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Good morning!
  
The US stock market got clobbered on Thursday and Friday last week (August 20-21), losing 2.1% and then 3.2% (total return results ) on consecutive trading days, the 2 worst performing days for the S&P 500 during calendar year 2015. The back-to-back down days, driven by fears of a stalled global economy, pushed the S&P 500 into negative territory for the year. The stock index finds itself down 3.0% YTD through last Friday. With the pullback last week, the S&P 500 has slipped 7.5% from its all-time closing high set 3 months ago on 5/21/15. The 2-day market drop wiped out $1.3 trillion of stock market value (source: BTN Research).    
 
The price of crude oil closed the week at $40.24 a barrel (West Texas Intermediate), its lowest daily close since 3/02/09 or 6 � years ago. Even though it costs oil producers in Saudi Arabia (OPEC's largest member) just $6 a barrel to bring oil up out of the ground, the Saudis needs an average oil price of at least $90 a barrel to cover the day-to-day expenditures of their country. At $40 a barrel, Saudi Arabia is short $500 million a day in balancing their books (source: The Economist).    
 
For the 38th consecutive year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will sponsor an economic symposium this week in Jackson Hole, WY. The topic for the 3-day event is "Inflation Dynamics and Monetary Policy." It was at this conference in August 2007 that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke too soon when he confidently asserted that "it is not the responsibility of the Federal Reserve - nor would it be appropriate - to protect lenders and investors from the consequences of their (bad real estate) decisions." Just over a year later (on 10/13/08), the US government determined 9 American banks were "too big to fail" and initiated a $125 billion rescue package (source: Fortune).  
 

Notable Numbers for the Week:
 
  • HIGH STANDARDS - 49.8% of the new mortgage originations (by dollar, not by number) in the 2nd quarter 2015 were obtained by borrowers with credit scores above 780 (source Federal Reserve Bank of New York).
     
  • THE AMERICAN DREAM - The average first-time home buyer in 2015 had been a renter for 6 years before making his/her initial home purchase this year (source: Zillow).
     
  • BIG DEBT - $7.1 trillion of the $18.2 trillion that the US government has in outstanding debt matures in the next 5 years (by 2020) and will need to be paid off or refinanced (source: Treasury Department).
  • US AND THEM - The US economy grew by +2.3% in the 2nd quarter 2015, i.e., quarter-over-quarter change expressed as an annualized result. The 19-country Eurozone economy grew by +1.3% in the 2nd quarter 2015, i.e., quarter-over-quarter change expressed as an annualized result (source: Commerce Department).
     
   
Sincerely,

Lew Shore, Jon Morgan, and Marya Young 

Shore Morgan Young Wealth Strategies
300 West Wilson Bridge Road, Suite 310
Worthington, Ohio 43085
614-888-2117 office
800-288-2117 toll free
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Advisory services offered through Capital Analysts. or Lincoln Investment, Registered Investment Advisors. Securities offered through Lincoln Investment, Broker Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. (www.lincolninvestment.com). Shore Morgan Young Wealth Strategies and the above firms are independent, non-affiliated entities. Past performance is not indicative of future results. An index is unmanaged and no one can invest directly in an index. This e-mail is a market commentary and is being provided for educational purposes only. It is not a solicitation or a recommendation to buy or sell any security or act on any strategy. This e-mail may include forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance, or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Capital Analysts, Lincoln Investment. and your advisor do not provide tax or legal advice services. This communication has been written by Michael A. Higley, and provided by your advisor as an educational service. Any comments, opinions or facts listed are those of Mr. Higley. Information is based on sources believed to be reliable, however their accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed.  
 
S&P 500 Index is an index of 500 of the largest exchange-traded stocks in the US from a broad range of industries whose collective performance mirrors the overall stock market.  Investors cannot invest directly in an index.
A commodity is a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type. Commodities are most often used as inputs in the production of other goods or services. The quality of a given commodity may differ slightly, but it is essentially uniform across producers. When they are traded on an exchange, commodities must also meet specified minimum standards, also known as a basis grade.