Market Drama

Featuring Zoe CEO & Founder, Andres Garcia-Amaya, CFA

August 5th, 2024 

Watch Time: 4.4 minutes

Welcome to this week’s Market Drama!

Stock Market Updates:

  • S&P 500 was down 2.1%. Up 12.1% for the year.
    • Largest drop in the market this year:  5.7% drawdown from the highs we saw in July.
    • This volatility is fairly normal: there has been an average 14.2% drop in the last 44 years. Yet the market for 33 of those still ended up.
    • The drawdown is coming from the tech stocks who have been high flyers.
      • Broader market is holding up, sectors like  financials and industrials. 
  • Nasdaq was down even more, down 3.4%. Up 11.8% for the year.
    • Underperforming with respect to the S&P 500 this year. 
  • The Bonds Aggregate Index was up 2%, now up 2.1% for the year. 

Economic Updates:

  • July payrolls: 114,000 jobs added, the expectation was 175,000. 
  • Unemployment rate jumped up to 4.3%, the consensus estimate was for 4.1%. 
  • Wage growth increased at 3.6% YoY, which was lower than expected. 
  • Earnings from tech companies that continue to perform fairly well.
    • Biggest upside: cyclical and defensive sectors (financials, and healthcare) and less so from the growth sectors. 
  • The Fed see’s by September a higher likelihood that they will cut interest rates.
    • Core inflation is at 2,6% and employment is cooling off. 
    • Earnings are holding up, bond yields dropped, and high flyer tech stocks have sold off (not interest rate sensitive).
    • This cool off could be for the wider economy, probably a recession or just slower growth. 

Stay tuned for next week.

– Andres

Disclosure: This material provided by Zoe Financial is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a substitute for personalized investment advice or as a recommendation or solicitation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Nothing in these materials is intended to serve as personalized tax and/or investment advice since the availability and effectiveness of any strategy is dependent upon your individual facts and circumstances. Zoe Financial is not an accounting firm- clients and prospective clients should consult with their tax professional regarding their specific tax situation. Opinions expressed by Zoe Financial are based on economic or market conditions at the time this material was written. Economies and markets fluctuate. Actual economic or market events may turn out differently than anticipated. Facts presented have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Zoe Financial, however, cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information presented here may have been condensed or summarized from its original source. 

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