Well, that was a year to remember! I won’t spend too much time talking about 2020 as we are all looking forward to moving on. However, it may be worthwhile to do a short recap of what happened to markets and how they concluded in 2020.
Socially responsible investing (SRI) is a general term used to describe various subsets of investing that attempt to align your portfolio with your values. There are two categories that tend to be the most popular: ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), and BRI (Biblically Responsible Investing).
The second quarter of 2020 will make history as will the first quarter albeit for different reasons. As we all painfully remember the Q1 marked nearly unprecedented volatility in the markets as the world dealt with the unfolding news of Covid-19. The S&P 500 plummeted to its lowest when it fell 33% from its high in less than 5 weeks. Beginning near the end of Q1 and sprinting straight through Q2 the market has come roaring back.
I can understand and appreciate the overwhelming list of tasks that a business owner sometimes has to accomplish. Perhaps on that list there may be the task of setting up a retirement plan for employees. There are three retirement options employers could consider implementing, depending on what they are hoping to accomplish, Payroll Deduction IRA, Simple IRA, or 401(k).
"It is all but certain that we are in a recession. The data is not out yet, but I would be very surprised if we are not in a recession. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. We all know that half the country was shut down for much of the first quarter and even more of the economy has been shut down for the second quarter."
"I’ve had friends call me in recent weeks asking “Why in the world is the stock market up. Did you see the unemployment number?”. In case you are not aware, the number of new jobless claims is released each Thursday at 8:30 am EST. The last four weeks have been truly devastating. So why has the market responded positively or at least not horribly to record-breaking news of the terrible variety?"
"We know that COVID-19 and the ongoing economic shutdowns will have a material impact on the economy and therefore the market has responded negatively to that news. What is unclear is how much the ongoing oil price war has impacted the market."
"From a financial standpoint, the government's response to COVID-19 has been quick and dramatic, to say the least. The federal reserve has slashed interest rates and has committed to “unlimited” asset purchases. Additionally, the bipartisan “C.A.R.E.S. Act” was passed on March 27th which will provide $2.2 trillion in stimulus. The Federal Reserve, State Governments, and the Federal Government seem ready and willing to do whatever it takes to ease the pain of this Pandemic. All of this effort and stimulus combined with the fact that the stock market has proven to be resilient leads us to believe humanity and markets will emerge from this pandemic all the wiser."