That Was The Week That Was-4th Week September

 

CLIENT PORTFOLIO REVIEW & UPDATE 

If it has been over 1 year since you and I have reviewed your holdings you may want to update. Too many things are happening that are impacting portfolio holdings. Make sure you are on top of things and all is what you want and expect. Call or e-mail.

 

EXPECT A U.S. SHUTDOWN AS HOUSE VOTED TO DELAY HEALTH LAW! These folk live in a bubble.

  Congressional Approval is at an all time low of 6%.  And so instead of playing nice, reaching out in compromise and working to solve long ignored problems Tea Party Congressional dissidents looked to shut down the government if ObamaCare wasn’t dissolved. Political uncertainty marked the beginnings of what may be a volatile end of the quarter. Zacks on 09.24 reported they expect stocks to trade in a narrow range 1680-1729. Interestingly a CNBC report September 23rd showed most Americans approved of the national health care program even though they knew little about it.

The Health Care Act is at Best Confusing.

• Insurance Exchanges May Be Overloaded First Day They Open.
• There are Exchanges for Individuals and then there are Exchanges for Businesses.
• No One at The Exchange Can Make a Recommendation. Just The Facts.
• Some State Exchanges Are Being Lead By Obstructionists Determined to do Everything to Make the Law Fail. Pew Report.
• Some plans limit the Doctors They Pay For and Your Doctor May Not Be On The List.
• Not All Insurance Companies Compete In All Areas. Some Companies Will Only Offer Insurance In Select Markets.
• Low Income Participants Are On Their Honor For Federal Subsidies in 2014. Verification in 2015.

 

 

A Government Shutdown? How Would Oil & Gold React?

‘nuf said?’

 WHAT WORRIES INVESTORS IS THE DEBT CEILING – HERE’S HOW THE MARKETS REACTED IN 2011. 09/28/2013

Worries continued from the end of July to the next year. How About The Fiscal Cliff?

Next Time You Vote Remember This…

Talmer Financial Investment Services –The Monitor 09/20/2013 provided the following…

‘THE U.S. ECONOMY IS IN THE 5TH YEAR OF THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY. THE SIXTH LONGEST SINCE WW2. WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH THE CURRENT RECOVERY WITH A CHANCE OF RECESSION IN THE IMMEDIATE TERM BEING LESS LIKELY.’ The likelihood of a recession in the immediate term and half-way through the economic recovery are important statements to digest as we move forward.

Doctor Doom Likes Us! He Really Really Does! Noriel Roubini, a noted harbinger of economic calamities, said on Monday, September 24th, ‘Those worried about inflation worry about all the money printing leading to that inflation. Inflation in advanced economies is going to the least problems developed countries will face in the next two-three years.’ He also said that the U.S. will be better positioned than most of its global competitors. The dollar is likely to be stronger rather than weaker. Gold is on its way to $1000 as inflation threat ebbs. He also said he is optimistic on Japanese stocks.

IPO for Chrysler. Fiat wanted to keep it all but the UAW union health trust, which owns 41.5% of the company said, ‘Nyet!’ Analysts said they estimate the company, depending on market conditions, to be $10-$11 billion.  

 US HOME PRICES CLIMB AT FASTEST CLIP IN 7 YEARS. Yes, there have been slowdowns as increasing interest rates has caused some buyers to cancel orders and this slowing could hurt the economic recovery. WSJ 09/25/2013

The Fed Tapering Isn’t Going To Crush Stocks, reported Morgan Stanley on 09/24/2013. MS reported that the next leg up in stocks will be lead by corporate investment cycle.

Nuveen Investment Management, Inc.’s Bob Doll wrote, ‘We continue to climb the wall of worry one issue at a time. …near term choppiness for equities…we continue to recommend a moderately pro-cyclical bias for U.S. equity portfolios.’ 09/24/2013

Rex Nutting wrote in MarketWatch- 5 Things You Didn’t Know About ObamaCare

• It doesn’t reform health care as much as it does health insurance.
• It’ll be affordable.
• It’s not a train wreck-it hasn’t been a smooth rollout but not a wreck, either.
• Almost all that scary stuff isn’t true- no death panels.
• The Republicans are afraid it’ll be a success not a failure. 09/26/2013

And there is no evidence that ObamaCare will cripple the economy.

BlackRock’s Theil Sees Negative Fixed Income Returns For Years. This was reported in the Financial Advisor Magazine. Scott Theil, deputy chief investment officer for fundamental fixed income.

Whisper Facebook runs until Twitter IPO end of this year. Closed above $50.00 for the first time this past week.

Markets Down For 5th Straight Day By Mid-Week- Longest Losing Streak This Year But Positive on Thursday! (whew)

According to WSJ 09/27 The Obama Administration Plain Doesn’t Like Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPM. With that regulators are negotiating a $11 billion settlement related to the 2008 Mortgage-Backed Securities Meltdown. Dimon finds himself square in the sights of government investigations even though the bank did not need taxpayer assistance, was begged by Washington to rescue Bear-Stearns and bought Washington Mutual when the government asked. The bank also did not involve itself in the credit excesses as many banks did, or as did quasi-federal agencies Fannie-Freddie. Even when government officials demanded that banks ‘gorge’ on mortgage securities JPM followed a more sensible approach. (Remember the mandate that everyone should be able to own a home?)  But Dimon has been a thorn in the side of the administration arguing against tighter federal regulations and even voicing his disdain for the current occupant of the White House. According to the WSJ, Dimon’s worst sin may have been that JP Morgan earned record profits last year despite a rogue trader’s enormous ‘Whale’ mistake trade. WSJ, ‘Washington in this era prefers dependent banks that quietly accept their role as money pots to be raided when politics demand. Mr. Dimon keeps deviating from the Obama script.’ Shareholders will pay the fine as JPM shares are off their highs.

THE WEEK ENDED DOWN ON FED CONCERNS.

Finally, John Shiinal’s Tech Investor in MarketWatch’s   September 27th Issue: For those thinking of buying Twitter the experts are comparing it to both Facebook and LinkedIn. The mistakes made by Facebook and the relatively smooth rollout by LinkedIn. Those involved in the IPO hope to avoid one and emulate the other.

Questions call Paul @ 586 295 0430 or write him at pstanley@westminsterfinancial.com. Share this blog with someone who cares about their money.

SECURITIES OFFERED THROUGH WESTMINSTER SECURITIES, INC. MEMBER FINRA/SIPC.