
The Markets
Last week, the Federal Reserve (Fed) left the federal funds rate unchanged, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell soothed markets. He explained that conditions in the labor market were broadly in balance and inflation had eased significantly over the past two years. Overall, the possibility of recession, while rising, remained low.
Markets rallied following his comments.
The Economic Outlook for 2025
The Fed’s current median forecast for economic growth in 2025 is 1.7 percent, a bit lower than it was in December. In addition, the Fed’s current median estimate for inflation is 2.7 percent, a bit higher than in December. While he was reassuring, Powell explained there is a lot of uncertainty about the economic outlook in the United States. He stated:
“Looking ahead, the new administration is in the process of implementing significant policy changes in four distinct areas: trade, immigration, fiscal policy and regulation. It is the net effect of these policy changes that will matter for the economy and for the path of all monetary policy. While there have been recent developments in some of these areas, especially trade policy, uncertainty around the changes and their effects on the economic outlook is high. As we parse the incoming information, we are focused on separating the signal from the noise as the outlook evolves.”
Consumer Spending and the Wealth Effect
Powell also said that it remains to be seen how consumer and business spending and investment will respond to heightened uncertainty about the economic outlook. It’s an important point because of the “wealth effect”.
The wealth effect is a theory in behavioral economics. It holds that people spend more when the stock market is rising and the value of their assets is growing. Conversely, people spend less when the stock market is falling and the value of their assets is declining. It’s difficult to quantify the effect as Mike Bird of The Economist explained:
“Estimates of the ‘wealth effect’ – the amount that rising or falling stocks can support or hurt consumer activity – vary wildly. One academic study in 2019 suggested that a dollar increase in stock market wealth boosted American spending by about three cents. [A large financial-services firm] suggests that the pass-through has risen significantly in recent years, coming up with an extraordinary figure of 24 cents. Whatever the true number, a declining stock market matters for the broader economy.”
Last week, major U.S. stock indices finished higher, while yields on most maturities of U.S. Treasuries moved lower.
Data as of 3/21/25 | 1-Week | Y-T-D | 1-Year | 3-Year | 5-Year | 10-Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard & Poor's 500 Index | 0.5% | -3.6% | 8.1% | 8.3% | 20.4% | 10.4% |
Dow Jones Global ex-U.S. Index | 0.9 | 7.0 | 5.8 | 3.0 | 12.0 | 2.6 |
10-year Treasury Note (yield only) | 4.3 | N/A | 4.3 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
Gold (per ounce) | 1.2 | 15.4 | 38.9 | 15.9 | 14.6 | 9.8 |
Bloomberg Commodity Index | 0.4 | 6.6 | 5.9 | -5.7 | 11.2 | 0.5 |
S&P 500, Dow Jones Global ex-US, Gold, Bloomberg Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods.
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, djindexes.com, London Bullion Market Association.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. N/A means not applicable.
If You Lose Your Wallet, Do You Expect It To Be Returned?
Here’s some good news from the 2025 World Happiness Report: “People are too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities.”
As usual, the 2025 World Happiness Report offered insights to the countries where citizens are happiest. Once again, Nordic nations dominated. The United States landed in 24th place. The countries where the happiest people live are:
- Finland,
- Denmark,
- Iceland,
- Sweden, and
- Netherlands.
Where Are People Most Benevolent?
The 2025 report also tracked a trend that surprised researchers during the Covid-19 years. In 2020, there was an upsurge in benevolent acts – people doing kind things for one another. Researchers theorized that helping others may have “…offset the negative effects felt by many of those whose lives were changed, endangered, and sometimes harmed during the pandemic.”
For the 2025 report, researchers asked how often people performed acts of kindness, specifically donating, volunteering, and helping strangers. The most benevolent countries varied, depending on the type of kindness.
- For donations, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Ukraine ranked first, second, and third.
- For volunteering, Indonesia, Liberia, and Kenya took top honors.
- For helping strangers, Jamaica, Liberia, and Trinidad & Tobago were the leaders.
The United States was 12th for donations, 15th for volunteering, and 12th for helping a stranger.
What About Lost Wallets?
