May Flowers and Volatility Showers Plus our 34th Anniversary

Dear Friends,

With a third of the year behind us, the calendar shifts to spring (well actually summer here in Florida). So far, 2018 has shown a NORMAL level of volatility.

Is it really a NORMAL level of volatility? Well, consider this. In the first quarter of this year, the S&P500 experienced daily moves of more than 1% on 23 days. However, over the past 60 years, nine other years (or 15% of the time) experienced similar levels of daily volatility. If something happens 15% of the time, it certainly doesn’t make it abnormal . . .

In those years where volatility was higher in the first quarter, the remaining three quarters also had higher volatility with their being an average total of 86 such 1% days for those years. However, the good news for those years was that the average total return was 9.6%! The current economic back drop appears poised to replicate a positive return as well, particularly with corporate earnings currently running at an 18% annual growth rate.

For some additional perspective, please review the attached article from American Funds. “Investing through Adversity” contains some valuable perspective and statistics. Please pay particular attention to the third page which helps to put bull and bear markets into perspective.

34 years ago today, Jack Nelson started this company. Certainly a lot of headlines and markets ups and downs have occurred over that time period! For reference though, the DOW was at 1186 on May 1, 1984. The fundamentals of investing like diversification and consistency remain as true today as they were in 1984. It has been a privilege to help so many achieve their hopes and dreams and we look forward to many more years to come.

Our client appreciation events are coming up in the next two weeks. The May 15 event still has space available so if you have not yet sent in your RSVP please contact the office today as we need to set a guaranteed number by tomorrow.  We are currently in the process of securing dates for our 3rd & 4th quarter client meetings so stay tuned for those exact meeting dates.

With tax season behind us, there are plenty of opportunities to schedule a conversation so give us a call to schedule something particularly if we have not visited yet in 2018.