It was shutdown week for the government, but the bull could not be shut down as major market indices all hit new highs. With investors concerned about the ramifications of a shutdown, lets not forget that Tuesday marked the end of September and third quarter. While September has historically been a down month, the S&P 500 did just the opposite as it marked its fifth consecutive month of gains. At the stroke of midnight on Tuesday the federal government shutdown, but as the markets opened on Wednesday, the bull was in control as the S&P 500 crossed the 6,700 level right after lunch and powered forward to a new record closing high. At Thursdays open the S&P 500 was strong, but settled back some throughout the session before closing at a second record closing high. On Friday we did not get the jobs and unemployment reports because of the shutdown, but the bull marched on with the S&P 500 eking out a small gain, closing at a third consecutive record high. From a technical perspective this week we saw two very rare events. The first was the S&P 500 hitting new record highs in the first three days of the month, i.e. trifecta. The second was the federal government proposing to take a direct equity stake in Lithium Americas (LAC). As a result, LAC was up 42.81% this week, which included a 31.78% jump on Friday. While not an everyday occurrence, it is something to keep on the radar scope as this market evolves for possible future investment. For next week the shutdown will again take the headlines, economic reports may be delayed, and then on 29 October we have the next Fed interest rate decision. For TSP TIPS the C fund mirrored the S&P 500 and set new record highs on the first three days of October. Not to be outdone, the I fund also set new records on those same three days, while the S funds last record day was two weeks ago, and now sits just shy of that record. Our last investment mix at the end of September still looks good, so we recommend no changes to our current positioning.
It was shutdown week for the government, but the bull could not be shut down as major market indices all hit new highs. With investors concerned about the ramifications of a shutdown, lets not forget that Tuesday marked the end of September and third quarter. While September has historically been a down month, the S&P 500 did just the opposite as it marked its fifth consecutive month of gains. At the stroke of midnight on Tuesday the federal government shutdown, but as the markets opened on Wednesday, the bull was in control as the S&P 500 crossed the 6,700 level right after lunch and powered forward to a new record closing high. At Thursdays open the S&P 500 was strong, but settled back some throughout the session before closing at a second record closing high. On Friday we did not get the jobs and unemployment reports because of the shutdown, but the bull marched on with the S&P 500 eking out a small gain, closing at a third consecutive record high. From a technical perspective this week we saw two very rare events. The first was the S&P 500 hitting new record highs in the first three days of the month, i.e. trifecta. The second was the federal government proposing to take a direct equity stake in Lithium Americas (LAC). As a result, LAC was up 42.81% this week, which included a 31.78% jump on Friday. While not an everyday occurrence, it is something to keep on the radar scope as this market evolves for possible future investment. For next week the shutdown will again take the headlines, economic reports may be delayed, and then on 29 October we have the next Fed interest rate decision. For TSP TIPS the C fund mirrored the S&P 500 and set new record highs on the first three days of October. Not to be outdone, the I fund also set new records on those same three days, while the S funds last record day was two weeks ago, and now sits just shy of that record. Our last investment mix at the end of September still looks good, so we recommend no changes to our current positioning.