12:00 TUESDAY – Weekly Stock Market Report #218 – 8/8/23

by Robert Holman | www.DefensiveAdvisor.com

WEEKLY STOCK MARKET REPORT AND RATING … 5.0 (1-4 bearish, 5 neutral, 6-9 bullish). No change – seems like every up day is offset by a down day. The market is still cautious due to uncertainty surrounding both the Fed’s interest rate policy and the severity of a possible recession.

After 13 up days in a row (which after a down day extended to 16 of 17 up days in a row) the market has been down 4 of the last 5 days. We need to be patient and see what the trading action of the next month brings us.

The year-over-year BLS Index of Employment costs has been coming down – from 5.1% in the fourth qtr. of 2022, to 4.8% in the first qtr. of 2023 to 4.5% in the second qtr. of 2023. The quarterly numbers are 1.1%, 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively. This is what the Fed is looking for, declining wage inflation. Maybe they will pause their string of interest rate hikes.

PORTFOLIOS … After reading this report, if you are unsure how to position your portfolio to take advantage of these conditions, call me to discuss your circumstances. I’ll do a complimentary portfolio evaluation, and I’ll explain what ought to be done to improve your situation. Just click here and input your portfolio holdings and I’ll call you.

TO MY CLIENTS … THANK YOU FOR YOUR TRUST. We’ve had great success since we started this RIA in mid-2018 and are doing better than the market return since that time period.

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Learn from the Bible: Proverbs 15:22. CEV - Without good advice everything goes wrong — it takes careful planning for things to go right. MSG - Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed.

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Opinions in this post are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice to, or recommendations for any individual, without our complete knowledge of that individual’s total financial profile. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. Past performance does not guarantee future results.