Weekly Market RecapThis week saw the markets broadly continue to gain. The Fed saw the US economy generally improving in its Beige Book report. Internationally, China which has been soft, saw strong export growth for March. That could hint at some stabilization in the economy after recent softness. Inflation appeared to increase slightly in major European economies. A reminder this week on why we believe diversified and low cost Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) tracking broad indexes are an appropriate building block of your portfolio. The first point to note, as research by JP Morgan has shown, is that the median stock performance can often lag the index. This may seem surprising, however, a small number of stocks can make very large gains each year. So it's easy for someone holding a concentrated stock positions to miss them. By holding a diversified portfolio you are able to capture gains wherever they occur within the index you are tracking. Secondly, the composition of a well-constructed index evolves over time to reflect the broader economy. For example, companies like Facebook and Google (now called Alphabet) are relatively recent additions to the US stock market, which a buy and hold individual stock investor may not own. Also, consider that when the Dow Jones index began railroad stocks made up more than half the index and now they are a far smaller part of the stock market. By tracking an appropriate index you ensure that your stock holdings are kept up to date and represent a relatively current reflection of the investment options. Notes: Disclaimer: Your Portfolio Summary
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Saturday, April 16, 2016
Your Weekly Update - Where To Find Your Tax Forms
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