EP 02 | February's sitting duck.

Joey Ott and Darlene Kuipers discuss market shifts, economic trends, and portfolio strategies as we enter March.

In EP 02...

- Market Adjustments: High-growth stocks are lagging, reinforcing the value of diversification.
- Tariffs & Policy Uncertainty: The impact of proposed tariffs remains unclear.
- Consumer & Job Market Trends: Confidence is dipping as inflation stagnates and white-collar job markets tighten.
- Housing Pressures: High rates are locking homeowners in, keeping inventory low and prices high.
- Behavioral Investing: Emotional discipline and professional guidance help investors stay on track.


Disclosures

Past performance does not determine future results. Securities offered through Harbour Investments, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through LVZ, Inc. LVZ, Inc. is a federally registered investment adviser. Learn more at www.lvzinc.com.

This was recorded on February 28, 2025.

This is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. References to specific portfolios should not be considered a recommendation.

Data and analysis does not represent the expected future performance of any investment product or strategy.

The Magnificent Seven stocks are a group of high-performing and influential companies in the U.S. stock market: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Tesla.

The monthly jobs report from the ⁠U.S. Department of Labor⁠ provides a useful snapshot of how many jobs the economy created the previous month, how many people were unemployed, and what kind of wage hikes workers received.

The fed funds rate is an interest rates in the U.S. economy that affects monetary and financial conditions, which in turn have a bearing on critical aspects of the broad economy including employment, growth, and inflation. The fed funds rate also influences short term interest rates, albeit indirectly, for everything from home and auto loans to credit cards, as lenders often set their rates based on the prime lending rate.  The prime lending rate is the lending rate at which banks charge their customers. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets eight times a year, to set the fed funds rate, and uses open market operations to influence the supply of money to meet the target rate.

The CME Group FedWatch tool calculates unconditional probabilities of FOMC meeting outcomes to generate a binary probability tree. CME Group lists 30-Day Federal Funds Futures (FF) futures, prices of which incorporate market expectations of average daily Federal Funds Effective Rate (FFER) levels during futures contract months. The FFER is published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York each day, and is calculated as a transaction-volume weighted average of the previous day’s rates on trades arranged by major brokers in the market for overnight unsecured loans between depository institutions.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index is defined as personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and measures the prices paid by consumers for goods and services to reveal inflation trends.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care. It is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them.

The Consumer sentiment is a statistical measurement and economic indicator of the overall health of the economy as determined by consumer opinion. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is a consumer confidence index published monthly by the University of Michigan. The index is normalized to have a value of 100 in December 1966. Each month at least 500 telephone interviews are conducted of a contiguous United States sample. Fifty core questions are asked.