With only one day of trading left for the month, the S&P 500 is on track to have the best August since 1986 after closing at a new record high of 3508 on Friday. This week the markets got a boost on Thursday after the Fed announced that it is willing to allow inflation to run “moderately” above the Fed’s 2 percent goal “for some time” following periods when it has run below 2 percent. That means the Fed will be less inclined to hike interest rates when the unemployment rate falls, so long as inflation does not creep up as well. This bullish news contributed to S&P 500 increases in each of the past seven trading days. Plus, over the last six, each increase has resulted in a new record high. Which brings me back to my 8 August update when I mentioned that “we just had six straight days of increases in the S&P 500 (31 July to 7 August), the longest streak of consecutive bullish days in 2020.” That streak ended at seven straight up days on 10 August. Well, that streak is tied again, but we may see some consolidation in the markets until Friday’s unemployment report. For TSP TIPS, both the C and S funds closed the week at new record highs with “A” performance rankings. As such, we will continue with our current allocation.
With only one day of trading left for the month, the S&P 500 is on track to have the best August since 1986 after closing at a new record high of 3508 on Friday. This week the markets got a boost on Thursday after the Fed announced that it is willing to allow inflation to run “moderately” above the Fed’s 2 percent goal “for some time” following periods when it has run below 2 percent. That means the Fed will be less inclined to hike interest rates when the unemployment rate falls, so long as inflation does not creep up as well. This bullish news contributed to S&P 500 increases in each of the past seven trading days. Plus, over the last six, each increase has resulted in a new record high. Which brings me back to my 8 August update when I mentioned that “we just had six straight days of increases in the S&P 500 (31 July to 7 August), the longest streak of consecutive bullish days in 2020.” That streak ended at seven straight up days on 10 August. Well, that streak is tied again, but we may see some consolidation in the markets until Friday’s unemployment report. For TSP TIPS, both the C and S funds closed the week at new record highs with “A” performance rankings. As such, we will continue with our current allocation.