Market Commentary for the week of July 10, 2017

The Markets

Falling energy prices and a positive jobs report helped stocks rebound Friday. Labor Department data showed the U.S. economy added 222,000 jobs in June, surpassing the 179,000 expected increase. The S&P saw its best gain in six sessions. For the week, the Dow rose 0.38 to close at 21,414.34. The S&P gained 0.14 percent to finish at 2,425.18, and the NASDAQ climbed 0.21 percent to end the week at 6,153.08.

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.

Lack of Planning — Of U.S. households, 52 percent with people at least age 55 had no money saved in any pre-tax defined contribution account, e.g., 401(k) or IRA (source: Government Accountability Office, BTN Research).

Ramping Up — The number of operating oil rigs in the U.S. reached 941 last week, up 43 percent YTD. The total has now increased for 23 consecutive weeks. The price of oil closed Friday, June 23, at $43.01 a barrel, down 20 percent YTD (source: Baker Hughes, BTN Research).

Better Recently — The Federal Reserve announced a target annual inflation rate of 2 percent in January 2012. In the 64 months since, trailing 12-month inflation (as measured by the CPI) has matched or exceeded 2 percent just 11 times but has reached that target rate in five of the last six months (source: Federal Reserve, 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 July 2017. All rights reserved. Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. SAI# 1842363.1