That Was The Week That Was- 4th Week December

 

 

  It’s That Time of Year. My annual client breakfast meeting for 2014. Saturday 8:30-10:00 AM, February 8th, 2014. Continental Breakfast. Sycamore Golf Club, Macomb, Michigan. The topics discussed will be taxation on inherited IRAs, Non-Qualified Investment Accounts and Annuities. Make a Note. Also a compilation from leading money managers and investment professionals: ‘Your Investments -What to Expect in 2014’. I encourage you all to attend and bring a friend or ‘beneficiary’. A lot of money has been given to the government needlessly because beneficiaries did not know the tax rules or asked the wrong people. For those that have attended previous meetings you know there’ll be plenty of parking, lots of coffee, tea and juice plus pastries and fruit. But, you do have to let me know how many will be in your party with names, phone numbers and e-mails. This allows me to tell the people at Sycamore how many chairs to set up. You can call or send an e-mail to let me know. 

Resolutions? 2014?  Here’s How to Make Them a Success:

• Make Goal Specific.
• Make the Goal Measurable.
• Set a Time Limit.
• Be, of all things, Realistic.
• And, if need be, Get Help.

Christmas Rally was underway last Monday. It’s bonus time, you know.

WSJ reported 12/24/2013 that Home Builders were poised to ride the jobs wave. Okay, awkward phrasing but new sales were ready to climb as renters started home shopping and those in existing homes were looking to move up.

Christmas Eve WSJ Pointed Out the Recent Rally on Wall Street Was All About the Benjamin’s for Traders & Managers. You can’t prove it but managers and traders do a little  ‘window dressing’ end of the quarter and especially end of the year for bonuses. For this 2013 it’ll be a very merry holiday, indeed. Busy managers will be buying what they missed only to show investors at the end of the year they owned something hot even though they bought it at the top year-end price. Thursday the rally continued. I sometimes wonder what the boys and girls who are trading are smoking when I see some of these prices and then I realize it’s CHRISTMAS!

10-year Treasury yield closed at 3% actually it was 2.99% on 12/26. Still from 1.5% just a year or so earlier this is a huge jump.

China Forecasts 7.65% Economic Growth in 2014. WSJ reported while still a sluggish economy Chinese officials forecast government investment in rail and subway construction coupled with tax and other business incentives helped boost growth. 12/27/2013. For China investors this is the low end of the growth spectrum and hasn’t been seen in a decade.

Mortgage rates up. Almost a full point off their lows. It ain’t over. Rates will climb, probably more subdued as home prices recover and buyers continue to trickle in as the jobs picture gets better. This coincides with Fed tapering and expect auto loans to increase as well.  Rates increase news from bankrate.com 12/28/2013.

FINALLY: chart from Barrons.com.

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

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