Womack Investment Advisers

­Womack Weekly Commentary February 27, 2017 The Markets Once upon a time, five blind men discovered an elephant. Each man examined a different part of the elephant and formed a unique impression about the animal. One believed an elephant was like a pillar, while another decided an elephant was like a snake. In recent weeks, stock and bond markets have been telling different stories, too. Following a rally on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at a record high for the 11 th time last week. Reuters reported major U.S. benchmark indices have been driven higher by optimism about tax reform, eased regulation, and increased infrastructure spending. Both Reuters and Financial Times wrote some investors have become more cautious amidst growing doubts about the pace at which the new administration’s economic policies may be achieved, as well as concerns about the outcome of European elections. These concerns are reflected in the bond market.

Womack Weekly Commentary February 21, 2017 The Markets Up! Four major U.S. benchmark stock indices closed at record highs for four consecutive days during Valentine’s Day week, reported Financial Times (FT) . To date, positive corporate earnings and robust investor confidence have offset fiscal and political uncertainty and helped push U.S. stock markets higher, said sources cited by FT . With 82 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reporting, corporate earnings are up 4.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2016, and the Investors Intelligence Advisors Sentiment survey showed bullishness at a 12-year high last week, according to CNBC.com . While bullish performance is welcome by stock investors, a Barron’s article titled, ‘Memo to Investors: What Goes Up Must Come Down,’ listed the responses of traders at a firm whose chief market strategist asked: “In order to stay long U.S. equities, you have to believe...what? Here are so