I’m going to begin this post with a personal tidbit. I decided to run my first full marathon a few months ago. After running five half-marathons in past years, I figured this would be rather simple, double my training and double my time. No problem…I thought. Was I ever wrong! This was the single most mentally and physically tough challenge that I have ever taken on. Yes, I did finish, but only by setting mini-goals throughout this awful and painful decision.
All kidding aside, I am very glad I finished this long-time goal of mine. My point here is that I got through the race by setting mini-goals and measuring points throughout the race. I think it applies to one’s investment strategy as well. Set your quarterly performance goals and measure them throughout the year. You may not reach your goal every quarter, but you may very well hit your mark over twelve months.
Continuing with the market commentary, the second quarter was not bad. Throw out the month of May and we all would be smiling! This single month nearly wiped out all of the yearly gains for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones. As this goes to print, the markets are now back to where they were pre-May. Historically, an election year is a good year for the stock market and it continues to look that way through July. Let’s be optimistic that history will continue to repeat itself in this regard.
Jobless claims in July actually fell by 6,000 to 361,000. This is great! Actual predictions were 370,000 claims. Unemployment was virtually unchanged at 8.3% and non-farm payroll employment rose by 163,000, which is encouraging. The trade deficit fell in June by 11% to $42.9 billion, which is the smallest gap since December of 2010. If the global economy stabilizes (specifically China & India), further improvements in the deficit should be realized. The U.S. housing market has improved. In fact, the median sales price for a single-family rose by 7% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year. Home prices rose in 75% of U.S. cities in the second quarter as well. Things are getting better and I look forward to continued good news in our economy and the global markets.
Photo by: jayneandd
