Financial News and Portfolio Management Discussion through April 25th

All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.

US Stocks hit a new record high to end the week on profit reports topping expectations. The S&P 500 gained 1.8% and the Dow rose 1.4% for the week.  Abroad, Japan rose 1.9% as the Nikkei finished above 20,000 for the first time in 15 years and Europe was up 1.2%.  The yield on the 10 year Treasury rose over the week to end at 1.92%.  Article

China announced that it cut the reserve requirement by one percentage point for banks freeing up approximately $200 billion to lend in a move to help stimulate growth in the country.  Article

New home sales sank 11.4% in March from February, but are up 19.4% from a year earlier.  Article

Durable goods orders rose 4% in March, however the gain was due entirely to purchases of airplanes and cars.  Outside of transportation demand for big ticket items fell 0.2%.

Halliburton, Morgan Stanley, Facebook, Microsoft, Caterpillar, Google and Amazon all topped analysts’ expectations, while Yahoo, GM and McDonald’s disappointed investors.

Deutsche bank will pay $2.5 billion to settle allegation its employees manipulated the LIBOR rate.

Brazil gas giant Petrobras wrote off $17 billion due to losses from overvalued assets and graft tied to the corruption scandal.

Comcast announced it was dropping its planned $45.2 billion merger with Time Warner over regulatory concerns.

 

 

About

Raffa Wealth Management is an independent investment advisor providing nonprofit organizations, high net-worth investors, and qualified retirement plans with a full range of investment consulting services.  We were established to fill the need for transparency, clarity, and vision in the professional management of investment assets.   Visit us at www.raffawealth.com

There is no guarantee that any investment strategy, including those described here, will be successful. Any investment or investment strategy can lose money. Past performance does not guarantee or predict future results. You should not assume that any discussion or information contained herein serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Raffa Wealth Management, LLC. This information was gathered from reliable sources, but we cannot guarantee accuracy. Indexes do not reflect the fees associated with actual investments and such fees would reduce the performance illustrated. Source: FMG Suite, LLC.
Bookmark this page