Quorum Private Wealth

I'm thrilled to announce that Mike Barry, CIMA® is an Advisor Hub ADVISOR TO WATCH for 2024, coming in at No. 34 for advisors managing more than $1B in assets. We weren’t sure Mike would be able to top the hole-in-one he hit to kick off the year… but he did! While we do this for our clients, it’s always a treat to see our team recognized along with some of the best in the business. Congratulations, Mike! *Advisors to Watch 2024, created by AdvisorHub. Presented June 2024 based on data gathered from 12/31/2022 to 12/31/2023. No fee was paid to be included in the ranking or to hold out marketing materials. Not indicative of advisor’s future performance. Your experience may vary.

Who will be better for the jobs market: Donald Trump or Kamala Harris? 📈 Each party is preparing to home in on certain statistics and craft detailed arguments for why their opponent would be disastrous for the economy. 📈 ➡️ But does that play out in the data? We pulled the headline unemployment rate starting in January 2017 when President Trump took office and carried it through this summer. 🤔 The crazy part? There wasn’t much difference between the two presidents. Of course, not all jobs, industries, or locations are created equally. Especially not in a pandemic. 👩💻 So, we also pulled the data to show you the total number of information sector jobs (that includes the tech sector) during that time. Hopefully these trend graphs can help you bypass some of the spin and stay focused on the big picture. https://lnkd.in/gX2gEvyW

Ahead of Jobs Day tomorrow, you might be wondering: 🤔 Who will be better for the jobs market: Donald Trump or Kamala Harris? 🇺🇸 Each party is preparing to home in on certain statistics and craft detailed arguments for why their opponent would be disastrous for the economy. 📈 But does that play out in the data? ➡️ We pulled the headline unemployment rate starting in January 2017 when President Trump took office and carried it through this summer. 🤯 The crazy part? There wasn’t much difference between the two presidents. Of course, not all jobs, industries, or locations are created equally. Especially not in a pandemic. So, we also pulled the data to show you the total number of information sector jobs (that includes the tech sector) during that time. Hopefully these trend graphs can help you bypass some of the spin and stay focused on the big picture.

Pretend you have a time machine. You’re headed back to the year 2000. You can take everything you know now back with you. - The dot-com bubble is going to burst. - Markets are going to take a major hit in 2007. - We’re in for a global pandemic. Knowing all that, someone gives you $1,000. What do you invest it in: gold, the S&P 500, or Microsoft? The answer may just surprise you… Read our full article to see how this all plays out in a balanced portfolio and what it may mean for you. https://lnkd.in/gWY-hidm

Let’s talk tariffs! Tariffs are a tax paid by folks who are importing goods from a foreign country. So why would a government impose tariffs? 1️⃣ To retaliate against foreign governments if the foreign government put tariffs on U.S. goods or if the relationship is otherwise strained. 2️⃣ To discourage Americans from buying foreign goods. (Tariffs would make those goods more expensive.) This might be to encourage consumers to buy American or to punish the exporting country. 3️⃣ To generate revenue (tariffs imposed by the U.S. are paid to the U.S. government). BOTH Presidents Trump and Biden imposed and/or increased tariffs on foreign goods, specifically Chinese goods. https://lnkd.in/gX2gEvyW

Here’s a fun (or not-so-fun) fact: 🍂 September is the ONLY month to average negative returns over the past 98 years. 🍂 Lucky for us: 📊 September has mostly been dragged down by a few particularly bad years; the Great Depression started in September and Lehman Brothers collapsed in September. 📊 Stocks tend to perform better in September leading up to an election. How are YOU feeling about September? Don’t forget, we could be getting a rate cut this month!

Did you know… Olympic gold medals aren’t made of solid gold? (They used to be, but that ended in 1912.) 🥇 The rules say they must be plated with at least 6 grams of gold, or roughly .2 ounces. The rest is made of sterling silver. 🥈 Silver metals are required to be at least 92.5% sterling. 🥉 Bronze medals are fully made of bronze. If you’re wondering why the metals matter… you’re ready to explore the diverse world of commodity investing. https://lnkd.in/gWY-hidm

Politicians love to throw around phrases like “printing money”—particularly when Americans are worried about inflation. 💸 But what really goes into printing money? 💸 Sure, the President can ask the Treasury Department to print dollars. But there’s a lesser-known factor at play: The Fed Balance Sheet. 📈 When rates are at or near zero and the Fed wants to apply more stimulus, it tends to expand its balance sheet. The process can be confusing, and has to do with the secondary bond market, but ultimately, the Fed has to ask Treasury to print money to do it. 🏦💵 Meaning… one big component of money printing may have nothing to do with who sits in the Oval. Here’s what the Fed’s balance sheet looked live over the past two administrations. (Remember: COVID-19 struck in 2020.) https://lnkd.in/gX2gEvyW

As more candidates start to debate (and launch attack adds) it feels like a good time to check in on one of their favorite talking points: China. 🇨🇳 China is: 🌏 Still the world’s second largest economy. As of 2022, it was about 75% the size of the US economy, based on GDP. 🇺🇸 A major US trading partner—they export more to us than they import. 🇨🇦 🇲🇽 A less significant trading partner than Canada and Mexico: The U.S. still does far more trade with its North American neighbors. One other fact to keep in mind? Tariffs are paid by the country importing the goods. https://lnkd.in/gX2gEvyW

“It’s the economy, stupid!” Or at least that’s the impression you’d get watching stump speeches on the campaign trails over the past few months. After COVID-19 rocked the economy, we’ve seen high inflation and high interest rates to combat it… and each party is pointing fingers to say who’s to blame. But what does the data say? Well, to start: If you take COVID-19 out of the equation, the economy grew about 2.7% per year under BOTH former President Trump and President Biden. The average annual growth rate is around 3.2%. https://lnkd.in/gX2gEvyW