Markets

Coronavirus and Market Swings

An Update on the Coronavirus Situation

The Situation

On Thursday, March 5, 2020, the Dow fell 969 points – just the latest in a week of wild swings.1  While monitoring the situation, a headline caught my eye:

“Dow tumbles nearly 1,000 points again, because stocks can’t figure out coronavirus.”2 

To me, this headline illustrates what the media often gets wrong about investing.  But before we dive into that, let’s review how the coronavirus (COVID-19) is impacting the markets.

A wild week

In terms of pure numbers, the first week of March has been one of the wildest in recent memory.  In fact, the Dow had two of its best days ever on March 2nd and 4th…but two of its worst days ever on March 3rd and 5th. 2  Writers have been comparing the stock market to a rollercoaster for decades, but this takes the analogy to a whole new level.

It's not hard to understand why.  The coronavirus outbreak – which as of this writing has spread to over 100,000 people, with over 3,400 fatalities – is putting a major crimp on business activities around the world.3  Global supply chains, which are the networks between a company and its suppliers, have been dramatically affected. As a result, some of the world’s largest corporations have warned shareholders that they may not be able to reach their quarterly profit estimates.  Industries like travel and transportation, which depend on the movement of people and goods, have seen business plummet.  This in turn has impacted the energy industry, as less travel and transportation mean less demand for oil.

So.  Coronavirus is definitely taking a toll on global markets.  The question economists are struggling to answer is, “How will coronavirus affect the global economy?” 

Here in the United States, consumer spending is one of the main drivers of our economy.  There have been over two-hundred confirmed cases of COVID-19 thus far.  That’s a small number in the grand scheme of things.  Economists’ concern, though, is that the virus may spread, causing people to stay home and consumer spending to slow dramatically.  Nations with far more cases, like China, South Korea, and Italy, are already seeing slowdowns.  The worst-case scenario, according to some analysts, is that economic growth for 2020 could be cut in half if the virus continues to spread.4  Should that happen, some nations may well experience a recession.

The Federal Reserve responds

For weeks, analysts expected the Federal Reserve would act at some point.  That’s exactly what they did on Tuesday, March 3rd, when the Fed announced they would cut interest rates by 0.5%.5  The Fed figured lower interest rates would prompt more spending and lending.  Think of it as giving the economy a dose of Vitamin C.

But the markets fell anyway.

There are a few reasons for this.  While a rate cut was expected, the Fed acted much sooner than many anticipated.  So, rather than prompt enthusiasm, it instead prompted concern.  “If the Fed feels like they have to cut rates to keep the economy going,” the thinking goes, “what does that say about the economy?”

Then, too, there’s only so much that lower interest rates can actually do.  To be frank, the Fed has already spent most of its ammunition on this front.  Interest rates have been low for years and have only gotten lower lately.  Furthermore, interest rates can’t fix global supply chains, or replace lost business.  They won’t fill seats on airlines or keep the machinery running in hard-hit factories.  Nor can they stop coronavirus from spreading.

Viruses are no respecter of borders or laws; they’re certainly no respecter of lower interest rates.

Headline-driven investing

Just typing those words makes me shudder!  Headlines are one of the last things that should drive investing, but that’s where we are right now.  The proof is in what happened on Wednesday, March 4th.

The night before was Super Tuesday – when fourteen states held presidential primaries.  Joe Biden won most of these states, which buoyed investors, as Biden is seen as more centrist than his main opponent, Bernie Sanders.

What connection does Joe Biden winning have on stocks?  None right now.  It doesn’t change anything about coronavirus.  It won’t magically increase economic activity.  The election itself isn’t for another eight months!  And yet, the markets rose over 1,000 points on the back of that headline…before giving most of it back the very next day when the headlines changed.6

Which leads me back to the headline I showed you at the beginning of this letter.

“Dow tumbles nearly 1,000 points again, because stocks can’t figure out coronavirus.” 

Look at those words again: Stocks can’t figure out coronavirus.  Stocks don’t have minds of their own, of course, so my guess is the headline really meant investors can’t figure out coronavirus.

