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BUSINESS Thursday 25 april 2019
A25

Wall Street keeps hitting records. What do investors do now?

By SARAH SKIDMORE SELL ic indicators, have fueled some situations in which
Associated Press some optimism in stock you should consider tak-
The S&P 500 just hit an all- markets. ing action. If you think you
time high, recovering from “The panic in the fourth can’t live through another
last year’s dramatic plunge. quarter was based most- low like last year, the time
The economy seems to be ly on fears,” said Brent to get out is now. If the bal-
on fairly solid footing, still it’s Schutte, chief investment ance of assets in your port-
anyone’s guess what hap- strategist for Northwestern folio is out of whack thanks
pens next for the stock mar- Mutual Wealth Manage- to the rise of the stock mar-
ket. ment Company. “The fun- ket, make adjustments. And
So what does this mean for damentals have mostly if you need your money in
the average investor? Here held up, while the fears the next five to 10 years, it
are answers to some ques- have gone away and the shouldn’t be in stocks any-
tions about where stocks fears were based mostly on how. But for most people,
stand and what Wall Street emotion.” it’s also a good time to just
experts think you should do In this Thursday, April 18, 2019, file photo, Tommy Kalikas, right, Q. Should I buy? Should I leave things be.
next: works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock sell? Q. Will the rally last?
Q. The S&P is at an all-time Exchange during the Brigham Minerals IPO. A. Maybe. It depends on A. No one knows for sure.
high, should I be euphoric? Associated Press what your long-term in- But David Bailin, chief in-
A. No. It’s fine to be pleased Q. So what happened? raise interest rates. vestment plan is. The best vestment officer at Citi Pri-
about hearty returns on A. It’s more about what Those concerns have advice is usually the same vate Bank, expects the U.S.
your investments. But it’s happened last year. The largely been quelled. The no matter the day — deter- market could move up 5%
not a good idea to tie your S&P 500 was at its last re- U.S. and China are slowly mine your financial goals, to 7% more over the next
emotions closely to the ups cord high in the fall, then moving toward a trade make a plan to reach them nine to 12 months, provid-
and downs of the stock the market sank in the agreement. The Federal and stick to it. ed the Fed doesn’t raise
market. You’ll get tired fast. fourth quarter due in large Reserve has indicated it “I would encourage (in- rates and earnings growth
This market moment comes part to growing fears of a likely will not raise rates at vestors) not to overreact exceeds current expecta-
on the heels of last year’s recession, an escalating all in 2019 after seven re- to highs, just as I would en- tions. We are in a late cycle
nosedive. And it’s not the trade war between the U.S. cent increases. And those courage them not to over- market, a period when U.S.
first or last time the stock and China and concern changes, along with some react to the lows of De- equities have historically
market will make a dramat- the Federal Reserve was strong earnings reports and cember,” Schutte said. done very well, but volatil-
ic move. moving too aggressively to broader healthy econom- All the same, there are ity also rises, he said. q

German business outlook darkens amid trade slowdown

By DAVID McHUGH less satisfied with both the current German’s economy endured flat The government on April 17 cut its
Associated Press situation and the outlook for the growth at the end of last year de- growth forecast for the full year to
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — An in- future. spite low unemployment that has 0.5 percent.
dex of German business optimism The survey was worse than forecast helped keep consumers spend- A less pessimistic view was taken by
fell in April as Europe’s largest econ- by market analysts, who had pre- ing. The jobless rate was only 3.1 Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at
omy struggles with a slowdown in dicted a slight increase. percent in February. The slowdown ING Germany. He said the picture
trade and manufacturing even as “This is consistent with our view that was blamed on one-time factors in industry was not as disastrous as
it finds support from a strong labor Germany’s economy is likely to such as troubles in the auto indus- some recent data would indicate.
market. grow at a very anemic pace this try over new emissions standards Recent zig-zagging of indicators
The Ifo institute said Wednesday year, even if there is a slight pickup and low river levels that disrupted “should be seen as evidence of a
its business climate index slipped in growth” in the first quarter, said production. Slowing global trade bottoming out — confusion as a
to 99.2 points from 99.7 points in Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe has held back export-oriented sign of stabilization,” he wrote in an
March, indicating managers were economist at Capital Economics. manufacturing. email.q