{"id":3413,"date":"2023-03-08T13:28:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T20:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/?p=3413"},"modified":"2023-03-08T13:31:13","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T20:31:13","slug":"monthly-economic-update-march-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/monthly-economic-update-march-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly Economic Update – March 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey Friends! Here is March’s monthly newsletter. All the Best ~ The Madison Poole Crew<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented by Madison Poole, March 2023<\/p>\n

In this month\u2019s recap: Stocks stumbled as investors worried that the Fed would maintain its tight monetary posture due to ongoing inflation.<\/p>\n

U.S. Markets<\/h5>\n

Stock prices stumbled in February owing to growing worries that the Fed would maintain its tight monetary posture in the face of continuing inflation.
\nFor the month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 4.19 percent, whereas the Standard & Poor\u2019s 500 Index fell 2.61 percent. The Nasdaq Composite, up nearly 11 percent in January, dipped 1.11 percent.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

Strong Start Stumbled<\/h5>\n

The month began the way January ended\u2014with stocks climbing higher on solid earnings reports and encouraging inflation data. The markets enthusiastically greeted the Fed\u2019s 25-basis-point hike in interest rates, relieved that the increase was in line with expectations. Spirits were further lifted by constructive comments made by Fed Chair Jerome Powell following the rate hike announcement.
\nThe optimism did not last long, however. Stocks struggled as the direction of future monetary policy weighed on investors throughout the month.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty with Interest Rates<\/h5>\n

Despite an initial upbeat assessment by Powell at the post-meeting press conference, a strong employment report fanned fears that the Fed would be unable to pause rate hikes anytime soon.2<\/sup>
\nBy mid-month, a higher-than-expected increase in consumer prices, strong retail sales numbers, and a rise in producer prices made it clear that the Fed would need to remain vigilant.<\/p>\n

Stocks’ Slide Continued<\/h5>\n

The slide in stock prices continued into the end of the month, dragged down by further rate hike concerns and disappointing guidance from two major retailers that called into question consumer health. Stocks felt even more pressure after January\u2019s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index\u2014the Fed\u2019s preferred benchmark for gauging inflation\u2014reflected hotter-than-expected price increases and vigorous consumer spending.2<\/sup><\/p>\n

Sector Scorecard<\/h5>\n

One silver lining regarding the difficult month was that the technology sector, one of the worst- performing groups in 2022, notched a slight gain of 0.41 percent.
\nThe remaining sectors retreated, however, including industrials (\u22120.86 percent), communications services (\u22122.87 percent), consumer discretionary (\u22122.13 percent), consumer staples (\u22122.32 percent), energy (\u22126.94 percent), financials (\u22122.22 percent), health care (\u22124.64 percent), materials (\u22123.33 percent), real estate (\u22125.86 percent), and utilities (\u22125.92 percent).3<\/sup><\/p>\n

What Investors May Be Talking About in March<\/h5>\n

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to meet on March 21\u201322, and the Fed at its previous meeting indicated that it intends to raise short-term interest rates by another 0.25 percent.4<\/sup>
\nHowever, the Fed will now need to digest fresh information on the labor market and inflation that may impact its upcoming rate decision.
\nInvestors will be keenly parsing the FOMC meeting announcement accompanying the FOMC\u2019s decision while also paying close attention to comments by Fed Chair Powell, who holds a press conference immediately following the meeting announcement.
\nIn the Fed\u2019s previous meeting, Powell acknowledged that a disinflationary trend has emerged, but he also cautioned that the Fed will evaluate the labor market and new inflation data for further guidance.
\nAs such, it may be more Powell\u2019s comments, rather than the expected rate hike, that move markets and set the tone for the weeks to follow.<\/p>\n[panel style=”default” text_align=”left”]CITATIONS:
\n1. WSJ.com, February 28, 2023
\n2. FoxBusiness.com, February 24, 2023
\n3. SectorSPDR.com, February 28, 2023
\n4. CMEGroup.com, February 28, 2023<\/small>[\/panel]\n[divider style=”solid” color=”#032b65″ opacity=”1″ width=”1000px” placement=”equal”]\n

Madison Poole | 208-898-7668 | www.madisonpoole.com<\/h4>\n

Know someone who could use information like this?
\nPlease feel free to send us their contact information via phone or email. (Don\u2019t worry \u2013 we\u2019ll request their permission before adding them to our mailing list.)<\/strong><\/p>\n[divider style=”solid” color=”#032b65″ opacity=”1″ width=”1000px” placement=”equal”]\n[panel style=”default” text_align=”left”]Provided content is for overview and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be relied upon as individualized tax, legal, fiduciary, or investment advice.
\nThis material was prepared by MarketingPro, Inc., and does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates. The information herein has been derived from sources believed to be accurate. Please note \u2013 investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty. This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such. All market indices discussed are unmanaged and are not illustrative of any particular investment. Indices do not incur management fees, costs, or expenses. Investors cannot invest directly in indices. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results.
\nThe Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market- weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The Russell 2000 Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The CBOE Volatility Index\u00ae (VIX\u00ae) is a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S&P 500 stock index option prices. NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the \u201cNYSE\u201d) and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx\u00ae, and the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services. The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX) is the world’s largest physical commodity futures exchange and the preeminent trading forum for energy and precious metals, with trading conducted through two divisions \u2013 the NYMEX Division, home to the energy, platinum, and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, on which all other metals trade. The SSE Composite Index is an index of all stocks (A shares and B shares) that are traded at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The CAC-40 Index is a narrow-based, modified capitalization-weighted index of 40 companies listed on the Paris Bourse. The FTSEurofirst 300 Index comprises the 300 largest companies ranked by market capitalization in the FTSE Developed Europe Index. The FTSE 100 Index is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with the highest market capitalization. Established in January 1980, the All Ordinaries is the oldest index of shares in Australia. It is made up of the share prices for 500 of the largest companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The S&P\/TSX Composite Index is an index of the stock (equity) prices of the largest companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as measured by market capitalization. The Hang Seng Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted stock market index that is the main indicator of the overall market performance in Hong Kong. The FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index is a capitalization-weighted index of stocks comprising 50 companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange developed by Taiwan Stock Exchange in collaboration with FTSE. The MSCI World Index is a free-float weighted equity index that includes developed world markets and does not include emerging markets. The Mexican Stock Exchange, commonly known as Mexican Bolsa, Mexbol, or BMV, is the only stock exchange in Mexico. The U.S. Dollar Index measures the performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of six currencies. Additional risks are associated with international investing, such as currency fluctuations, political and economic instability, and differences in accounting standards. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. MarketingPro, Inc. is not affiliated with any person or firm that may be providing this information to you. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional.<\/small>[\/panel]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this month\u2019s recap: Stocks stumbled as investors worried that the Fed would maintain its tight monetary posture due to ongoing inflation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3413"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3416,"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions\/3416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisonpoole.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}