But here’s the thing.  For investors, there’s not much to figure out.

Economists, analysts, and pundits try to divine how today’s news will affect tomorrow.  They create projections to help banks, businesses, and politicians make decisions.  It’s a hard job, there’s no denying.

But no investor can accurately predict how bad the virus will or won’t be.  I’ve seen some commentators make claims about vaccines, or how warm weather will stop the virus in its tracks, or any of a dozen other things.  It’s all speculation.  The fact is, no one knows how long this epidemic will last, or how far it will spread.  No one knows who will win the election in November.  No one knows the future!  We can make educated guesses, but we can’t know with any certainty.  So of course investors can’t “figure out” coronavirus.

Even if we could, the situation would likely change the next day!

To me, the problem with the headline above is that it implies investors should be trying to “figure it out.”  But if we could, there would never be any uncertainty.  Investing would become as predictable as grocery shopping.  But investing doesn’t work like that.  That’s why we don’t make investment decisions based on predictions.  It’s why, during times of market volatility, we don’t chase our own tail, trying to time the markets or make risky bets based on what we guess might happen.

In other words, we don’t need to “figure out” coronavirus.  Let’s leave that to the scientists.  Instead, all we need to do is largely what we’ve already done!  And that is:

  1. Determine what kind of investment return you need to reach your goals, and then choose high-quality investments based on the principles of supply and demand. When demand outpaces supply, buyers are in control, and prices are likely to move upward.  When supply is greater than demand, sellers are in control, and prices tend to go down.  That’s why we don’t buy or sell based on predictions or stories.  We look at what is actually happening by examining trends.
  2. When the market is trending upward, we focus on growing your money. When the market trends down, we focus on preserving it.  This is done by putting strict rules in place that govern your investments.  For example, if an investment moves below a predetermined exit point, we sell.  If necessary, we can move entirely to cash if that’s what it takes to preserve your principal.

In the short term, coronavirus will probably continue to impact the markets.  The global economy will continue having symptoms.  But we don’t need to guess what the effects will be anymore than we need to guess what the weather will be like ninety days from now.  Instead, we determine the rules we need to follow to help you reach your goals, and then follow those rules to the letter.  To me, it’s comforting to know that we don’t need a crystal ball to be successful long-term investors.  We don’t need to be virus experts.  All we need to be is disciplined, informed, and prudent.

In the meantime, I expect volatility will continue.  By the time you read these words, the headlines will have changed again.  That means the markets will have probably swung again.  That’s okay.  Because while volatility is never fun, we don’t need to “figure it out.”  We’ve already done that.

While I’m encouraging you to not stress over daily headlines or market swings, I understand that’s sometimes easier said than done.  After all, it’s your money!  So, if you have any questions or concerns about your portfolio, please let me know. I will always be here for you.

The Decade In Review: 2010-2019

Every January, I send my clients a letter titled The Year in Review, where together we look back at the year that was.  What were the highlights?  What were the “lowlights”?  What did we learn?

But this January doesn’t just mark a new year.  It marks the beginning of a new decade.  (Unless you are a strict observer of the Gregorian calendar system, in which case the next decade begins in 2021.  But I digress.)  So, for this letter, we’re going to look back at what shaped the markets in the 2010s – and what lessons we should take with us into the ‘20s.

2010-11: Aftershocks of the Great Recession

The best way to see how much can change in a decade is to remember how things were at the end of the last one.  In 2010, we were coming off the worst decade for stocks since the 1930s.  The Great Recession had devastated the retirement savings of millions of people.  Many of the world’s most famous financial institutions had collapsed.  And the national unemployment rate was near 10%.1

It was a scary and uncertain time.  Many investors had fled the markets entirely by 2010, some for good.  As a result, they missed a remarkable recovery that was just around the corner.  Not only that, they missed the longest bull market in history.

In hindsight, it might seem obvious that there was nowhere to go but up.  But just as the start of a recession is very hard to see coming, the ending can be equally hard to wait for.  People can be forgiven for thinking the worst was still to come, because in 2010 and 2011, there were still a lot of ominous headlines to deal with.  Remember any of these terms?

