Market Commentary for the week of July 24, 2017

The Markets

Taking a break from their record-setting performances, the three major indexes declined Friday. A drop in oil prices impaired energy stocks. General Electric’s disappointing annual profit projection weighed on the Dow. For the week, the Dow fell 0.22 percent to close at 21,580.07. The S&P rose 0.56 percent to finish at 2,472.54, and the NASDAQ climbed 1.19 percent to end the week at 6,387.75.

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.

Higher and Higher — Of the 11 S&P 500 bull markets since 1949, only the 1990-2000 bull market (308 record closing highs) and the 1982-1987 bull market (152 record closing highs) have achieved more daily all-time highs than the current bull market’s 151 record closing highs (source: BTN Research).

Bull Market — Since bottoming on March 9, 2009, the S&P 500 has gained 334 percent (total return) and set 151 record closing highs through trading on Friday, July 14, equal to a 19.2 percent gain per year (source: BTN Research).

Who Loses Coverage — Of the estimated 22 million Americans who would not have health insurance coverage by 2026 under the Better Care Reconciliation Act, when compared to the current law, 15 million are Medicaid beneficiaries and 7 million buy their policies in the individual insurance market (source: BCRA, 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#1853772.1