The past three months looked and felt pretty much like the previous three quarters, evoking memories of the famous movie, “Groundhog Day”. Seems like we wake up to the same news every day: Markets are slowly advancing and are relatively calm, the economy is on solid footing, the President is offending one diplomat or another, the foreign threat du jour is pounding the table demanding attention, and so on. We’re not complaining, mind you. “Steady as she goes” suits us just fine.
After three years of lukewarm results, globally diversified portfolios are finally reflecting respectable returns for 2017. We are particularly gratified by the performance of international stocks, which until this year lagged US stocks for a record seven consecutive years.
As calm and comfortable as things may seem, the typical headwinds are still present. North Korea will likely continue to poke the bear. Congress remains a dysfunctional disaster, unable to agree on and pass any meaningful legislation. The current administration can’t seem to get out of its own way. And so on. But readers would be wise to separate the narrative from the facts.
Factually speaking, the vital signs and metrics used to gauge the health of the economy are all showing signs of continued strength. As goes the economy, so go the markets. Until we see signs of weakening fundamentals in the economic engine, we remain optimistic and upbeat about the near-term outlook. See you next quarter for our Year in Review report.
The First Coast Wealth Advisors Team