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IN-THE-MARKETS INVESTMENTS TAX-PLANNING

Newsletter: In the Markets Week-Ending December 8, 2017

by Peter J. Creedon

Crystal Brook Advisors

We Make Financial Planning Crystal Clear

United States: Markets were affected throughout the week with the U.S. Tax Bill passing. While many people stand to benefit, such as banks, assets managers, and technology companies, others may not fare as well, such as renewable energy companies and hospitals. (1)

Europe:  European markets ended up for the week after Brexit negotiations talks progressed. Further, the European Commission negotiated a deal with Japan to cut down on duties paid by European companies exporting to Japan. The deal is estimated to save 1 billion Euros ($1.18 billion). On Wednesday, news of accounting irregularities in Steinhoff brought markets down for the day. (2)(3)

Asia: Asian markets experienced a volatile week, with a range of geopolitical news shifting markets. Markets finished up for the week, following the rise in major U.S. indices. Markets ended up on Friday after Chinese trade data was better than expected, with exports increasing in November after a drop in October. Also, Japan’s economy grew double the rate it was expected to, helped by increased investment in manufacturing and rising exports. (4)(5)

Latin America:   The Chinese ride-hailing company, Didu Chixing, which operates exclusively in China, announced it will finally expand outside the country and operate in Mexico. Their expansion may further soon after, which could be a possible threat to other companies like Uber. (6)

Monday 12/4  

  • Dow Jones reached another record, with investors happy with the proposed tax plan passage. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ weren’t as lucky, with technology stocks taking a beating, such as Facebook dropping 2.1% and Microsoft dropping 3.8%. (7)

Tuesday 12/5

  • While tech stocks rebounded, they failed to lift the markets with them. The Dow(down 109.41 points), NASDAQ (- 0.2%), and S&P 500 (- 0.4%) all finished lower for the day. (2)

Wednesday 12/6

  • Technology stocks continued to rebound (+0.8%) after dropping earlier in the week, while energy shares finished down (-1.3%). This resulted in the S&P 500 decreasing for the 4th straight day. In other news, Bitcoin also reached an all-time high, edging above $13,000 (+12%). (7)

Thursday 12/7

  • All major market indexes finished up for the day on the positive news with tax reform and U.S. jobless claims were lower than expected. Bitcoin continued its surge, rising above $17,000 during trading hours. (7)

Friday 12/8

  • Markets were up for the second day in a row with both the Dow and S&P 500 finishing at yet record close. Contributors of the rise were a strong jobs report, government agreement to avoid a shutdown in the next two weeks, and advancement of Brexit talks. (7)
  • Closing Numbers for the day: (7)
    • Dow Jones: 24,329.16
    • S&P 500: 2,651.50
    • Nasdaq Composite: 6,840.08

 

Contributor: Nikolas Madonis

Source: (1) Bloomberg, (2) CNBC, (3) Nasdaq, (4) The Economic Times, (5) The Business Times, (6) The New York Times, (7) Marketwatch

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