Weekly Capital Markets Update

Market Overview

Sources: Sources for data in tables: Equity Market and Fixed Income returns are from JP Morngan as of 03/22/19. Rates and Economic Calendar Data from Bloomberg as of 03/25/19. International developed markets measured by the MSCI EAFE Index, emerging markets measured by the MSCI EM Index. Sector performance is measured using GICS methodology.

Happening Now                   

Global equities finished in the red after a very choppy week of trading. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 Index, and the NASDAQ Composite declined 1.34%, 0.75%, and 0.58% respectively. The S&P 500 Index settled at a level of 2,801 to finish the week. Overseas, developed markets mirrored their U.S. counterparts falling 0.33% and the apparent lone bright spot was emerging markets which advanced 0.24%. In fixed income, they 10-year U.S. Treasury yields continued their downward descent finishing the week at 2.44%.

We had a little bit of everything influencing capital markets last week. Let’s start in the U.S. with the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep the federal funds target rate unchanged in a range of 2.25%-2.50%. The decision was unanimous and highly expected given the Fed’s increasingly “dovish” stance. The Fed has repeatedly signaled more patience regarding their monetary policy approach over the past six months. Moreover, they outlined plans for gradual balance sheet reduction. As we have mentioned in the past, the Fed has multiple tools available to them to achieve their goals and buying and selling assets is one of them. As it stands, the plan is to slow the pace of balance sheet reductions starting in May and conclude the reduction by the end of September. It is projected that there will be no rates hikes in 2019 (we would also contend that there will likely be no rate hikes in 2020 either) and it’s worth noting that the expectations of the neutral rate has come down considerably in the later stages of the current expansion period.

In the past, particularly in 2019, markets have rallied with the expectations of continued relatively low interest rates. However, there was more to consider last week that weighed heavily on investor sentiment. Trade issues reemerged as we received reports that another meeting between the U.S. and Chine could be delayed until June. President Trump also stated tariffs on Chinese goods could remain in place for a substantial period of time. In addition to trade talks, global growth remains a concern as both the manufacturing and services sectors in the U.S. increased at a slower than anticipated rate and European factory output declined in March. Despite a rally on Thursday led by Technology stocks, markets gyrated downward as the Treasury yield curve between the 10-year yield and the 3-month yield inverted for the first time since 2007. Yield curve inversion has long been considered as a recessionary signal so the inversion spooked many investors. However, we do not believe this is a near-term signal that investors should be overly concerned about at this point in time as, on average, recessions historically have not begun until 20 months after the onset of an inverted yield curve.

With a flurry of company specific, economic, and geopolitical news coming out daily, we can’t stress enough the importance of working with an experienced financial professional to help manage portfolios through various market and economic cycles within an appropriately diversified framework that is consistent with investor’s objectives, time-frame, and tolerance for risk.

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 REITs that primarily own and operate income-producing real estate.