Good Afternoon Legacy Wealth Alliance Family,
I hope this commentary finds everybody well and staying cool and hydrated during these mid-summer months. Phoenix, as always in summer is, well there is no other way to say it – HOT! With the advent of July 4th upon us, hopefully there are many diverse plans to spend valuable time with family and friends to honor and celebrate the founding of our country. This is one of my all-time favorite holidays as I grew up in a rural country setting where we lived at the end of a cul-de-sac and there wasn’t any traffic that would pass down the street. This allowed everyone on the block to throw a huge party with many different types of food dishes, swimming, games such as badminton and baseball and of course the nightly fireworks display which was both awesome and challenging at the same time. Since we lived in the country, you constantly had to stay away from the dry brush and trees – but that was such a small item to worry about since we were kids, and it was all about the fireworks. Nowadays, the Fourth of July has become so big the local municipalities set off monstrous firework displays and if you’re lucky enough to live within a short distance from the location, all you have to do in most places is set a chair and enjoy the show. How could it get any better? With the advent of ESPN, and showcasing all types of sporting events, the morning starts off with the annual Hot Dog eating contest held by Nathans at Coney Island. It always amazes how someone can stack away as many hotdogs as quickly as the contestants can and not have stomach issues afterwards. Incredibly, the national men’s record was set by Joey Chestnut when he polished off 75 hot dogs, and the women’s mark is 48.5 set by Miki Sudi both in 2020 in only 10 minutes of competition. (1). There have been moments when I have been able to put away a few hot dogs myself, but I’m pretty certain I won’t be winning any title belt anytime soon – Joey’s and Miki’s records are secure. Whether your family is enjoying a barbecue, a reunion, heading to a picnic, sporting event or the fireworks displays, let’s all focus on celebrating time with the family. No matter how you celebrate the fourth of July, and no matter the ethnicity of the food consumed, family is the core value that should never be overlooked or taken for granted. The food of course is always warming and welcoming and is just as much fun to prepare for the barbecue as it is to consume.
Are you going to a Sports event this weekend? Well, first we need to give a resounding shout out to our local sports heroes – the Phoenix Suns! A hearty congratulations on reaching the NBA finals for the first time in 28 years. Go Suns! – It seems that one sport that has been booming is golf. American golfers played 500 million rounds of golf in 2020, which was an astounding 13.9% increase over the rounds played in 2019, and even more incredible is the fact that most golf courses were closed at some point in time during the pandemic. (2) Whether you’re going to the baseball game, playing golf, or simply enjoying some form of lawn games such as Cornhole Toss – enjoy!
The first week in July is typically one of the busiest for travel in the United States, and with travel restrictions easing, more families are returning to vacations and weekend jaunts. So, if your planning on travel, please stay safe and enjoy the journey. Incredibly, most rental car companies sold off their excess unused rentals last year during the pandemic, and as the result we now have a shortage of available units and higher prices. Just when you thought things were getting back to normal.
In the financial world, the markets for the first half of the year have been positive. The Dow Jones closed 2020 at 30,409 and now through this writing is currently up to 34,500 for a solid 13.5% increase in six months and the S&P has returned 15.5% for the year ranging from 3,732 to 4,310. This has been some remarkable growth and progress for the markets since we have been living with business closures, shutdowns, and restrictions for nearly the past two years. It is a testament to the American people to continue to move forward through all types of obstacles. Has this market reached its peak? Do we have more to climb? We will have to wait for those cards to be played on the table. (3) Optimism is the confidence in the positive and the favorable outcome.
Another area that has been on fire recently is the Real Estate market. By the end of March 2021, the home real estate market had been soaring, and with the smaller supply of homes on the market – the median sales price increased 25% to $350,300. This was an increase from $280,700 the year earlier. (4) Although, this appears to be an incredible time to sell your home, the problem exists of where to go next if you do sell. All of us would love to lock in a substantial return on equity from our homes, but the fear of spending more on a new home, and getting less home at the same time, has made this market even more crazy to comprehend.
As I conclude, it’s hard to believe that we are now sliding to the backend of 2021 and moving towards 2022 with a brisk pace. Soon, we will be toasting New Year’s Eve and making the annual promises that hopefully will be kept, and we are all aware of how those go most years. We start out with the greatest enthusiasm only to have it subside and then falter as we move to February. Our goal as always is to stay focused and follow your beliefs.
But honestly, whatever your plans are for the long holiday weekend, we wish you best and safest of journeys. It is often the hard road taken that is the most gratifying. Enjoy the Fourth of July Weekend in whatever you do from Your Legacy Wealth Alliance Team!
Jon Launder
8950 S. 52nd Street, Ste. 204
Tempe, Arizona 85284
480.212.7000 (Office)
480.212.7002 (Fax)
Jon@legacywealthalliance.com
www.legacywealthalliance.com
- Wikipedia Nathans Hot Dog Eating contest.
- MFS – by the numbers. 6/28/21
- com finance
- MFS – By the numbers 6/28/21
LFS-3657785-070221
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