Sequestration   ●   U.S. Debt Ceiling   ●   European Debt Crisis ●   Bailouts   ●   Austerity   ●   The Fiscal Cliff

For the first few years, fear abounded as to whether the global economy would be able to recover at all.  Nation after nation dealt with spiraling debt that couldn’t be paid off.  Remember how often Greece used to be in the news?  Some analysts speculated about the possibility of a second recession. 2011 was an especially tenuous year for the stock market, especially when the United States’ credit rating was downgraded for the first time in history.

2012-14: The Federal Reserve intervenes

During this time, however, the world’s largest central banks were working behind the scenes to keep the recovery going.  In the United States, for example, the Federal Reserve embarked upon a massive bond-buying program, to the tune of $85 billion per month.  This accomplished two things.  First, it flooded the money supply and kept interest rates historically low.  Lower interest rates made borrowing less costly, which meant businesses and individuals could borrow and spend more, thereby pumping more money into the economy as a whole.  This, of course, equaled growth.  Slow growth, but growth nonetheless.

The second thing the Fed’s bond-buying did was drive more investors into stocks.  Low interest rates often lead to lower returns for fixed income investments, so it was into the higher risk, higher reward stock market that investors went.  All this had been going on for years, but the results were only then becoming apparent.  So, it came almost as a surprise when the markets reached new highs, even though the economy still seemed to be licking its wounds.  It was in mid-2013 that the Dow hit 15,000 for the first time, rising to 16,000 by the end of the year, and then 17,000 the year after.

2015-16: Waiting for the other shoe to fall

But that didn’t mean the markets were immune to volatility.  Despite the economic recovery, many experts spent the decade in near-constant fear of another bear market.  Every wobble, every market correction, was watched with fearful anticipation.  It was like standing next to someone’s hospital bed, thinking every next breath will be their last.  Some of this was probably a form of post-traumatic stress caused by the Great Recession.  The rest came from the spasms of an ever-changing world.

Oil prices plunged dramatically around this time, hurting both oil-producing nations as well as the energy industry.  China’s stock market crashed.  The Greek debt crisis reared its ugly head again, prompting fears that “financial contagion” would spread and create another global recession.  And then came Brexit.  The news that the United Kingdom would leave the European Union sent shockwaves around the world.  And here at home, one of the most bitterly contested presidential elections in U.S. history had both sides of the political aisle forecasting economic ruin if the other side won.

But despite the dire predictions, these developments only slowed the recovery’s march rather than derailing it completely.  In fact, by July of 2016, the Dow once again hit new heights.

2017-19: The longest bull market

While most of the decade had seen slow-but-steady growth, the horse started picking up speed as it neared the finish line, buoyed by tax cuts, increased government spending, and corporate earnings.  Nowhere was this truer than with the Dow.  Comprised of thirty of the largest publicly-traded companies, the Dow hit 20,000 for the first time early in 2017 – and closed well above 28,000 on December 31, 2019.2

Exactly ten years before, the number was only 10,428.  That’s an increase of over 170% - the culmination of the longest bull market in history.

Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.  The trade war with China is an ever-present concern, with rising tariffs often leading to brief, but dramatic downswings in the market.  2018 was actually a down year for the S&P 500, the only one of the decade.  And as the 2010s drew to a close, many economists warned of a slowing economy – with maybe even a mild recession in store.

Despite these warnings, investors did what they had done for most of the decade: Act startled, and then head right back into the markets.  Some pundits call it a market “melt-up” instead of the usual meltdown.

What have we learned?

So.  A remarkable decade filled with twists and turns.  But what did we learn? 

When I looked back at the last ten years, one thing that struck me was how interconnected the world has become.  So many of the storylines that drove the markets originated far beyond our shores.  We truly live in a global economy.  We invest in other countries, buy products in other countries, loan money to other countries (or apply for loans, as the case may be) and trade with other countries.  We might be separated by the world’s biggest ponds, but the ripples near one shore are always felt near the other.

