April 2025

At Vantage Financial, it is important that you are well-informed about what is happening in the markets. Here are a few of the key topics of conversation that deserve the most attention this month. If you have any questions or would like to continue the conversation, please reach out.

April has delivered historic market volatility as a series of unpredictable but significant trade proposals triggered a dramatic selloff in global markets across nearly all asset classes.  The S&P 500 was already nearing correction territory on the back of softening economic data before the April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs were revealed at levels substantially higher than expected.  After several days of intense panic selling, President Trump announced a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs, resulting in the largest one-day jump in market indices since the 2008 financial crisis.  Unfortunately, the celebration did not last as concerns regarding the ongoing policy uncertainty remain.  Behind the scenes, Treasury yields swung wildly, the dollar tumbled, and assets like oil, gold, and Bitcoin reacted to the chaos.  All in all, it was a historic whiplash across financial markets.

March 2025

The Social Security Fairness Act is a bill signed into law that repeals several decades-old provisions that previously reduced your Social Security benefits if you or a spouse received a pension from a non-Social Security covered job, and now restores these benefits, allowing you to receive the full Social Security retirement benefits earned based on individual work histories. In this article, we will discuss Social Security and how the changes may impact you and your financial outlook and ensure your strategies align with your financial goals.

February 2025

The new month brings two major market-moving stories to digest. First is the advances in artificial intelligence (AI) by Chinese startup DeepSeek. It has caused some investors to question America’s lead in the AI race and American Exceptionalism more broadly. To answer that question, it’s important to look at this idea holistically.  U.S. advantages in research and development spending, capital markets depth, the dollar’s privilege as the global reserve currency, and more suggest U.S. exceptionalism will remain intact.

January 2025 – By Dan Zalipski CFA^®

They say the market climbs a wall of worry, and 2024 was quite the climb. The S&P 500 returned +20% for a second consecutive year, a feat last seen in the late 90’s.  As we entered 2024, the list of worries included high valuations, narrow leadership by the largest technology stocks, rising long-term interest rates, election/policy uncertainty, deficit spending, geopolitical unrest, and more.  Despite these worries, stocks rallied without so much as one garden variety, normal, 10% correction.