Investors appear particularly eager to put the rough summer months behind them. They are latching onto any positive news and translating that into a stock market rally, at least for the past two days. Is this a welcome relief and a change in direction?

Quite simply, no it is not. The stock market perception is not reality. The markets are essentially rallying because the news is not as bad as it could be. It’s not that the news of the last few days is good. It’s simply that the news could be worse. That is very much like playing the violin while Rome is burning.

The private sector adding 67,000 new jobs is about where we were in 2007 as we were moving into a recession. It’s simply not that good.

Lowe Wealth Advisors remains committed to our position of being focused toward potential conservation and defensive strategies in our actively managed discretionary portfolios. We believe that the economy continues to deteriorate and is evidenced by declining home sales, lack of job creation, weak manufacturing and other indicators.

Rising inventories of goods are of particular concern in that it appears that retailers will have to offer deep discounts to move goods off of shelves. Deep discounts will certainly cut into profits and will very likely be apparent in Q3 and Q4 corporate profit numbers.

Lowe Wealth Advisors continues to work closely with our Capital Markets Analyst to sift through the data. As any new strategies or considerations become apparent, we will communicate them to you. We expect to incorporate some new asset classes into some of our allocations as appropriate and as they become available.

In response to many questions we have received about the current environment, real estate prices, and in general what individuals and families should be doing during these challenging times, we have developed a Frequently Asked Questions document. Click here to read it.

Material discussed is meant for general illustration and/or informational purposes only and it is not to be construed as tax, legal, or investment advice. Although the information has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, please note that individual situations can vary therefore, the information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice. Not all portfolios are actively managed. If you have a question about how your account is being managed please contact us. Generally accounts less than $150,000 are not actively managed. An Index is a portfolio of specific securities (common examples are S&P, DJIA, NASDAQ), the performance of which is often used as a benchmark in judging the relative performance of certain asset classes. Indexes are unmanaged portfolios and investors cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Important Disclosures

• Not all portfolios are actively managed. If you have a question about how your account is being managed please contact us.
• No diversification can completely protect against market risk or other risk factors with investing. A diversified portfolio could still lose money.
• An Index is a portfolio of specific securities (common examples are S&P, DJIA, NASDAQ), the performance of which is often used as a benchmark in judging the relative performance of certain asset classes. Indexes are unmanaged portfolios and investors cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Foreign investing carries additional risk such as currency risk, political risk and different accounting standards.

*Lowe Wealth Advisors is a registered investment advisor.