That means two things.  One, for an advisor like me, it means there’s more than ever to keep track of.  But two, it means we should react less and less to the headlines of the day – or to each individual ripple.  A butterfly might flap its wings in Beijing and cause a hurricane in Topeka, as the saying goes, but there are butterflies flapping their wings everywhere.  That’s one reason why we saw many storms but fewer hurricanes in the 2010s.

Another thing we learned?  Sometimes, most times, slow and steady really does win the race.  We were all taught the truth of this as children when we learned the story of the tortoise and the hare.  The past decade proved it.  Everyone loves growth that comes fast and hot.  But when something burns fast and hot, it tends to burn out faster, too.  One reason we never saw the recession so many people feared is because the economy recovered as slowly as it did.  It’s a lesson we can apply to our own financial decisions.  While it’s always tempting to chase after windfalls and jackpots, it’s so much smarter to prioritize steady progress over short-term whims.  The race to your goals is a marathon, not a sprint.

A third thing we learned is how often things don’t go as predicted.  In 2010 and 2011, many experts predicted a gloomy decade for the stock markets – and they had good reason to think so!  But it didn’t happen.  When, say, Obamacare became the law of the land, many experts predicted economic disaster.  As of this writing, it hasn’t happened. When Brexit became a reality, many experts predicted a global catastrophe.  As of this writing, it hasn’t happened.  When President Trump was elected, many experts predicted a market meltdown.  As of this writing, it hasn’t happened.  We all have our opinions on whether events like these were good or bad, of course.  But it’s a good thing we didn’t base our investment decisions on any expert’s predictions!

Because if there’s one thing we learned this decade, is that a prediction is like a person’s appendix – pretty much useless.

2020 and beyond

With that in mind, I won’t make any predictions for the coming decade.  If history is correct – and it always is – another market correction, another bear market, another recession will come eventually.  Whether it’s this year, or next, or the one after that, I can’t say.  What’s more important is that we remember this: It’s when we fly that we should have the healthiest respect for gravity.  But it’s when we’re on the ground that we should raise our eyes to the skies.

Investing is like trying to find our way in the dark – and our strategy is our North Star.  It’s so much more valuable than any prediction!  We may bump into the occasional obstacle.  Sometimes, we may even trip.  But if we hold to that star, we will keep moving forward in the direction we want to go.

We will make this decade whatever we want it to be.

My team and I can’t wait to spend the next decade with you.

What is an Inverted Yield Curve?

If you ask an economist what makes them toss and turn at night, chances are they’ll tell you, “Fear of missing the warning signs of a recession.”  After all, for anyone who studies the economy for a living, few things could be worse than a sudden economic slump catching you by surprise.

That’s why many economists rely on certain indicators to predict if there’s rough weather ahead.  Historically, one of the most reliable indicators is the inverted yield curve.  This is when the yield on long-term bonds drops below the yield on short-term bonds.  Why does this matter to economists?   Because an inverted yield curve has preceded every recession since 1956.1

Long-Term Bond Yield Hits Record Low2
Stocks Skid as Bonds Flash a Warning3
The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2019

On August 14, the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds dropped below 1.6%, officially falling beneath the yield on 2-year Treasury bonds for the first time since 2007.4  That’s an inverted yield curve.  The markets responded the way children do when a hornet gets inside the family car – they panicked.  The Dow, the S&P 500, and the NASDAQ all fell sharply, with the Dow plunging over 700 points.3

The obvious question, of course, is “Why?”

It’s a smart question!  To the average investor, the term “inverted yield curve” probably doesn’t sound very scary.  So, why does it have the markets freaking out?  Let’s break it down by answering a few basic – but also smart – questions.

  1. What’s a bond yield, again?

A bond yield is the return you get when you put your money in a government or corporate bond.  Whenever an investor buys a bond, they’re agreeing to loan money to the issuer of that bond – the government, in the case of Treasury bonds – for a specific length of time.  Typically, the longer the time, the higher the yield, as investors want a greater return in exchange for locking up their money for years or even decades.  That’s why the yield on long-term bonds is almost always higher than on short-term bonds.  When these trade places, we have an inverted yield curve.

  1. Okay, so why have bond yields inverted?

Bear with me here, because I’m about to get a little technical. 

