The Caldwell Trust Company Blog

If you read the Wall Street Journal or listen to Bloomberg News, you’ve probably heard about robo-advisors. However, you may not know what it is or whether it’s the right service approach for your estate planning and investments.  

Although it sounds like something from a science fiction movie, robo-advisors are quite ‘real’.  They are automated digital investment advisory services – available online and through apps – that provide investment guidance without the intervention of a person, i.e. a human investment advisor.

Emerging in recent years as an alternative to traditional sources of advice, robo-advisors use computer algorithms, or sets of rules, to choose appropriate investments. The choices are based on a person’s risk tolerance, time horizon and other preferences indicated from an initial online questionnaire.

• Domestic equity markets decline meaningfully

• Trade tensions and Facebook dominate financial press

• Technology and Financial stocks lead sell-off

• Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raises short term rates

Major domestic equity markets were down meaningfully last week with The NASDAQ leading the drop. The S&P 500, NASDAQ, and Dow all declined in the 6% range on the week. The biggest declines occurred in Technology and Financials companies both of which were down more than 7%. Financial headlines revolved around Facebook and trade tariffs placed on China. Sentiment in general is turning negative. Underlying fundamentals remain positive in aggregate. Clearly, Facebook has significant issues to resolve and the ultimate tensions on trade, and the saber rattling from the Trump administration will continue to play out.

Caldwell Trust Company has been honored with an ADDY by AdFed Suncoast, the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation, for excellence in advertising. The company won a Silver Addy for its full-page print advertisement headlined “Let’s Talk About Your Tomorrows Today.” 

• Both yields and equity markets down on the week

• Washington news flow distracting

• Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) most likely hikes rates

• Markets focused on economic growth, inflation, and rates

Seesaw. The broad domestic equity markets were all down this week and while the markets have rebounded from the late January market correction it appears they are in a consolidation phase. The relentless noisy news flow out of Washington is currently distracting the markets away from fundamentals which has not been the case since the election nearly a year and a half ago. Tilllerson - out, Cohn - out, Pompeo - pivots, Kudlow - in, Haspel - in. Tariffs? Trade wars? The S&P 500, NASDAQ, and Dow Jones Industrial Average were all down over 1% on the week.

• Market fundamentals remain solid

• Inflation expectations subside

• The Fed meets shortly

• Equity markets rally on strong jobs report

The week ended on a high note with the February jobs report showing robust job gains but not the wage gains shown in the January report. The broad domestic equity markets rallied on the news and the NASDAQ now shows gains year-to-date close to double digits. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 have registered low to mid-single digit gains for the year.