UCS Investment 2016 In Review

2016 was a tough year. There were 3 main drivers that I believe contributed to the high volatility in the stock market this year, 'political uncertainty', 'Dow Jones volatility' and the 'tepid economic recovery.

Political uncertainty

It was a tough year to make consistent profits using our index-based approach to investing (but we did anyway) because rather than moving in-line with earnings announcements, markets moved lockstep with political events such as the continuing 'War on Terror', Brexit and the U.S. election.

Dow gains

Just because the Dow Jones Industrial Average made new highs this year does not mean that your should just as high also. The DJIN index is made up of selected stocks based on their market capitalization. The index may slightly over-represent the health or the strength of the economy. I think a better indicator of the strength and health of the economy are the earnings from companies that make up the S&P 500. The fact that many investors buy stocks based on different investment strategies which does not include Dow stocks suggest that any movements in the Dow, whether up or down, may not affect your investments.

Tepid recovery

Finally, I was expecting a robust economic recovery but that did not materialize even though job growth picked-up in the third quarter of this year. Many companies still did not hire and instead laid off employees i.e.. ATT layoffs. Not even the best productivity software could bridge the gap between 2016 business friendly federal economic policies and the fear of another recession.

I look forward to a better year in 2017. However, I think this year will also be politically driven. For example, The Jobs Act of 2015 and The Cures Act of 2016 will make a huge difference for many businesses and individuals next year in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. I believe both bills will be strong drivers of the economy in 2017 and beyond.

Thank you for joining UCS Investment Co and have a great 2017!

Brought to you by: ThrushyMedia

ETFs -More training and education

By Rick Walter ETF Training & presentation, education and more... There is so much out there. I went to the iShares website and found a series of educational tools, webinars, web casts , tutorials and presentations that may help a beginner and even experienced investors. I was impressed with the tutorials, but I still think that the financial buzzwords in the presentations may be a bit too complex for beginners. However, the site overall presentation and content is very good! What about taxes? By trade I am a tax professional; I believe that all investments should be analyzed first from a tax position, before an investment decision is made. ETFs are labeled as very tax efficient vehicles. Here is a good article, in my opinion, that explains the tax efficiency issue very well for ETFs. Check our external link section for links to websites that I believe provide top notch information on ETFs, including sponsors, distributors and advisers. I will be adding to the list daily. If th...

ETF update

I have been tracking exchange-traded fund indexes of oil and gas, banking, health and pharma, real estate and commodities but none of these indexes are budging from their lows. Maybe, I am looking at this in the wrong way. A few points here, a few points there- nothing major; The only investors that are possibly making money are the short sellers. If you are good at short selling then this is the market for you. Lets take a look at a good short fund.

New ETF Posting

By UCS Investment Co. The new ETF posting on the AT-ETF Exchange is the PowerShares KBW Property & Casualty Insurance Portfolio (Fund) . The Symbol is KBWP . This is a relatively new fund which opened in December of last year. The Fund is up about 1% so far this year. We are not expecting a huge run up in price in the short-term on this fund but we are looking forward to steady gains in the share price of the fund as the economy improves.

All Things ETF

Search This Blog