Bond yields have an inverse relationship with bond prices.  That means when prices go up, yields fall, and vice versa.

What do I mean by price?  Well, investors must pay to buy bonds, of course, and when more people buy them, the price of these bonds goes up.  (It’s the basic law of supply and demand: When the demand for something increases, so does the price.)   When that happens, yields drop.

Investors often see bonds as safe havens of sorts, especially during economic turmoil.  Stocks, on the other hand, tend to be seen as “higher risk, higher reward” investments.  In this case, investors are selling their stocks and plowing more and more money into long-term bonds, pushing prices up and yields below that of short-term bonds.  The fact investors are doing this suggests they’re not optimistic about the near-future health of the economy and are seeking safe places to park their money.

  1. Why are investors so worried about the economy?

On the home front, it’s largely because of the trade war between the U.S. and China.  As the two nations engage in an ever-growing battle of tariffs, the fear is that businesses in the U.S. will have to raise prices, thereby hurting consumers.  On August 13, President Trump decided to delay the most recent round of tariffs until December, saying he didn’t want tariffs to affect shopping during the Christmas season.5  Previously, Trump predicted tariffs would not hurt U.S. businesses, so this sudden about-face suggests even he is worried.

Investors are also worried about a slowdown in the global economy.  Two of the world’s most important economies, China and Germany, have both shrunk.  Put all these things together and it’s not hard to see why investors worry about a recession in the near future.

Fears the recent news about inverted yield curves will only stoke.

  1. So is a recession imminent?

As I mentioned earlier, inverted yield curves have preceded every recession since 1956.  This includes the Great Recession of 2008.  But does this mean a recession is just around the corner?

No!

There are two things to keep in mind here.  First, a brief inverted yield curve is not the same thing as a sustained one.  While inversions have preceded every modern recession, inversions do not always lead to a recession.  Think of it this way: You can’t have a rainstorm without dark gray clouds.  But dark gray clouds don’t always lead to a rainstorm.  Make sense?

You see, correlation does not equal causation.  By this I mean that while inversions and recessions are often seen together, one does not actually cause the other.  An inverted yield curve is like a sneeze: It’s a symptom, not the disease itself.  And while a sneeze can mean you have a cold, it doesn’t lead to a cold.  Sometimes, we sneeze because we got pepper up our nose.

Second, let’s assume for argument’s sake that this recent inversion is a warning sign of a future recession.  That doesn’t mean a recession is imminent.  Some analysis suggests that it takes an average of twenty-two months for a recession to follow an inversion.1  That’s a long time!  A long time to save, invest, plan and prepare.

  1. So does an inverted yield curve even matter, then?

I’ll put it simply: It matters enough to pay attention to.  It doesn’t matter enough to be worth panicking over.

Make no mistake, we’re in a volatile period right now.  There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that volatility will continue.  But while comparing the markets to the weather has become something of a cliché, it also makes a lot of sense.  When storm clouds gather, we pack an umbrella or stay inside.  We don’t run for the hills.

The same is true of market volatility.

Remember, an inverted yield curve is an indicator, not a prophecy.  Economists can toss and turn about such things, but you and I are focusing on something much less abstract: your financial goals.  More important than any indicator, more important than the day-to-day swings in the markets, is the discipline we show.  If you think about it, market volatility is really a symptom, too – a symptom of emotional decision making.  Investors see a good headline, and they buy, buy, buy!  That’s a market rally.  Investors see a bad one, and they sell, sell, sell!  That’s a market dip.

Investing based on emotion leads to one thing: Regret.  Regret that we bought into the hype and bought when we should have waited for a better deal.  Regret that we fell into fear and sold when we should have held on longer.  We invest by being disciplined enough to buy, hold, or sell when it makes sense for your situation.

That’s the best way to stay on track toward your goals.  That’s the best way to not toss and turn at night.  We don’t make decisions based on predictions.  We make decisions based on need.

My team and I will keep watching the indicators.  We’ll keep doing our best to explain the twists and turns in the markets.  And we’ll keep doing our best not to overreact to any of them.  In the meantime, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.  We always love to hear from you!

