Winthrop Partners Weekly Update March 2, 2020
The Markets (as of market close February 28, 2020)
Panicked investors continued a major sell-off last week, pushing stocks to double-digit losses. Fears of a major global economic impact increased as the coronavirus continued to spread across multiple countries. By the end of last week, each of the major benchmark indexes listed here fell by more than 10%, headed by the Dow, which lost close to 12.5%. Following the Dow were the small caps of the Russell 2000, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Global Dow. Money flowed from stocks and into long-term bonds. The yield on 10-year Treasuries plummeted 35 basis points to 1.12% as bond prices soared. The price of oil was also hit hard, falling more than $8 per barrel by the end of last week.
Oil prices plunged last week, closing at $45.19 per barrel by late Friday afternoon, down from the prior week’s price of $53.35. The price of gold (COMEX) fell back last week, closing at $1,585.80 by late Friday afternoon, down from the prior week’s price of $1,646.10. The national average retail regular gasoline price was $2.466 per gallon on February 24, 2020, $0.038 higher than the prior week’s price and $0.076 more than a year ago. Click here for more:Winthrop Partners Weekly Update 3-2-2020
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.