Market Commentary for the week of June 19, 2017

The Markets

Amazon’s deal to buy Whole Foods stirred Wall Street Friday, rocking shares of a range of retail companies, including Wal-Mart, Target, Costco and Walgreen Boots, while Amazon and Whole Foods’ stock surged. The NASDAQ declined; the S&P finished slightly higher; and the Dow Industrials set a record close. For the week, the Dow rose 0.59 to close at 21,384.28. The S&P gained 0.12 percent to finish at 2,433.15, and the NASDAQ fell 0.92 percent to end the week at 6,151.76.

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.

Good Results Lately — The S&P 500 was down on a total return basis in 9 of the 13 years from 1929-1941. The S&P 500 has been down on a total return basis in just 1 of the last 14 years from 2003-2016, i.e., down in calendar year 2008 (source: BTN Research).

Not Worth It — Of millennials who have student debt, 23 percent believe the college education they received “will never be worth” the debt they incurred. Millennials are defined as the 75 million Americans ages 20-36 in 2017, i.e., individuals born from 1981-1997 (source: TD Ameritrade, BTN Research).

Required Help — Six banks have failed this year through Friday, June 9. Five banks failed in all of 2016. In 2010, 157 banks failed (source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 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 June 2017. All rights reserved. Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. SAI# 1823877.1