 

 

 

1 “The inverted yield curve explained,” CNBC, August 14, 2019.  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/14/the-inverted-yield-curve-explained-and-what-it-means-for-your-money.html

2 “Long-Term Bond Yield Hits Record Low,” The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2019.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/bond-rally-drives-30-year-treasury-yield-to-record-low-11565794665

3 “Stocks Skid as Bonds Flash a Warning,” The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2019.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/asian-stocks-gain-on-tariff-delay-11565769562

4 “Dow tumbles 700 points after bond market flashes a recession warning,” CNN Business, August 14, 2019.  https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/14/investing/dow-stock-market-today/index.html

5 “U.S. Retreats on Chinese Tariff Threats,” The Wall Street Journal, August 13, 2019.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-will-delay-some-tariffs-against-china-11565704420

Market Volatility 2019

“Investing When Money Markets Moves Our Way”

The last several years, and even the last several months, have been a microcosm of the money markets. The 7% drop in the month of May set off by one of Trump’s tweets was followed by an almost immediately 7% upswing in the month of June and continuing into early July. In the year 2018, we had two different 20% downturns, each of which were promptly followed by strong market upturns. As most of our clients know, and have come to accept, this level of market fluctuation is normal but unpleasant. Our strategy to deal with these market fluctuations is to acknowledge that they will continue to occur, but it is the price that we must pay for the higher equity market returns that we receive and expect to receive in the future. That the new market records would be a good time to address a couple of changes in the markets. First, I have finally decided that it’s time that for me to get on Twitter. Our president has decided that he’s going to, generally speaking, bypass the normal press release mechanism and release new information to the public through Twitter. I understand that Twitter is used for all kinds of purposes other than general policy announcements. It also seems to be used for sparring with your enemies, and it’s certainly being used to communicate directly with the US citizens and bypass the Washington Press Corps. I don’t want to spend too much time on the technical details of our work for you, but I can’t help but notice that the equity market mutual fund ETF purchases by the general public has been running at very low levels with bond fund purchases outrunning them throughout the month of June. That is, most of your fellow investors were selling stocks and buying bonds during the June period when the market was setting market records, unfortunately we cannot help them because they’re not our clients, but it is an indicator to us how many people are poor investors.

It has been and continues to be our recommendation to you that you maintain your investment in these wonderful multi-national rational companies in which you have invested.  The value of these companies may fluctuate dramatically in the stock market.  Your fellow investors may sell out at the latest whim or presidential tweet, but you know and we agree with you, that all of these changes and the daily press fixations on one matter or another all pass very quickly and it becomes insignificant to the long-term health of these rationally run companies.  This is a wonderful time for you to point out to your family that market ups and downs change very quickly, change unpredictably, but that we believe the long-term trend is up and that the 20% up and down turns, the 7% up and down months, are part of the cost of being a good long-term investor.  Please note that during all of last year with its ups and downs and this year with its ups and downs, the dividends in your account have continued to come into your account and to rise.  If you come across any of your good friends or family who are complaining about and concerned about market fluctuation, market volatility, please give them our name and we would be happy to talk to them and see if we can help them.

A final point that I would like to address, because I hear it come up from time to time are various market strategies that fall into the category of technical analysis, sometimes the “trend following,” sometimes they’re called market momentum play.  All of them are designed to offer an investor the possibility of avoiding large market downturns and yet participate in the upside of markets.  Many times, their components will argue for loss protection analysis or plan to protect capital.  We believe that all these technical analysis type programs sound great, a program which avoids serious market downturns.  But unfortunately, we can’t, because they don’t work.

The market technical analysis for rules-based investing is designed to help you stay invested in investment programs that are working well now and avoiding programs that are not working well.  The idea being that the recent past can indicate and predict what the future will be.  Our argument is that the future is unknowable, and that we have faith that capitalism will, and the investment markets moving cycles, will fix any problems that they’ve had in the past, any excesses that they’ve had in the past.  We will move forward, solve our problems, and figure out a way to increase earnings going forward.

