is calculated using yield-to-worst.
  5. Source: MacroBond Financial AB, Federal Reserve (Fed Funds Rate), US Department of Labor (Inflation and Unemployment) and US Bureau of Economic Analysis (GDP).
Diana Apostolova |Investment Consultant
Rochester Investments

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