Did you miss the second fastest bear-market recovery of the past 50 years?

Yes, COVID-19 has reshaped consumer habits and the retail industry, but...

• The U.S. stock markets did not erase last week’s losses, but did turn in some very healthy positive numbers for investors

• NASDAQ led the way with a gain of 3.7%, followed by the smaller-cap Russell 2000’s gain of 2.2%, the 1.9% return for the S&P 500 and the 1.0% move for the DJIA

• Most of the 11 S&P 500 sectors ended the week in positive territory, as only 3 were negative with the Utilities sector losing 2.4% and the Energy and Real Estate sectors each losing less than 1%

• Health Care led the other 8 sectors with a 3.1% return on the week, followed by Information Technology (up 2.8%) and Consumer Staples (up 2.4%)

• The markets started the week lower, but on Tuesday the Commerce Department delivered a jolt of great news when it was announced that Retail Sales leapt 17.7% in May, far exceeding expectations

• Initial jobless claims for the week remained uncomfortably high at 1.5 million

• WTI crude futures jumped 10% on the week and ended just shy of $40/barrel

• The 2-year Treasury yield increased to 0.19% and the 10-year yield ended the week where it started

• The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.4%

Top economic developments

• The major U.S. stock markets had a good week, driven by the larger tech-stocks but also by the Energy sector

• NASDAQ rocketed to a gain of 6%, pushing its YTD return into positive territory and further distancing it from the YTD returns of the S&P 500 and the DJIA

• The smaller-cap Russell 2000 performed very well, leaping 5.5% on the week, followed by the 3.5% gain of the S&P 500 and the 2.6% gain in the DJIA

• Most of the economic news this week leaned toward the negative, but the markets kept looking past the negative headlines as states began to selectively open back up for business

What incredible times we are living through right now.  About six weeks ago here in the United States all seemed quiet, and the economy strong.  Of course, there are always problems but, by comparison to today, things were positive…and now that seems like a long time ago.

You should pick investments (and teams) so you win most of your games.

The reported effects of COVID-19, its official name, has caused us to want to know more facts-of-the-matter about the Coronavirus, rather than relying on the TV for commentary on how this is affecting the economy.  In choosing the name, the World Health Organization simply used the Co and Vi from coronavirus, with D meaning disease and 19 standing for 2019, the year the first cases were seen.

History suggests that equity investors should worry about more rate cuts.

And why would the majority of us not use a financial advisor?

It is almost impossible to predict when, how severe or for how long flu season will be from one year to the next. But the Center for Disease control has estimated that the economic impact of the flu is a staggering $87 billion each year, including:

What is the value of a financial advisor?

Among others, the personal touch. Here are four stories of how flesh-and-blood advisors you meet in person (as opposed to a robo- advisor, where your contact is digital or over a phone line or even compared to a DIYer) benefited their clients.