It’s April. Don’t be fooled!
Hello everyone, and welcome to the April 2023 edition of the boodle blog!
We are happy to have you here and we appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to join us on our site. The boodle blog is the perfect place to stay on top of your portfolio while you educate yourself on all things financial and the direction of the market.
First quarter results are in and the numbers in the 3 tracking indexes continue to flash green, in spite of what we witnessed in the banking sector with Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank (out west & east respectively).
The DOW added 1.37% for the quarter, and the S&P 500 gained 7.42%, while the NASDAQ turned in a huge gain of 16.46% to easily finish ahead! Remember, we still have three quarters to go in 2023, but these Q1 gains really vindicate our Bullish call way back in October of 2022. The collapse of the 2 previously mentioned banks is the markets way of letting us know that there is always potential danger for investors, which is why so many people trust boodle to offer the best information on the market, and we thank our clients for their trust.
As we pour over market data, we see that the Fed hiked interest rates a quarter of a point last month, and many economists are predicting one, if not two more, rate hikes before an eventual Fed pause. Boodle will take a wait-and-see attitude on those forecasts but wouldn't be surprised if that scenario played out.
Looking ahead to April we can see several events that are scheduled to occur that could potentially move the market higher. One of those events is the first quarter earnings reports from corporations that will soon be announced. We think these earnings could move stocks higher but remember that our market strategy is always long term, and it is that strategy that has informed us that the overall trend in the market will be to the upside. We, at boodle, understand how many investors in the stock market have a hard time reconciling rate hikes with higher stock prices, but we do believe that this will play out the way we think it will. So, for April we are advocating a fully invested position and in the event of any weakness in the coming month, you should apply a dollar-cost-average approach to your portfolio.
As we closeout our April boodle blog, we would like to acknowledge the wonder students, teachers, and staff at Dekalb High School for hosting our March 2023, Money 101 Financial Workshop! It was a wonderful time, and everyone got to participate and learn about investing. If you know a school or district that is looking for a company that offers a financial education workshop, please feel free to have them contact boodle at 815-793-6059, or ron.milner@goboodle.com. Thank you and enjoy the month of April, and we will see you back here in May!