The U.S. stock markets (Dow, S&P and NASDAQ) have continued a slow but steady rise up, stopping a large stone's through from 10,000 on the Dow, we did see over 2000 on NASDAQ and over 1000 on the S&P. These are all very large percentage increases over the lows of March 6th! Are we out of the woods yet???? Gold hits about $1000 and ounce and stays there; other commodities are doing well too!
There are signs, both good and bad, that the economy is gradually doing better, though job losses continue as do bankruptcies and foreclosures. President Obama has been able to push almost all news to the back burner and through the spotlight on health care reform. Lot of talk (and yelling) from a number of different stakeholders, and I fear we are far from resolving anything.
I don't think there are too many people who don't think something needs to be down with health care, but as I feel for my fellow citizens who don't have coverage, I do realize that I will have to help pay for those without. So, how will that happen, will I have higher co-pays, deductibles, or will I have less "coverage", financially, for the claims???
The safety of investment dollars caused many to pull back their exposure to the "stock markets", though the banks, credit unions, government paper (money markets, CDs, T-paper, etc.) have such low yields, historically, that the mattress isn't looking too bad either! There is money to be made in both the U.S. and foreign markets - in stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate, etc. - but like always the opportunities can be few and far between. You need to act quickly as "deals" are short-lived.
We all need a plan in a financial cycle like this. You need to know what you goals are, your risk tolerance and your time horizon. You need to decide whether any of these have changes between now and a few years back when you decided on them. Don't let emotion drive your decisions - they tend to be "bad" ones when you do that!
In the days to come, we will talk about the aspects of this planning, so stay tuned!
