Investment Review - July 2016
- Tempest in a teapot? Stock markets in June suffered two of the worst trading days of the year, followed by two of the best. The averages closed almost unchanged in June; the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%, the S & P 500 rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 2.1%.
- The U.S. Initial Public Offering (IPO) market had a slow start this year; through May, just 31 companies went public in the U.S., down from 69 in the first five months of 2015, and 115 over the same five-month period in 2014. Sharp swings in stocks and a poor showing by companies that went public in 2015 have brought about fewer new issues and more modest price levels than last year.
- Americans’ total wealth reached a record high of $88.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2016. Rising home values bolstered the collective net worth of Americans, 63.7% of whom own homes. Home values offset stock market dips early this year and mortgage balances have grown slowly. Americans’ total home equity has almost recovered to its level at the peak of the housing bubble.
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