Womack Investment Advisers

As the stock market continues to grind higher and investors become more complacent we turn our attention to one data point that has remained a “stubbornly fail-safe marker” of economic contraction since 1960.   Every time Commercial & Industrial (C&I) loan balances have declined or stagnated—a recession was already in progress or was imminent.   This can be seen in the following graphic, from Zero Hedge using Federal Reserve data. On a year-over-year basis, after growing at a 7% year over year pace at the beginning of 2017, the latest bank loan update from the Fed showed that the annual rate of increase in C&I loans is down to just 1.6%--its lowest since 2011.   Should the rate of loan growth deceleration persist, in roughly four to six weeks, the U.S. would post its first year-over-year loan contraction since the financial crisis.   This graphic illustrates how steep the decline has been.

CNNMoney by Patrick Gillespie  America, interest rates are going up. The Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday. It's the Fed's third rate hike since December. And it's a sign that the central bank believes the U.S. economy is on solid ground.  "It reflects the progress the economy has made," Fed chair Janet Yellen said at a press conference. In a sign of confidence, the Fed upgraded its forecast for U.S. economic growth and unemployment this year. Rising interest rates eventually affect millions of Americans from home buyers to credit card holders to savers. However, interest rates for mortgages are not expected to rise immediately. The Fed's key interest rate will now hover in a range between 1% and 1.25%. Overall, rates are still very low compared to prior decades. The Fed also said it's planning to start gradually selling off the assets that it had bought during and after the finan...

Greg Womack will discuss the current trend of the markets, the economy, and give an update on  WIA strategies. Also featuring guest speaker from CION Investments. TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2017 Petroleum Club North 1 North Sooner Road Edmond, OK  73034 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6:00 PM - Registration & Hors d'oeuvres 6:30 PM - Market Update  Presentation PLEASE RSVP PRIOR TO  Friday , June 16, 2017 AT   (405) 340-1717 OR E-MAIL:   michelle@womackadvisers.com There is no cost to attend this event! Seating is limited... Reserve your spot now! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WOMACK INVESTMENT ADVISERS, INC . Oklahoma / Main Office: 1366 E....

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­ Weekly Market Commentary June 12, 2017 The Markets Stock market historians may dub 2017 the Xanax year. Traditional historians will probably choose a different moniker. Stock markets in many advanced economies have been unusually calm during 2017, reported Schwab’s Jeffrey Kleintop in a May 15, 2017 commentary. The CBOE Volatility Index, a.k.a. the Fear Gauge, which measures how volatile investors believe the S&P 500 Index will be over the next few months, has fallen below 10 on just 15 days since the index was introduced in 1990. Six of the 15 occurred during 2017. The average daily closing value for the VIX was 19.7 from 1990 through 2016. For 2017, the average has been 11.8. Investors’ calm is remarkable because 2017 has not been a particularly calm year. We’ve experienced significant geopolitical events. For example, the U.S. launched a military strike on Syria, and dropped its biggest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan. There have been terro...