Housekeeping
Review Meetings
It’s not too early to get on the calendar for a first of the year check-up. This is an opportunity for us to review your portfolio and touch base regarding your overall financial strategy. Our goal is to meet with each of our clients annually. Please contact our office by phone or email: (425) 453-6353 or christian@klevenscapital.com to schedule your annual review.
1099 Tax Statements
Please watch for your tax forms to arrive in the next few weeks. Most of our clients have opted to receive tax statements by mail and Schwab has indicated their initial mailing will be early February. They anticipate a second 1099 mailing mid to late February with updated/revised figures. Please don’t file your taxes until you’re confident that your 1099 forms are complete. If you have any doubt as to the completeness of your 1099, please don’t hesitate to contact our office, we’re here to help.
Also, many of our clients have us work directly with their tax advisor or CPA. If you’d like us to work closely with other professionals on your team, please put us in touch and we’ll coordinate with them on your behalf.
For those of you making charitable contributions with your annual RMD – please be advised that the charitable designation will not reflect on the 1099 form, but rather on your tax forms. Contact your CPA or call our office for more information.
Fast Facts
Men will literally go to therapy instead of getting their annual checkups. A Cleveland Clinic survey of men last year found that 55% do not get regular health screenings, which is a far lower share than women. So, why do men avoid the turn-and-cough? Several potential reasons: their belief they might not need to, the concern of receiving bad news, and the taboo nature of talking about health issues with other dudes, the NYT suggests.
What causes coulrophobia? That SAT word means fear of clowns, and scientists recently set out to determine why we’re all so freaked out by Bozos: Unsurprisingly, it’s the way they look. Though negative pop culture portrayals play a role, the researchers concluded that most people get spooked around clowns because we’re uncomfortable that we can’t suss out their true facial expressions behind their makeup. Of the 53.5% of people surveyed who admitted to being afraid of the circus workers, very few reported having actually had a close encounter with a Pennywise type.
Just add water (and get beer). German brewery Klosterbrauerei Neuzelle says it’s created the world’s first powdered beer, and you can watch it dissolve into a lager complete with foam. But this is more than a party trick: The brewer says powdered beer will make shipping both cheaper and more environmentally friendly since water accounts for most of beer’s weight. For now, the powdered brew is more of a competitor to O’Doul’s than Paulaner since it’s nonalcoholic, but the brewery is confident it’ll eventually be able to roll out a boozy version.
Weekly Focus – Think About It
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”The Markets
What’s your jam?
When you think of fun, are you running an Arctic marathon? Biking to your favorite burger place? Gaming with friends online? Each has inherent risk: Polar bears and hypothermia, traffic and flat tires, and viruses and identity theft. Those who enjoy these activities, understand the possible risks and manage them.
Investing is similar. Investors are willing to take on risk to achieve their long-term financial goals, but not everyone manages it in the same way. Some people are willing to embrace risk, and others prefer a less adventurous option. While it’s not possible to completely eliminate the risks associated with investing, it is possible to manage investment risk with asset allocation, diversification, and other strategies.
Last week, investors responded to the uncertainty created by bank closures in a variety of ways. Some sold assets they felt had too much risk for the current market environment, opting for sectors and industries that have historically shown resilience during economic slowdowns. Others snapped up investments at discounted prices, reported Ryan Ermey of CNBC. Some investors did nothing.
“The smartest thing to do when you have a lot of uncertainty is to sit back and gather information and do your analysis and not jump trying to make big changes,” stated a source cited by Lu Wang and Isabelle Lee of Bloomberg.
Uncertainty is likely to persist as economists and analysts assess how the American economy may be affected. “Banking panics aren’t something to be trifled with. As Fed Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged on Wednesday, the latest one is sure to slow the economy…The problem, however, isn’t the possibility of more bank failures. It’s that banks are likely to curtail lending—lending they had already started to limit,” reported Ben Levisohn of Barron’s.
As bank lending tightens, economic growth in the United States will probably slow. When it becomes more difficult for households and businesses to get credit, consumer spending tends to fall. Since consumer spending is the primary driver of economic growth in the U.S., the economy is likely to be affected and we may enter a recession, reported Rich Miller of Bloomberg.
Major U.S. indices finished the week higher, while U.S. Treasury yields rose before retreating again.
