Winthrop Partners Weekly Market Update 8-19-19
Volatility is the best term to describe stocks last week. Despite a Friday surge, each of the benchmark indexes listed here fell for the third consecutive week. Wednesday proved to be the most tumultuous day, as stocks suffered a major pullback. Long-term bond yields plunged below that of the two-year note. This “inversion” has historical precedence as a warning of an impending recession. That, coupled with ramped-up trade war rhetoric between the United States and China, pushed stocks lower during the week. Year-to-date, the major indexes listed here continue to run ahead of their 2018 year-end closing values, but the margin is narrowing. Still, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is almost 20% ahead of last year’s closing value, followed by the S&P 500, the Dow, the Russell 2000, and the Global Dow, which is still over 6.50% ahead of last year’s closing pace.
Oil prices crept ahead last week, closing at $54.94 per barrel by late Friday afternoon, up from the prior week’s price of $54.27. The price of gold (COMEX) advanced again last week, closing at $1,523.60 by late Friday afternoon, up from the prior week’s price of $1,509.10. The national average retail regular gasoline price was $2.624 per gallon on August 12, 2019, $0.064 lower than the prior week’s price and $0.219 less than a year ago. Click here to read more:Winthrop Partners Weekly Update 8-19-19
Thomas Saunders is the Managing Partner of Winthrop Partners. Prior to founding Winthrop Partners, Tom was Senior Vice President at what is now JP Morgan. His career includes senior and executive roles at Brown Brothers Harriman and First Niagara Bank, a top 25 Bank. Click here to contact Thomas Saunders about your investment and planning requirements.