Market Commentary for the week of April 24, 2017

The Markets

Investors appeared cautious prior to the French election. U.S. stocks dipped Friday but were up for the week, allowing the S&P 500 to achieve its first weekly gain in three. For the week, the Dow rose 0.51 percent to close at 20,547.76. The S&P gained 0.87 percent to finish at 2,348.69, and the NASDAQ climbed 1.82 percent to end the week at 5,910.52.

Source: Morningstar.com. *Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Three- and five-year returns are annualized. The Dow Jones Industrials, MSCI EAFE, Barclays US Agg Bond and S&P, excluding “1 Week” returns, are based on total return, which is a reflection of return to an investor by reinvesting dividends after the deduction of withholding tax. The NASDAQ is based on price return, which is the capital appreciation of the portfolio, excluding income generated by the assets in the portfolio in the form of interest and dividends. (TR) indicates total return. (PR) indicates price return. MSCI EAFE returns stated in U.S. dollars.

Halfway Through the Year — The U.S. budget deficit for the first six months of the fiscal year (i.e., the six months ending March 31) was $527 billion (source: Treasury Department, BTN Research).

Bears Follow Bulls — The average decline for the S&P 500 during the 11 bear markets since the end of World War II is 34 percent (source: BTN Research).

No Progress Made — After adjusting data for the impact of inflation, the median household income today ($56,516) is lower than the median household income ($57,909) from 1999 (source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, BTN Research).

* The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australia and Far East Index (MSCI EAFE Index) is a widely recognized benchmark of non-U.S. stock markets. It is an unmanaged index composed of a sample of companies representative of the market structure of 20 European and Pacific Basin countries and includes reinvestment of all dividends. Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index is an unmanaged index comprised of U.S. investment-grade, fixed-rate bond market securities, including government, government agency, corporate and mortgage-backed securities between one and 10 years. Written by Securities America, Copyright April 2017. All rights reserved. Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. SAI# 1767708.1