March 2023 Monthly Recap

Talking Points

  • Inflation slowed from 6.4% to 6%, its lowest level since September 2021, as food prices cooled off

  • The labor market remains robust as the US economy added 311,000 jobs, though unemployment rose from 3.4% to 3.6%

  • Housing prices fell for a seventh straight month as continued weakness on the West Coast contributed to the dip

  • The 10-year Treasury yield dropped sharply from 3.92% to 3.48% as expectations shifted to a Fed pivot

  • Bond credit spreads increased amid the recent banking uncertainties, but still remain lower than mid-2022 levels

Market Health Indicator*

Market Data
market health indicator monthly index performance

*The Market Health Indicator is a monthly indicator created in September 2021 that is designed to measure market health on a scale of 0 - 100, analyzing various market segments such as economics, technicals, and volatility using data back to January of 2000. Higher scores indicate healthier market conditions.

  

Fun Facts

Banking Crisis

•    German chocolate cake didn’t originate from Germany. It was named after a person, Sam German (American), who created a new type of baking chocolate in 1852.

•    A day on Venus is longer than a year on the planet. Due to its slow axis rotation, it takes 243 Earth days to spin once, but it only takes 225 Earth days to go around the sun.

•    Warm up your singing voices. April 11 is National Barbershop Quartet Day.

•    April is only the 5th wettest month of the year, despite the old adage “April showers bring May flowers.”
 

Who had banking crisis on their board for March?

It was a whirlwind of a month for the industry as a couple of niche US banks (Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank) as well as a more globally integrated European bank (Credit Suisse) failed.

The immediate market reaction was understandably negative, but the lack of headlines to end the month seems to have calmed some nerves for now.

While volatility has cooled, the events of the past month raise many questions going forward. What’s going to happen with FDIC insurance? Should regional banks be held to tighter risk controls? Will the Fed pivot more quickly than originally anticipated? Are larger banks just go-ing to eventually absorb smaller banks?

Regulators were able to step in quickly and nip the crisis in the bud for now, but the aftermath could result in industry-wide changes as the effects of March’s events are unpacked.
 

To view the rest of the Market Update, click here. 

Carrie Russom Quraishi, JD, CAPP
Carrie Russom Quraishi, JD, CAPP
Carrie provides personalized wealth management, tax and estate planning services to clients in AR, TX & TN.
Post A Comment