Market Overview
Sources: Equity Market and Fixed Income returns are from JP Morgan as of 06/02/17. Rates and Economic Calendar Data from Bloomberg as of 06/05/17.
Happening Now
U.S. Stocks generated positive returns across all market capitalizations last week. Small caps led the way with the 1.7% advance of the Russell 2000 Index followed by the Russell Midcap Index’s 1.2% move higher and the 1% gain of the large cap dominated S&P 500 Index. Internationally, results were mixed with developed market countries finishing the week with a 1.7% gain while emerging markets fell slightly by 0.1%.
With markets sitting atop all-time highs, investors focused on last Friday’s employment report for clues about the health of the U.S. economy as well as the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee’s upcoming meeting on June 13-14. Friday’s report surprised economists with non-farm payrolls growing 138k in May, below estimates for a gain of 185k. Despite fewer job gains than expected, the headline unemployment rate fell to 4.3% – the lowest level since May 2001. In addition to the headline U-3 unemployment rate, which only takes into account those unemployed who are actively looking for work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also releases a broader measure called the U-6. The U-6 rate considers those working part-time but looking for a full time job as well as discouraged workers who have quit looking for work. This measure fell to 8.3% in April, its lowest reading since 2007, and is more evidence that the labor market continues to tighten. Historically, and intuitively, a tighter labor market should lead to higher wages. However, this has not yet happened in a meaningful way as wages grew at annual pace of only 2.5% in May.
Despite the weakness in these reports, and other recent economic data, the Federal Reserve appears set to raise rates by another 0.25% at the conclusion of their June meeting, with the market now pricing in a rate hike probability of 95%. While we do not believe this will have a meaningful impact on most asset prices, it will provide insight into the Fed’s current view of economic conditions. In addition to their prepared statement, this meeting will be accompanied by Chair Yellen’s press conference where the media will have an opportunity to prod for details on the committee’s view of the economy and future potential changes to monetary policy.
We, at SmartTrust®, believe that we are currently in a rather stable economic environment accompanied by slow, but steady, economic growth. These conditions will likely not be significantly altered by a higher Fed Funds Target rate but investors would be wise to consider how their investments will perform if, and when, the Fed tightens further in the future.
Important Information and Disclaimers
Disclosures: Hennion & Walsh is the sponsor of SmartTrust® Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). For more information on SmartTrust® UITs, please visit www.smarttrustuit.com. The overview above is for informational purposes and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any SmartTrust® UITs. Investors should consider the Trust’s investment objective, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information relevant to an investment in the Trust and investors should read the prospectus carefully before they invest.
Investing in foreign securities presents certain risks not associated with domestic investments, such as currency fluctuation, political and economic instability, and different accounting standards. This may result in greater share price volatility. These risks are heightened in emerging markets.
There are special risks associated with an investment in real estate, including credit risk, interest rate fluctuations and the impact of varied economic conditions. Distributions from REIT investments are taxed at the owner’s tax bracket.
The prices of small company and mid cap stocks are generally more volatile than large company stocks. They often involve higher risks because smaller companies may lack the management expertise, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths to endure adverse economic conditions.
Investing in commodities is not suitable for all investors. Exposure to the commodities markets may subject an investment to greater share price volatility than an investment in traditional equity or debt securities. Investments in commodities may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates or factors affecting a particular industry or commodity.
Products that invest in commodities may employ more complex strategies which may expose investors to additional risks.
Investing in fixed income securities involves certain risks such as market risk if sold prior to maturity and credit risk especially if investing in high yield bonds, which have lower ratings and are subject to greater volatility. All fixed income investments may be worth less than original cost upon redemption or maturity. Bond Prices fluctuate inversely to changes in interest rates. Therefore, a general rise in interest rates can result in the decline of the value of your investment.
Definitions
MSCI- EAFE: The Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australasia and Far East Index, a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure developed-market equity performance, excluding the United States and Canada.
MSCI-Emerging Markets: The Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Market Index, is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure the performance of global emerging markets of about 25 emerging economies.
Russell 3000: The Russell 3000 measures the performance of the 3000 largest US companies based on total market capitalization and represents about 98% of the investible US Equity market.
ML BOFA US Corp Mstr [Merill Lynch US Corporate Master]: The Merrill Lynch Corporate Master Market Index is a statistical composite tracking the performance of the entire US corporate bond market over time.
ML Muni Master [Merill Lynch US Corporate Master]: The Merrill Lynch Municipal Bond Master Index is a broad measure of the municipal fixed income market.
Investors cannot directly purchase any index.
LIBOR, London Interbank Offered Rate, is the rate of interest at which banks offer to lend money to one another in the wholesale money markets in London.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an unweighted index of 30 “blue-chip” industrial U.S. stocks.
The S&P Midcap 400 Index is a capitalization-weighted index measuring the performance of the mid-range sector of the U.S. stock market, and represents approximately 7% of the total market value of U.S. equities. Companies in the Index fall between S&P 500 Index and the S&P SmallCap 600 Index in size: between $1-4 billion.
DJ Equity REIT Index represents all publicly traded real estate investment trusts in the Dow Jones U.S. stock universe classified as Equity REITs according to the S&P Dow Jones Indices REIT Industry Classification Hierarchy. These companies are REITSs that primarily own and operate income-producing real estate.