Market and Economic Commentary - Week Ending 03/20/2020 Stocks ended their worst week since October 2008 with a sharp selloff into Friday's close that left both the Dow and S&P 500 more than 4% lower on the day. Analysts at Goldman Sachs now expect U.S. growth to contract 24% in the second quarter, which would mark by far the largest quarterly drop in GDP on record. All three top benchmark indexes suffered their worst weekly performances since the 2008 financial crisis: The Dow dropped 17% for the week, the S&P 500 sank 15% and the Nasdaq tumbled more than 12%. Combating economic fallout President Trump signed a $100B coronavirus relief bill and Congress turned its focus to broader economic stimulus, weighing a fiscal package of more than $1Trillion that includes for Americans. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said corporations would be able to defer tax payments of up to $10Million, while individuals could defer up to $1Million in payments to the IRS. Adding to...

Market and Economic Commentary - Week Ending 03/06/2020 Global Stocks Settle Lower on Concern about the Economic Fallout from the Spreading Coronavirus The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) on Friday close down -1.71%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index ($DOWI) closed down -0.98%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) closed down -1.63%. U.S. stock indexes on Friday sold off sharply again on concern about the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus. Confirmed cases of the coronavirus have risen above 100,000 in more than 60 countries, with more than 3,400 deaths. Energy stocks on Friday plummeted as crude oil prices sank more than 10% to a 3-1/2 year low. Crude prices dropped after Russian Energy Minister Novak told OPEC ministers Friday in Vienna that he favored maintaining OPEC+ crude output at current levels until June when they could again consider deeper cuts. OPEC ministers on Thursday had agreed to an additional 1.5 million bpd cut in crude production for Q2 with 1.0 million bpd...

BVA Value Momentum Portfolio Strategy - Year-to-Date Performance as of February 29, 2020: Year-to-date, the BVA Value Momentum Portfolio Strategy return is up 35.41% compared to a decline of 8.44% for the Morningstar US Market Index. Since the start of the portfolio on January 2, 2019, the BVA Value Momentum Portfolio Strategy return is up 190.76% compared to an increase of 15.17% for the Morningstar US Market Index. The stocks on the strategy list currently have a price to fair value of .75. During February 11 stocks were forced out of the Portfolio due to a loss of momentum, as a result of the significant market decline. The decline was so broad based that I found no individual stocks meeting my criteria, to replace those which were forced out. Presently I find the most attractive opportunities in Volatility and Inverse ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds). These investment vehicles were used in February to replace the stocks which were forced out of the Portfolio. Market and Econ...

Market and Economic Commentary - Week Ending 02/21/2020 S&P Posts First Loss in Three Weeks The S&P posted its first weekly loss in three weeks as investors fretted over the coronavirus’ impact on global growth. With the spread of the coronavirus appearing to have picked up pace outside of China, traders were forced to consider whether the impact of the virus will be worse than feared. Returns in the Markets for the week ending 02/21/2020 were as follows: US Major Market Indexes (The first number is each category in the 1-week performance. The second number is the year-to-date performance) Dow Jones 30 Industrial Average (-1.38%. +1.59%). S&P 500 (-1.25%, +3.31%). NASDAQ Index (-1.59%, +6.73%). US Small-Cap Index (-0.54%, +0.60%). CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), or Fear Gage, (+24.85%, +23.95%). US Sector ETFs Communication Services (-1.44%, +4.64%). Consumer Discretionary (-1.06%, +3.89%). Consumer Staples (-0.22%, +2.65%). Energy (-0.81%, -9.83%). Financial (-...