Weekly Review for week ending 11-29-24

I take pride in personally crafting each of these emails. Unlike many others in the industry who rely on prewritten content, I write these myself from scratch. My goal is to boil down complex concepts and share relevant news in an easy-to-understand format. I hope you find them both informative and enjoyable.

Last week closed out the strongest month in stock markets this year with the S&P 500 adding .32% on the week and 5.30% on the month while the NASDAQ added .36% on the week and 5.36% on the month.   Year-to-date, the S&P 500 is up 27.5%, and the NASDAQ has gained 31.41%. The S&P600 small cap index added a whopping 10.71% on the month and is now up 17.73% on the year(FactSet).

In economic news, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, showed inflation ticking slightly higher in October. The headline PCE rose to an annualized 2.3% from 2.1% in September (bea.gov). 

We are certainly seeing a bit of a stall in the downward progress of inflation but I don’t think there’s reason to be to concerned. The savings rate rose from 4.1% in September to 4.4% in October (bea.gov), suggesting that U.S. consumers may have been pausing their spending in preparation for the holiday season. Additionally, both the headline and core PCE price indices aligned with market expectations on both a monthly and annual basis. Despite the small uptick, there are still sections of the economy that continue to moderate and when zoomed out, we are still in my opinion, trending in the right direction.  The one thing that seems to be a persistent thorn in the Feds side has been strength in shelter costs which rose during the month. 

Looking Ahead

The Federal Reserve is set to meet again on December 17–18. The Fed minutes from the November meeting highlighted a balanced view1.

This Friday’s labor market report will shed more light on the health of the economy. October saw a meager 12,000 new jobs created, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%(bls.gov). November's data will help gauge whether this slowdown is an anomaly or the beginning of a broader trend.

If you’ve only recently joined my email list, you’ve missed out on many insights and updates that I've been sharing each week. Be sure to visit my blog to explore past content that you might find valuable.


Jeremy Raffer, MBA
Director & Wealth Manager
Author “Financial Planning for Widows”

m. 201-747-2705
w. rafferwealthmanagement.com
e. jeremy.raffer@stewardpartners.com

Steward Partners
115 W. Century Rd, Suite 145
Paramus, NJ 07652

1https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcminutes20241107.pdf

The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Steward Partners or its affiliates.  All opinions are subject to change without notice.  Neither the information provided nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Keep in mind that individuals cannot invest directly in any index, and index performance does not include transaction costs or other fees, which will affect actual investment performance. Individual investor's results will vary. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Future investment performance cannot be guaranteed, investment yields will fluctuate with market conditions.

For index definitions click here

AdTrax 7403935.1  Exp 12/25