Seems like we’re doing a lot of waiting right now: Waiting for a vaccine to be distributed, waiting for a new administration, waiting for small businesses to be able to reopen, waiting for people to go back to work, and the economy to continue to recover. While we wait, Congress is trying to pass another stimulus bill, which we believe is helping keep the stock market close to all-time highs.
Don’t hold your breath though, Congress has gone back-and-forth for months on approving a $908 billion bill to help bolster the economy as shutdowns continue. A large portion of the funding is expected to help fund states and their programs. Without funding, people are wary of a potential “double-dip” recession.
You may be interested in a second wave of $1,200 stimulus checks. Although this would be a pleasant gift to start the year, Congress has provided mixed reviews as to whether or not it will happen.
Here are some of the details of the stimulus:
- An increase in federal unemployment checks by $300/week.
- A reopening of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to allow for more businesses to apply for support.
- Eviction freezes would continue and be extended for some period of time.
- Prolong state funding to essential services, such as food banks.
While we wait for the conclusion of the vaccine distribution, the election, and the economy, we’re making changes to clients’ portfolios.
Growth Stock Portfolio
We recently took advantage of buying Salesforce CRM for the Growth Portfolio. Salesforce specializes in providing software for businesses to help with day-to-day operations. Recent news about them acquiring another company (Slack Technologies ticker: WORK) led to a drop in share price – a great opportunity to buy. We have other stocks and funds on our radar for future buys. With continued uncertainty surrounding COVID, we’ve kept cash aside in case we get another chance to buy.
End of Year Rebalancing
The wild ride of 2020 has provided a variety of opportunities in the stock market. As the year wraps up, we’ll be performing our End-of-Year Rebalancing to make sure accounts are allocated properly. We’ll be able to use this as a time to offset potential tax burdens in the coming year, as well as lock in gains and position for the future. You’ll likely see notifications of this from TD Ameritrade.
Finally, we want to say thank you to everyone that’s trusted us with their important financial decisions this year. From our families to yours, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas this year!
Please let us know if there’s anything we can do for you!
Sincerely,
