Newsletter

To our Valued Clients and Friends:

We hope that you are keeping yourself, your loved ones, and your community safe from COVID-19 (commonly referred to as the Coronavirus).  Along with those paramount health concerns, you may be wondering about some of the recent tax changes meant to help everyone coping with the Coronavirus fallout.  In addition to the summary of IRS actions and earlier-enacted federal tax legislation, we want to update you on the tax-related provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Congress's historic economic stimulus package that the President signed into law on March 27, 2020.

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Volatility continued last week, but it was the good kind of volatility for a change.  Beleaguered investors received a nice reprieve as stocks recorded double-digit gains … the biggest weekly gain since 1938.  Equity markets are still off more than 20% year-to-date.

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Last week’s market decline of just over 15% was the worst since October 2008. Global stocks are now down just shy of 30% for the year. The markets continued to decline despite actions by the Federal Reserve, as well as the expectation of considerable fiscal stimulus.

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Global stocks had a very rough week. In fact, it was one of the worst weeks on record and included two of the sharpest one-day falls in history. By mid-week, stocks were 20% off of their recent highs – marking the official ending of the 11-year bull market run.

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Stocks took it on the chin Monday over an oil price war in addition to ongoing coronavirus concerns.   The Dow Industrials dropped 7.8%, oil prices were down by 25%, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell below 1% for the first time ever.  It was the Dow’s biggest plunge since the Great Recession, and the oil price decline was the worst since the 1991 Gulf War. 

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Global stock markets fell 8% in February, as investors reacted to the economic and humanitarian concerns surrounding the coronavirus epidemic.

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Stock values and Treasury yields both declined in January, mostly due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, which the World Health Organization has declared a public-health emergency of international concern. For the month, global stock declines of about one percent were offset by global bond returns of just over one percent. Oil prices tumbled and gold prices rose, as investors contemplated the potential scope of the virus’s economic impact.

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Consider the following observations about China from John Lee, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the U.S. Studies Centre in Sydney. (WSJ 12/15/19) • In every negotiation, pressure is relative, and the U.S. has more political and economic leverage than China.

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Stock prices closed out the year with a surge, leaving investors with exceptionally high returns for the calendar year. Global stock indexes advanced over 3% in December and nearly 9% for the quarter … a welcome rebound for investors who suffered through last year’s decline. U.S. and international stocks ended the calendar year with returns of 31.01% and 21.51%, respectively. Declining yields also gave bond investors solid returns during 2019. 

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U.S. stocks advanced nearly 4% during November, and they head into the final month of 2019 with year-to-date returns in excess of 27 percent.  Foreign stocks returned just shy of 1% for the month and have advanced more than 16% over the past 11 months.

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