PEEK OF THE WEEK
September 11, 2017
Leif Hagen & Donna Roberts
The Markets
Last week, the aftermath of
Hurricane Harvey and potency of Hurricane Irma dominated hearts and minds, but there
were some diversions and some welcome news, too.
The NFL kicked off its 2017 season
with the Chiefs’ win over the Patriots. The men’s U.S. soccer team tied
Honduras to stay in the running for a World Cup spot. And, Sloane Stephens made
the jump from 957th best on the women’s tennis tour to U.S. Open
Champion.
Also, last week, President Trump
signed a bipartisan bill authorizing relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey.
The damage from Harvey has been estimated at about $50 billion, reported Yahoo! Finance, and the damage from
Hurricane Irma may be even greater.
The signed bill also raised the
debt ceiling, avoided a U.S. Treasury default, and funded the government for
three months. These aspects of the legislation may have been more important to
stock markets, according to a source cited by Barron’s:
“Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, head of U.S.
equity strategy and global quantitative research at JPMorgan, observes that the
S&P 500 has dropped about 2 percent when hurricanes make landfall, as
sectors that get slammed – think insurance companies, hotels, and cruise lines
– are offset by ones that benefit, like autos, energy and equipment services,
and basic materials for construction. A failure to raise the debt ceiling or
pass a budget, though, has typically caused the market to drop 3 percent to 5
percent. ‘In essence, the market risk associated with the failure of passing
the budget and addressing the debt ceiling has been pushed out for now…’”
Major U.S. stock markets
finished the week slightly lower. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index remains
less than 1 percent below its all-time high.
Data as of 9/8/17
|
1-Week
|
Y-T-D
|
1-Year
|
3-Year
|
5-Year
|
10-Year
|
Standard & Poor's 500
(Domestic Stocks)
|
-0.6%
|
9.9%
|
12.8%
|
7.1%
|
11.5%
|
5.4%
|
Dow Jones Global ex-U.S.
|
0.6
|
18.1
|
14.1
|
1.0
|
5.0
|
-0.2
|
10-year Treasury Note (Yield
Only)
|
2.0
|
NA
|
1.6
|
2.5
|
1.7
|
4.3
|
Gold (per ounce)
|
2.0
|
16.2
|
0.2
|
2.3
|
-4.9
|
6.7
|
Bloomberg Commodity Index
|
-0.3
|
-3.1
|
-0.5
|
-12.0
|
-10.5
|
-6.7
|
DJ Equity All REIT Total
Return Index
|
0.6
|
7.7
|
1.8
|
8.4
|
9.9
|
7.0
|
S&P 500, Dow Jones Global ex-US, Gold, Bloomberg
Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a
dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; the DJ
Equity All REIT Total Return Index does include reinvested dividends and the
three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury
Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time
periods.
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Barron’s, djindexes.com,
London Bullion Market Association.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. N/A means not
applicable.
how do you protect personal data? Last
week, Equifax, one of three major consumer credit reporting agencies, was
hacked. The New York Times reported
the company had data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91
million businesses worldwide. Estimates suggest 143 million Americans may have
been affected.
It’s no surprise new ways to
safeguard personal data are on the horizon. Some involve blockchain technology,
which underlies cryptocurrencies but has many other potential applications. PCMag.com described it like this:
“People often get bogged down in
technological complexity when trying to understand blockchain, but the basic
concept is a simple and universal one. We have facts and information we don't
want accessed, copied, or tampered with, but on the Internet, there's always a
chance it could be hacked or modified. Blockchain gives us a constant – a
bedrock we know won't change once we put something on it and where a
transaction will be verified only if it follows the rules.”
In July, The Economist reported startup companies have begun using
blockchain to register valuable assets, manage personal information, and
provide ‘truth’ services that ensure research data integrity. Governments are
embracing blockchain applications to manage land registries and corporate
recordkeeping, among other things. Another potential application for blockchain
is maintaining immutable personal data:
“One of the first things done for a
baby could be to give the newborn an entry in a blockchain, the
crypto-equivalent of a birth certificate. This sounds Orwellian, but it does
not have to be. On the contrary, if people’s identity is anchored in one or
several blockchains, this would give them more control over it and their
personal data.”
If blockchain
applications are successful, it may become easier to keep personal data safe online.
Weekly
Focus – Think About It
“I'm not much but I'm all I have.”
--Philip K. Dick, Author of Martian
Time-Slip
Leif M. Hagen
Leif M. Hagen, CLU, ChFC
LP Financial Advisor
Securities offered through LPL Financial Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC.
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* This newsletter was
prepared by Peak Advisor Alliance. Peak Advisor Alliance is not affiliated with
the named broker/dealer.
* The Standard & Poor's
500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be
representative of the stock
market in general. You cannot invest directly in this index.
* The Standard & Poor’s
500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged index. Unmanaged index returns do not reflect
fees,
expenses, or sales charges.
Index performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment.
* The 10-year Treasury Note
represents debt owed by the United States Treasury to the public. Since the
U.S.
Government is seen as a
risk-free borrower, investors use the 10-year Treasury Note as a benchmark for
the long-term bond market.
* Gold represents the
afternoon gold price as reported by the London Bullion Market Association.
The gold price is set twice
daily by the London Gold Fixing Company at 10:30 and 15:00 and is expressed in
U.S. dollars per fine troy ounce.
* The Bloomberg Commodity
Index is designed to be a highly liquid and diversified benchmark for the
commodity futures market. The Index is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical
commodities and was launched on July 14, 1998.
* The DJ Equity All REIT
Total Return Index measures the total return performance of the equity
subcategory of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry as calculated
by Dow Jones.
* Yahoo! Finance is the
source for any reference to the performance of an index between two specific
periods.
* Opinions expressed are
subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or
to predict future performance.
* Economic forecasts set forth
may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies
promoted will be successful.
* Past performance does not
guarantee future results. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.
* You cannot invest directly
in an index.
* Consult your financial
professional before making any investment decision.
* Stock investing involves
risk including loss of principal.
* To unsubscribe from the
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Sources:
http://www.barrons.com/articles/even-hurricanes-cant-kill-off-this-rally-1504929817 (or go to https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/peakcontent/+Peak+Commentary/09-11-17_Barrons-Even_Hurricanes_Cant_Kill_Off_this_Rally-Footnote_6.pdf)
https://www.economist.com/news/world-if/21724906-trust-business-little-noticed-huge-startups-deploying-blockchain-technology-threaten (or go to https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/peakcontent/+Peak+Commentary/09-11-17_TheEconomist-Disrupting_the_Trust_Business-Footnote_9.pdf)
