April was a good month. While it started with what looked like another wave of infections, by month-end, we were back at recent lows for both case growth and positive test rates. Vaccinations have now hit a substantial part of the population, and that looks to have controlled the virus. The medical risks are still real, but they are now about whether and when we hit herd immunity, rather than whether we have a fourth wave. This is significant progress and means the medical risks are low and likely to decline further over the next month.

If the month of March was a turning point (and it was), the month of April demonstrated that March was not a fluke. The data showed we have really turned the corner in many ways. In April, the fourth wave of the pandemic started—and then fizzled out, resulting in much lower infection rates to end the month. Layoffs tumbled and consumer confidence rose to pre-pandemic levels. Markets rallied to all-time highs once again. In April, things got better across the board.

As we approach the summer months, there are a lot of reasons for investors to be worried: inflation, taxes, the deficit, and on and on. I am hearing quite a bit about reasons not to be cheerful, some of which we’ve talked about in other posts. But because of where we are in the calendar, there is one more making the rounds—the old market chestnut “sell in May and go away”—that I want to talk about today. The short response to this adage, for readers in a hurry, is “don’t.”

I have had a number of questions recently about inflation and what that means for the Fed and interest rates. The general assumption seems to be that inflation is about to rise sharply and that the Fed will be forced to raise rates to control it, with the usual panoply of devastating side effects. The taper tantrum gets mentioned frequently, as when rates rose sharply and derailed stock markets after the Fed suggested it would tighten policy.

I spent last week down in the Florida Keys on vacation with my family. It was great. The weather was terrific, we went snorkeling and kayaking, and the place we stayed was very nice. Truly relaxing.

The 10-year Treasury yield has been climbing steadily since hitting a low of 0.5 percent in August 2020. This week, as of April 20, it was close to 1.56 percent. But the rise in rates hasn’t been equal across the broad spectrum of fixed income instruments. If you’re an investor who hasn’t made any changes to your fixed income portfolio since last August, it’s likely your exposures have changed. As a result, your investments may not be delivering the benefits you’re looking for. To assess the situation, take a look under the hood at your fixed income portfolio. But first you need to understand what current interest rates are telling us—and how inflation is involved.

Infrastructure is the backbone of any healthy economy, and America’s is in desperate need of refurbishment and investment. Indeed, President Biden campaigned on a promise to revitalize our aging infrastructure and to invest heavily in clean energy. Biden recently took the first step in that direction by introducing the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan. Let’s talk about this plan’s winners and losers, as well as what it could mean for your investment portfolio.

Today's post is from Michael Geraci, supervisor, retirement consulting investment services.

Last year was a challenging one for the financial markets, resulting in volatility for most investment products. In fact, the coronavirus pandemic presented the biggest test for most asset allocation products since the 2008 financial crisis. 401(k) investments were no exception, specifically target-date funds.

Today's post is from Jim McAllister, director, equity research.

Two weeks ago, after several weeks of significant improvement, the medical news started to worsen as case growth and positive test rates ticked back up. Whether this situation might signal the start of another wave of infection growth was an open question. The good news is that the answer looks to be no. Case growth, while slightly above recent lows, has stayed steady despite the continued reopening of the economy and the increasing spread of more contagious variants of COVID-19. While the battle against the pandemic continues, vaccinations are also continuing. They should end up choking the virus off before it gets to a significant fourth wave. The medical risks are still real, but they are lower than they were two weeks ago, and they’re dropping every week.