Market Commentary for the week of March 13, 2017

The Markets

Stocks rose Friday following a February jobs report that far exceeded expectations. However, indexes still finished lower for the week, ending six weeks of gains for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ. For the week, the Dow fell 0.40 percent to close at 20,902.98. The S&P lost 0.40 percent to finish at 2,372.60, and the NASDAQ dropped 0.15 percent to end the week at 5,861.73.

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.

Borrowing Every Week — Through the first two months of 2017 (i.e., through Feb. 28), the Treasury Department conducted weekly auctions in which it borrowed $1.09 trillion. The duration of the debt ranges from four weeks to 30 years (source: Treasury Department, BTN Research).

Very Rich Plan — Defined benefit pension plans can be funded to produce an annual benefit at retirement as high as $215,000, up from $180,000 in 2007 (source: Internal Revenue Service, BTN Research).

High, Low and Average — The national unemployment rate as of Dec. 31, 2016, was 4.5 percent. Ames, Iowa (2.1 percent) had the lowest unemployment rate while El Centro, Calif. (18.8 percent) had the highest (source: Department of Labor, 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 March 2017. All rights reserved. Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. SAI# 1733275.1