Potential U.S. Debt Ceiling Breach and Implications
The federal government’s authority to issue new debt expired January 2023 when the U.S. Treasury reached its statutory debt limit of $31.4 trillion. The U.S. Treasury Department has engaged in extraordinary measures to avoid defaulting on government bills. These measures included suspending new investments of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, suspending reinvestment of the Government Securities Investment Fund and Exchange Stabilization Fund, and suspending sales of State and Local Government Series Treasury securities. Despite these measures, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen, we could see debt ceiling complications as early as June 1.
(more…)Read MoreSilicon Valley Bank Failure
Silicon Valley Bank was put into receivership by the FDIC on Friday, March 10. It was the largest Federal Reserve/FDIC-backed bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis and the second largest ever. Its failure is a reminder that bank deposits are not entirely safe and that actions should be taken if a bank account holds more than $250,000 of deposits.
(more…)Read MoreSECURE ACT 2.0 Planning
Congress passed The SECURE Act 2.0 in late December 2022 to encourage retirement savings. The law has over 90 provisions that create various planning opportunities now and in the future. Some changes will take effect this year while others are delayed until later. We have laid out some of the more significant changes below, including the 529 Plan Roth Conversion option set to take effect in 2024.
(more…)Read MoreEconomic and Investment Outlook for 2023
Will the U.S. experience a recession this year or shortly thereafter? In this report, we explore the outlook for recession and how stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets are expected to behave. We discuss how investors should be positioned in 2023.
(more…)Read MoreWESCAP Q4 2022 Quarterly Commentary: High U.S. Household Demand, Tight Labor Markets, & Unexpected Shortages
Portfolio results for the last quarter of 2022 were generally positive, although 12-month returns were almost uniformly negative. High U.S. household demand, tight labor markets, unexpected energy and supply chain shortages due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and repeated Zero-Covid China lockdowns contributed to higher-than-expected inflation. The aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate hike policy to bring down inflation had a very detrimental effect on growth stocks, longer-term bonds, and foreign currencies. Some of this reversed in the last quarter, consistent with fading recession fears and the post-mid-term election historical trend of strong 6-month returns.
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