The market analysts offer you the possibility and pretend that they have a system whereby they can avoid these losses.  It sounds very enticing because it’s exactly what you would like to hear, that losses can be avoided, and gains realized.  This is not possible, so our strategy to deal with market downturns is for you and your spouse to fully acknowledge that they’re coming, to embrace them, to treat them as part of the entire process, and then to teach your children the exact same formula, so that they don’t make the mistake of getting involved in any one of these market time schemes that promise to have you out of the markets and selling before a downturn, and yet somehow magically getting you back into the markets in time for an upturn.

The last two years are just further evidence and a career’s worth of evidence, that these programs don’t work.  That they have you sell to late, have you buy back into an investment program too late as well, so that you realize a lot of the loss don’t get the gain get the market gets her upturn, and are disappointed anew with significant transition cost all along.  Our approach to dealing with market downturns is to understand that they’re coming.  This is not a prediction for the future, but we understand that they will come.  They will come at an unpredictable, unknowable time, that it’s part of the process.  Both you and your spouse should understand that.  You should explain it to your children so that they can become effective investors as well.

If you, your spouse, or any family members have any questions, please give us a call.  We continue to be optimistic about the future.  Your prosperity is our business.  Thank you.  Contact me with any questions.

Very truly yours,
James Vaughan III

Tariffs and Trade 2019

Please open your economic textbooks to page forty-seven, class, because it’s time to talk about something you probably haven’t thought of since college: tariffs.

On Thursday, March 1, President Trump announced a new plan to institute a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum.1 Like so many things these days, the response was radically different depending on who you talk to.  More on that in a moment.

Traditionally, tariffs are something most of us don’t have to think about, especially as tariff levels in the United States have been low for decades.  But for investors, President Trump’s announcement has the potential to be very significant.  Why?  Because of the possibility that it could spark a trade war.

Should a trade war actually happen, it could have a major impact on investors.  To understand why, let’s have a short Q&A session.

What are tariffs and why do they matter?

Since it’s probably been a while since your Economics 101 class, let’s quickly cover a few basics.

To put it simply, a tariff is essentially a tax on imported goods and services.  Tariffs can be levied on almost anything: metals, foodstuffs, products, etc.  Historically, tariffs are most commonly used when a country wants to protect certain industries within its own borders.  For example, the Tariff Act of 1930 was designed to protect farmers by increasing the cost of importing agricultural products.  By making it more expensive to import crops from other countries, people would be forced to buy mainly from American farmers.  This is known as protectionism.

Once upon a time, tariffs in the United States were both high and common.  But after World War II, average tariff rates dropped significantly, and have stayed low ever since.  In fact, since the 1970s, the average tariff rate on imports has been well under 10%.2

So are tariffs good or bad?

Remember how I said the response to President Trump’s announcement was radically different depending on who you talk to?  That’s because a tariff’s effects can vary wildly, too.

Tariffs can bring two major benefits:

  • Because tariffs are a kind of tax, they can bring more revenue to the government.
  • Tariffs, and protectionism in general, can be a major boon to certain industries – including the workers within those industries.  In this case, the U.S. steel industry would benefit from a 20% tariff on steel, because it means more people are buying from them instead of their competitors overseas.

You can see why the idea of tariffs can be attractive for many people.

Unfortunately, tariffs can also cause some very negative side effects.  Specifically:

  • Tariffs can make life more difficult for consumers, whether they be individuals, families, or businesses.  That’s because higher tariffs often lead to higher prices, which in turn lead to higher expenses.  For example, if companies must pay more for the steel they need, that could significantly eat into their own profits.
  • Higher tariffs can lead to trade wars.

Okay, so what is a trade war, anyway?

We live in a global, interconnected world.  Toss a stone into the water off one shore and the ripples can be seen near another.  In this case, higher tariffs can cause some very large ripples.

When one country raises tariffs on a certain kind of product, other countries that depend on exporting that product won’t take to it kindly.  As a result, those countries might retaliate by increasing tariffs on their imports, thereby harming the first country.  Before you know it, tariffs become weaponized and a trade war breaks out.

