Vanguard 500 Index Inv

The three US equity indices that we review in this weekly series fell from December 8 to December 15, 2015, after a rebound in oil prices.

In a recent interview, Jim Rogers said, “I’m on record as saying that we’re going to have a recession certainly within a year or two.”

Billionaire investor and bond guru Jeffrey Gundlach also shared his view on bond yields in an interview with CNBC.

In 4Q16, US (SPY) (QQQ) (IVV) (VFINX) real GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.9% compared to a 3.5% rise in 3Q16.

AMFQX is an alternative mutual fund that seeks to generate positive absolute returns with a low correlation to the returns of broad stock and bond markets.

According to the recent 13F filings, Soros Fund Management has increased its position in the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) by 36% in 1Q17 compared to the previous quarter.

EBSAX seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns across a broad range of market conditions.

GATEX could increase the exposure of an investor’s portfolio in the equity market. It has less volatility risk than the equity markets.

The Gateway Fund – Class A (GATEX) seeks to attain capital appreciation through its equity market investments. It has less risk compared to equity markets.

Integrated energy companies such as ExxonMobil are affected to varying degrees by volatility in crude oil prices. XOM’s correlation coefficient with WTI stands at 0.56.

The US Consumer Sentiment Index improved in January 2017. It stood at 98.1 in January 2017 compared to 98.2 in December 2016.

When the 2008 credit crisis affected the S&P 500 Index (SPY), we saw a large shift in valuations and the index level.

In recent years, the performance of various mutual funds and hedge funds followed by an active fund management strategy haven’t been so impressive.

Studied in conjunction, stock market and economic conditions give clear indications of the business cycle phase we are in.

According to Ray Dalio, the Fed needs to study the long-term debt cycle in order to understand the huge downside risks that currently face the US economy.

The unemployment rate doesn’t help us gauge the extent of labor market slack. The actual employment gap that exists also consists of a slack component.

Nearly 68% of the US GDP is composed of PCE or consumer spending. The negative value of net exports shows that the United States imports more than it exports, and this eats into the total economic output.