Insights

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: Employment Numbers Beat Expectations as S&P 500 Nears February High

The U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs in July as hiring momentum in the service sector allowed many workers to reclaim lost jobs or get new ones. The pace of hiring slowed compared to gains of 2.7 million and 4.8 million in May and June. The slowing growth reflects consumer caution as new virus cases surge and the slowing pace of economic reopening.

Monthly Newsletters

Comparing Traditional Mortgages and Variable-Rate Mortgages in the COVID-19 Economy

Do you know what it was like to buy a house in 1982? You pulled up your Trans Am to the bank where the picture of President Regan hung on the lobby wall and got your checkbook out of your jean jacket. Then you signed up for a 30-year mortgage with a 17% interest rate!

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: GDP Substantially Lower than Last Year, S&P Rallies in July

U.S. GDP fell 32.9% last quarter on an annualized basis. It wasn’t as bad as it looks. Annualizing the data magnifies the decline by assuming the trend will continue for a full year. A better assessment can be gained by comparing GDP to the same quarter last year.

Videos

Q3 Market Outlook Webinar

Scott Kubie, Senior Investment Strategist at Carson Group, put together our Quarterly Market Outlook for the third quarter with multiple factors in mind. Click Here to Watch the Webinar

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: S&P 500 Earnings are Strong, but Initial Unemployment Claims Increase

The increased number of COVID-19 cases appears to be pressuring employment in the U.S. Last week, the number of initial unemployment claims rose from 1.3 million to 1.4 million. (See Figure 1.) After slowly declining for weeks, the uptick shows signs of a weakening job market.

Videos

Quarterly Market Outlook: Q3 2020

Carson Partners’ Scott Kubie shares key events we saw in the past quarter and how we think they’ll affect markets in the upcoming quarter. Contact us to speak with a financial advisor.

Blog

What You Need to Know When Choosing the Right Trustee

One of the most important decisions you’ll make when designing your estate plan is who to name in the various fiduciary roles – trustee, personal representative, executor and agent.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: S&P 500 Positive for the Year as Retail Sales Rise

Evidence for a sharp, although possibly brief, economic recovery continues to mount. As shown in Figure 1, retail sales rebounded another 7.5% in June and are now 1.1% higher than a year ago. Signs of economic reopening showed up throughout the data released last week.

Videos

Planning for Retirement: Medicare, Medicaid and Long-Term Care

Jamie Hopkins, Director of Retirement Research with our partners at Carson Group, put together an on-demand webinar to help you start thinking about these foundational pieces of retirement. Click Here to Watch the Webinar

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: S&P Climbs Despite Surge in COVID-19 Cases

Stocks continued to climb in the face of an increasing number of new COVID-19 cases and evidence the surge is stifling the economy’s ability to recover. Initial unemployment claims dipped to 1.3 million, but they have remained above 1 million for 16 consecutive weeks.