If you are feeling unsettled by market volatility, get in touch. We can review your goals and allocations to make sure they’re aligned.
| Data as of 3/24/23 | 1-Week | YTD | 1-Year | 3-Year | 5-Year | 10-Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard & Poor’s 500 (Domestic Stocks) | 1.4% | 3.4% | -12.2% | 17.5% | 8.4% | 9.9% |
| Dow Jones Global ex-U.S. | 1.5 | 2.6 | -10.5 | 10.8 | -0.6 | 1.6 |
| 10-year Treasury Note (Yield Only) | 3.4 | NA | 2.3 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 1.9 |
| Gold (per ounce) | 1.6 | 10.0 | 1.5 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 2.2 |
| Bloomberg Commodity Index | 0.4 | -8.7 | -20.2 | 17.3 | 3.4 | -2.9 |
Is There a No-Venting Zone? When the dangers of secondhand smoke were confirmed, an early solution in many restaurants was the no-smoking section. Now, researchers report that emotions may be contagious. When an expressive friend, family member or stranger shows emotion, it can influence the mood of those around them.
In other words, exposure to positive emotions can invoke happiness and goodwill in others, while negative emotions may spread stress and anxiety.
“Over the past decade, we have learned how our brains are hardwired for emotional contagion. Emotions spread via a wireless network of mirror neurons, which are tiny parts of the brain that allow us to empathize with others and understand what they’re feeling…if someone in your visual field is anxious and highly expressive — either verbally or non-verbally — there’s a high likelihood you’ll experience those emotions as well, negatively impacting your brain’s performance,” wrote Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan in the Harvard Business Review.
Here’s an interesting sidenote: stress can spread by scent, too.
No matter how stress is triggered, there are actions you can take to keep from being overwhelmed by secondhand stress and anxiety. These include:
- Identifying three things you are grateful for,
- Writing a brief email praising someone else,
- Discussing or writing about a positive experience,
- Exercising for half an hour, or
- Meditating for a few minutes.
The research has important implications for the workplace and the home.
Best regards,
John Klevens, CFP®
P.S. Please feel free to forward this commentary to family, friends, or colleagues. If you would like us to add them to the list, please reply to this email with their email address and we will ask for their permission to be added.
Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. Financial Advice & Investment Advisory Services offered through PFG Advisors LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). Klevens Capital Management, PFG Advisors LLC, and Securities America, Inc. are separate entities.
. Portions of this newsletter have been prepared by Peak Advisor
* These views are those of Carson Coaching, and not the presenting Representative, the Representative’s Broker/Dealer, or Registered Investment Advisor, and should not be construed as investment advice.
* This newsletter was prepared by Carson Coaching. Carson Coaching is not affiliated with the named firm or broker/dealer.
* Government bonds and Treasury Bills are guaranteed by the U.S. government as to the timely payment of principal and interest and, if held to maturity, offer a fixed rate of return and fixed principal value. However, the value of fund shares is not guaranteed and will fluctuate.
* Corporate bonds are considered higher risk than government bonds but normally offer a higher yield and are subject to market, interest rate and credit risk as well as additional risks based on the quality of issuer coupon rate, price, yield, maturity, and redemption features.
* The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. You cannot invest directly in this index.
* All indexes referenced are unmanaged. The volatility of indexes could be materially different from that of a client’s portfolio. Unmanaged index returns do not reflect fees, expenses, or sales charges. Index performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment. You cannot invest directly in an index.
* The Dow Jones Global ex-U.S. Index covers approximately 95% of the market capitalization of the 45 developed and emerging countries included in the Index.
* The 10-year Treasury Note represents debt owed by the United States Treasury to the public. Since the U.S. Government is seen as a risk-free borrower, investors use the 10-year Treasury Note as a benchmark for the long-term bond market.
* Gold represents the afternoon gold price as reported by the London Bullion Market Association. The gold price is set twice daily by the London Gold Fixing Company at 10:30 and 15:00 and is expressed in U.S. dollars per fine troy ounce.
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index is designed to be a highly liquid and diversified benchmark for the commodity futures market. The Index is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical commodities and was launched on July 14, 1998.
* The DJ Equity All REIT Total Return Index measures the total return performance of the equity subcategory of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry as calculated by Dow Jones.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), commonly known as “The Dow,” is an index representing 30 stock of companies maintained and reviewed by the editors of The Wall Street Journal.
* The NASDAQ Composite is an unmanaged index of securities traded on the NASDAQ system.
* International investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and political instability and may not be suitable for all investors. These risks are often heightened for investments in emerging markets.
* Yahoo! Finance is the source for any reference to the performance of an index between two specific periods.
* The risk of loss in trading commodities and futures can be substantial. You should therefore carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you in light of your financial condition. The high degree of leverage is often obtainable in commodity trading and can work against you as well as for you. The use of leverage can lead to large losses as well as gains.
* Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance.
* Economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.
* Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.
* The foregoing information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee it is accurate or complete.
* There is no guarantee a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk.
* Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.
* Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.
Sources:
Carson Consulting
The Brew