The study also asked participants how likely it was that a lost wallet would be returned. They compared the data to studies where researchers “lose” wallets to see how often they are returned. Overall, expectations that wallets would be returned were far lower than actual returns.
For example, the actual return rate for lost wallets was 1.8 times higher – almost double – the average estimated return rate. In addition, wallets were more likely to be returned if they contained money.
By the way, the best place to lose your wallet is in a Nordic nation. These countries had both the highest expected and the highest actual rate of return for lost wallets.
Weekly Focus – Think About It
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
—Aesop, Storyteller
Wishing you and your families well,
Sean M. Dowling, CFP, EA
President, The Dowling Group Wealth Management
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- Government bonds and Treasury Bills are guaranteed by the U.S. government as to the timely payment of principal and interest and, if held to maturity, offer a fixed rate of return and fixed principal value. However, the value of fund shares is not guaranteed and will fluctuate.
- Corporate bonds are considered higher risk than government bonds but normally offer a higher yield and are subject to market, interest rate and credit risk as well as additional risks based on the quality of issuer coupon rate, price, yield, maturity, and redemption features.
- The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. You cannot invest directly in this index.
- All indexes referenced are unmanaged. Unmanaged index returns do not reflect fees, expenses, or sales charges. Index performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment.
- The Dow Jones Global ex-U.S. Index covers approximately 95% of the market capitalization of the 45 developed and emerging countries included in the Index.
- The 10-year Treasury Note represents debt owed by the United States Treasury to the public. Since the U.S. Government is seen as a risk-free borrower, investors use the 10-year Treasury Note as a benchmark for the long-term bond market.
- Gold represents the afternoon gold price as reported by the London Bullion Market Association. The gold price is set twice daily by the London Gold Fixing Company at 10:30 and 15:00 and is expressed in U.S. dollars per fine troy ounce.
- The Bloomberg Commodity Index is designed to be a highly liquid and diversified benchmark for the commodity futures market. The Index is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical commodities and was launched on July 14, 1998.
- The DJ Equity All REIT Total Return Index measures the total return performance of the equity subcategory of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry as calculated by Dow Jones.
- International investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and political instability and may not be suitable for all investors. These risks are often heightened for investments in emerging markets.
- Yahoo! Finance is the source for any reference to the performance of an index between two specific periods.
- Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance.
- Economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.
- Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.
- You cannot invest directly in an index.
- Stock investing involves risk including loss of principal.
- The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly. Economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted and are subject to change. Investing involves risk including loss of principal.
- The Price-to-Earning (P/E) ratio is a measure of the price paid for a share relative to the annual net income or profit earned by the firm per share. It is a financial ratio used for valuation: a higher P/E ratio means investors are paying more for each unit of net income, thus, the stock is more expensive compared to one with a lower P/E ratio.
- These views are those of Carson Group Coaching, and not the presenting Representative or the Representative’s Broker/Dealer, and should not be construed as investment advice.
- This newsletter was prepared by Carson Group Coaching. Carson Group Coaching is not affiliated with the named broker/dealer.
- The foregoing information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee it is accurate or complete.
- Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.
Sources:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/mediacenter/files/FOMCpresconf20250319.pdf
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/wealtheffect.asp
https://view.e.economist.com/?qs=19beffd3464f1dd09fba957b12c5818662249363c585eda4bedfa64662a9b3e454aaddd41e7f458116614f3d71fb1b071e1efe0136fab2ef3b2f2969be574b2afa90d647ebdb8bfc00b3853f4606d9c7 or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2025/03-24-25-The-Economist-Money-Talks%20-%203.pdf
https://www.barrons.com/market-data?mod=BOL_TOPNAV or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2025/03-24-25-Barrons-DJIA-S&P-Nasdaq%20-%204.pdf
https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2025/caring-and-sharing-global-analysis-of-happiness-and-kindness/
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/aesop_109734
ADV & Investment Objectives: Please contact The Dowling Group if there are any changes in your financial situation or investment objectives, or if you wish to impose, add or modify any reasonable restrictions to the management of your account. Our current disclosure statement is set forth on Part II of Form ADV and is available for your review upon request.
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