Market insights and analysis

How dynamic, risk-managed investment solutions are performing in the current market environment

3rd Quarter | 2024

Quarterly recap

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Current market environment performance of dynamic, risk-managed investment solutions.

Decisions. We have to make them every day on a whole range of matters. While most decisions seem to revolve around choosing between alternatives, another category of decisions tends to be more critical in the scheme of things.

U.S. equity markets posted gains in one of the three indexes last week. The S&P 500 fell 1.55%, the NASDAQ Composite lost 3.11%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.15%.

Last week, the gold spot price decreased by 2.97% and the U.S. Dollar Index increased by 0.46%.

Inflation spreads

Gold prices retraced back to the resistance/support line, closing last week at $1,648.90 per ounce.

September ETF Deathwatch contains 499 zombie ETFs and ETNs.

I am sure anyone interested in major league baseball has followed—either fanatically closely (like New York Yankees supporters) or just as casual fans of the game—the remarkable 2022 season of the Yankees’ outfielder Aaron Judge.

The major U.S. stock market indexes rose slightly last week after experiencing significant declines. The Russell 2000 was the best performer, rising 2.25%. The NASDAQ Composite was the worst performer, increasing by 0.73%. The S&P 500 gained 1.51% as the market found some relief from heavy selling. The 10-year Treasury bond yield rose 5 basis points to 3.88%, continuing a run-up that began on August 1. Spot gold closed the week at $1,694.82, up 2.06%.

Last week, the gold spot price gained 2.06% and the U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.6%.

U.S. equity markets posted gains in all three indexes last week.

First signal

Last week, gold prices broke through the resistance line, indicating a reversal of trend to the upside as they climbed toward their 50-day moving average.

I was reading some history recently that focused on the Second World War. It contradicted a long-held belief. I’d always heard that the Maginot Line was a colossal failure.

August ETF Deathwatch contains 465 zombie ETFs and ETNs.

In July, 20 exchange-traded products (“ETPs”) were added to the ETF Deathwatch list and 31 were removed, bringing the total to 466.

It was over 30 years ago. I sat in a pew in a little church on the village green of Franklin, Michigan. It was the usual Sunday service, but I was stirred by the sermon from a minister who was still relatively new to me.

Throughout my life, I have been a fan of science fiction. To pick up a book that can take me on a journey through space or time has never failed to remove me from the everyday and broaden my horizons.

“Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” How often that phrase has been quoted since Ben Franklin penned it in a letter to his friend, the French scientist Jean-Baptiste Leroy, in the midst of the French Revolution.

A few years ago, staff members were waiting for us at the airport, which was teeming with people when the transatlantic plane touched down. In a crowded, cavernous room, with signs everywhere, they found our luggage and escorted us through customs. Whisked into a private car, they sped us to the dock and our rivercraft.

Over the years I have written about “Plan B Investing” and “Just-In-Case Investing.” Both of these are similar but different.