Friday’s Financial Update 4-28-2017

Written By: Michelle Smalenberger, CFP ®

Moving Forward.  That’s what time does.  Even if you take a few steps back, time is moving forward.  There’s no reversing, undoing or stopping it.  Today is a good day to remember to look back and review. Even in times when we may have wanted to reverse, undo or stop what was happening, we found opportunities.

Let’s look back at our Friday Financial Update dated 4/7/2017 that discussed a week full of geopolitical, economic and military defense events and news.

As a short-term review of market performance, here’s what that chart has looked like since our review:

The markets have moved higher due to good earnings reported for the past quarter but more importantly due to continued strong guidance for next quarter’s expected earnings.  It is common that going into the summer months, companies give forecasts that factor in lower sales, revenue and profits so they don’t disappoint with the following earnings reports.  However, companies are staying strong with their forecasts, which is an optimistic sign that they feel good about business.

While we are still awaiting potential tax and healthcare changes, today the Senate did approve a short-term extension to keep the government running instead of allowing it to shut down.  The purpose of the short-term extension for now is to allow time to get the longer term plan legislated.

Now, to keep a proper perspective with a long-term investment time horizon, let’s review another time we all remember in 2007-2008.  This serves to remind us of the importance of staying invested in a diversified portfolio for the long-term.  Can you believe it’s been 10 years?

Even during this time of wishing we could reverse, undo or stop time there were pockets of opportunities (noted with green circles in each chart).  In the midst of market downturns, we emotionally want to cash out and change course.  These examples serve to remind us that staying disciplined with a diversified portfolio over long periods of time can reward a prudent investor.

In summary, it’s important to be aware of things that are happening today but to keep a big picture perspective for the future.