2023 | October 2

The Market

Stocks Fall

The S&P 500 retreated for the fourth week in a row, slipping to its lowest level in nearly four months. The index fell less than 1% for the week, outperforming the Dow, while the NASDAQ managed to post a fractional gain.

With the notable exception of 2-year Treasuries, yields of most categories of government bonds extended their recent climb, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising above 4.50% for the first time since October 2007. Similarly, the 30-year yield eclipsed 4.70%, the highest since February 2011. 

The S&P 500 fell nearly 5% in September, declining for the second month in a row in a momentum shift that’s eroded much of the stock market’s year-to-date gains. At Friday's close, the index was down almost 7% from its July 31 peak.

Investors braced throughout the week for the prospect of a potential U.S. government shutdown as Congress struggled before a weekend deadline to find consensus on a supplemental spending plan. U.S. Treasury bonds exhibited elevated volatility, fueling another weekly increase for yields of long-term debt.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge for tracking inflation rose at the slowest monthly pace since November 2020. The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose at a 3.9% annual rate in August, excluding volatile food and energy prices. With those categories included, inflation was a more modest 3.5%. 

The average U.S. mortgage rate climbed to the highest level in 23 years by one measure, and sales of new homes fell short of expectations. The government reported that new home sales fell 8.7% in August relative to July.

Ahead of third-quarter earnings season, more U.S. companies have scaled back their earnings-per-share expectations than raised them. As of Friday, 74 companies in the S&P 500 had issued negative guidance versus 42 that provided a more positive outlook than they had previously, according to FactSet. Initial earnings reports are scheduled to be issued in mid-October, starting with some of the biggest banks.

A U.S. labor market update due out on Friday will show whether the recent trend of a jobs growth slowdown extended into September. In August, the economy generated 187,000 new jobs, well below the monthly average of 271,000 jobs over the past 12 months. August’s unemployment rate rose to 3.8% as more Americans joined the workforce.

Source: John Hancock Investment Management

Retirement Savings

The Dos and Don'ts of Cellphone Etiquette

Many people of a certain age were taught a set of rules for making phone calls (between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.), talking on the phone (never do it while eating or brushing your teeth), and greeting callers (“Hello” or “Good morning/afternoon” and never “What do you want?”).

As cellphones have become ubiquitous, the etiquette of phone calls has changed. Here are a few “dos and don’ts” of evolving cellphone etiquette:

• Don’t leave voicemail messages. Many people read transcripts of voice messages rather than listening to the message itself. Often transcription is inaccurate. If information needs to be communicated in a timely and accurate way, it is better to send a text message, reported Heather Kelly of The Washington Post.

• Do text before calling. While baby boomers grew up making and receiving phone calls (often on landlines with long tangled cords), younger generations find phone calls to be inefficient, time-consuming, presumptuous, and disruptive, according to a survey conducted by the BankMyCell blog. They also find phone calls to be stressful, and four-in-five indicated they must ratchet up their courage before making a call.

• Don’t take calls in a public place (or use your speakerphone in public). Find a private area to take the call or offer to call the person back when you have privacy. It is discourteous to the people around you to chat in public and it may jeopardize the privacy of the person on the phone. For similar reasons, it is never a good idea to use a speakerphone in a public place, advises Lisa Lyons of Events & Etiquette.

Despite a growing preference for texting, calling is not passé. “While hopping on the phone may be less common or involve more planning than it used to, it’s still a wonderful way to communicate. Talking to a person in real time can strengthen relationships, improve mental health, and lessen loneliness,” reported The Washington Post.

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