Trade wars are risky things, because they can quickly jump from industry to industry.  Let’s take the current situation as an example.

After President Trump announced his plan to raise tariffs on steel and aluminum, the European Union threatened to do the same to U.S. imports – everything from motorcycles to bourbon to bluejeans.3  Other countries like Japan and Canada, which are both major steel producers and important trading partners, have threatened similar measures.  Should all this happen, the currents of international trade will quickly become choked.  That would lead to higher prices on many goods and services, which in turn would lead to lower profits, higher costs of living, and even – potentially – higher unemployment.

Should all those things happen, the markets will surely suffer.  As an investor, you don’t need me to tell you what that means.

So why did President Trump decide to raise tariffs?

For decades, the United States has seen a worsening trade deficit with many countries.  In other words, we pay more for importing their goods than they do for ours.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. “ran a global goods deficit of $810 billion” in 2017.4  One of the president’s most long-standing campaign promises was to address that deficit.  It appears that tariffs, along with renegotiating certain trade agreements, like NAFTA, are his tool of choice.

Geopolitical economics is a loaded topic, and there’s a lot of disagreement out there about causes and effects.  Again, tariffs can unquestionably bring lots of advantages, and there’s no question the United States is on the lower end of a trade imbalance with many countries.

At the same time, there’s also no question that Trump’s announcement has spooked both the markets and the global economy.  The Dow fell more than 400 points on the day of the announcement, and continued to fall the next day.5  Many world leaders have already warned about a trade war being a very real possibility.  Even many Congressmen in President Trump’s own party have spoken out against the prospect of higher tariffs.  This isn’t surprising, because the Republican party – or at least a large percentage of it – has traditionally been very much in favor of free trade.

As I’m not an economist, it’s not really my place to decide whether protectionism is good or bad.  It’s worth noting, however, that a trade war did break out the last time the U.S. raised tariff rates this high.

The Tariff Act of 1930, or Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, raised tariff rates to their second highest level in U.S. history.  These days, economists generally agree that the resulting trade war worsened the Great Depression.  (What no one seems to agree on, though, is by how much.)  On the other hand, the United States is in a very different position in 2018 than it was in 1930.  Back then, the Great Depression had long-since started.  These days, our economy is much stronger.  That makes it hard to predict how hard a trade war will hit.

What happens now?

There are still so many things we don’t know.  For instance, we don’t know if President Trump will actually go through with his plan.  If he does, we don’t know if the tariffs will apply across the board, or if they’ll only be levied against certain countries.  (This is something many of his advisers are recommending.  If our closest allies are exempted, then the effects of a trade war would likely be minimized.)  And we don’t know what other nations will do in response.

What we do know is that the possibility of a trade war can have a substantial impact on the economy and the markets.

At the moment, I don’t believe we need to take any action. Back in February, the markets took a hit due to the threat of inflation and rising interest rates – and then recovered.  While the markets dipped slightly in response to President Trump’s announcement, it’s far too early to make any changes to your portfolio.

However, this is why my team and I keep such a close eye on what’s going on in the world.  Part of my job is to keep you informed of any ripples in the water so that you always stay afloat.  It’s impossible for me to say what’s going to happen next, but I’ll tell you this: We’ll always be here keeping our hands on the tiller.

In the meantime, please contact me if you have questions, or if there’s anything I can do for you!

Sources
1 “Trump to Impose Steep Aluminum and Steel Tariffs,” The Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2018.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-wont-quickly-announce-new-tariffs-on-aluminum-steel-1519921704
2 “Average U.S. tariff rates, 1821-2016,” U.S. International Trade Commission, https://www.usitc.gov/documents/dataweb/ave_table_1891_2016.pdf
3 “U.S. allies around the world steel for Trump tariff tussle,” The Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2018.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/asian-allies-steel-for-trump-tariff-tussle-1519977304
4 “Trade Wars Are Good, Trump Tweets,” The Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2018.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/trade-wars-are-good-trump-tweets-1519996161
5 “U.S. Stocks Tumble After Trump Announces New Import Tariffs,” The Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2018.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-struggle-after-bad-month-1519868670?tesla=y