LEAP Wealth Management

More news about the Omicron variant caused volatility in the markets again with whipsaws back and forth. The most significant move backward was in the Nasdaq. The emerging markets saw green, benefiting from a decline in the US Dollar Index, but most S&P Sectors closed lower aside from Real Estate and Utilities.

Energy caught analysts’ attention, specifically Natural Gas, which saw a decline of more than 25% last week after significant gains this year. Supply chain issues are said the be part of the blame for the runup.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell wants to retire the term “Transitory Inflation” after being questioned last week. Does that mean inflation is here to stay? The meeting continued with Powell discussing how rate increases could be done moving forward.

Non-Farm payrolls threw a wrench into the outlook as only 210,000 jobs were reported against the estimated 573,000 expected. Likely this number will move upwards as reporting has been flawed since the pandemic began.

At Leap Wealth, we are here to help our clients manage through all the highs and lows. We believe in process over opinion when it comes to managing wealth.

Despite the shortened trading week, there was a lot of turbulence. The worst performer of the major indices was Emerging Markets. The S&P did manage to reach an All-Time-High on Monday, with Tuesday and Wednesday also seeing gains. Friday’s half-day session sent the indices in red due to very light volume and a potential new Covid variant. Even though Energy fell 4% on Friday, it was still up for the week and the only positive performer.

President Biden re-affirmed Jerome Powell for the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Fed did release their minutes ahead of the Thanksgiving Holiday with an eye towards tightening in 2022. However, the CME Group Fed Watch Tool saw a spike back down in the probability of a May 2022 rate hike. The 10 year Treasury yield dropped 6 basis points at the end of the week.

All in all, the markets have gained this year and some pullback is going to happen. At Leap Wealth, we are here to help you manage through the economic and political noise in order to stay on track. Contact us today to learn more.

If you haven’t felt it yet, you will. Inflation is here.

The 5-week winning streak of the Major Market Indices gets broken. The only positive performer was the Emerging Markets index after two weeks of losses itself.

Most of the focus last week was on the economic reports regarding inflation. The Producer Price Index (measures the average change in sale prices for the entire domestic market of raw goods and services) rose 8.6% from last year, which shocked many analysts. That was followed up by a 6.2% increase in the Consumer Price Index (the average change in sale prices for the domestic market of raw goods and services).

The FedWatch Tool changed after the month of October, speculating a rate hike in June of next year and another in December. Treasury yield curves are signaling a potential recession in the bond market.

Contact us to learn how we navigate these economic conditions to help you Advance and Protect your wealth.

The markets saw renewed life last week as all five major markets added green. Much like the prior week, the 5-day trading session opened to a weak start with the greatest losses taking place on Monday. However, as the sessions continued, the returns improved with Thursday seeing the greatest gains which also represented the bulk of the weekly return.
The Labor Department recorded a record of 4.3 million people which is about 2.9% of the entire workforce quit in August. Tuesday’s JOLTS report saw a slight reduction in the national job openings as the number dropped slightly to 10.4 million in August from the revised July reading of 11.1 million.
Wednesday held the much-anticipated Consumer Price Index report. September’s monthly CPI reading came in at 0.4%. While the monthly reading was mostly lower than in recent months, it was the 12-month number that caught analysts’ attention coming at 5.4%. This marked the highest reading for the annual report since 1991. Nevertheless, the markets appeared to overlook the inflation concerns as 10 of the 11 sectors closed higher.
At Leap Wealth, we leverage sophisticated software and strategies normally reserved for the ultra-wealthy and large institutions. We bring these capabilities to our wealth management clients. To learn more, contact us at www.leapwealth.com and see how we can serve you.

Is this a trend? All 5 major indices closed lower last week with Emerging Markets giving back the most, taking it negative for the year. The bulk of that loss was due to the negative results in the Chinese index.

The Chinese company Evergrande is expected to default on a portion of its $300 billion debt, which ironically, Lehman Brothers pointed out was a concern 13 years ago. It is a “wait and see” to determine what kind or how much of an impact this will have on the overall global markets.

Have you heard of Quadruple Witching? It is explained in the video but could lead to more volatility heading into the 3rd quarter.

Some analysts are concerned about the energy sector and fuel prices, which have seen large increases, as the winter months are coming.

At Leap Wealth, we are strategically positioned to help our clients manage through all the ups and downs by leveraging our Advance and Protect investment philosophy. Contact us today to learn how we can help you. www.leapwealth.com