First Quarter Results - 2021 Q1

First Quarter Results – 2021 Q1

Hello everyone and welcome to the April 2021 boodle blog. This month we will take a look at the first quarter results of 2021 and we will also discuss what potentially awaits us as the 2nd quarter starts to unfold.
Given the fact that the first quarter of 2020 ended with a painful bear market, its quite remarkable that 2021’s first quarter has shown some remarkable positive results. For the 3 months ending March 31 the DOW gained an impressive 9%, while the S&P 500 performed modestly better with a 7.3% gain.  The NASDAQ finished far behind with a 4.3% advance for its Q1 performance.

Q1 results were driven by serval factors such as a dovish and accommodating Federal Reserve, and also by the Democrats in D.C. who have numerous spending plans in the pipeline, not the least of which was the $1400.00 stimulus payout to taxpayers. The unemployment jobs numbers continue to show improvement as more and more people gain jobs after the economy shutdown of 2020.

Boodle also has noticed improvement in the housing sector, and we expect this segment to continue to show robust gains in the form of housing starts and purchases. Inflation, for now seems to be in-check, however we at boodle will continue to watch inflation reports due to the stimulus spending by politicians and how consumers spend discretionary income such as those $1400 stimulus checks.

Just to go back to the results we mentioned above concerning the indexes; we saw money come out of the high-flying tech sector as companies like Facebook, Google, and NETFLIX saw their shareholders sell shares and take profits.
We also took note of the rotation into value stocks by investors, and you can see that yourself in the performance of the DOW in relation to the NASDAQ. It is somewhat dramatic, but we can’t say that we were totally surprised by this movement. Some tech stocks and mutual funds that invest in tech stocks had triple-digit gains last year. Time for a re-alignment in the eyes of some.

Now that we are in the second quarter, or Q2, here is what we will be paying attention to; we will continue to watch for improvement in the unemployment numbers. That unemployment report comes out on the first Friday of every month at 7:30 am c.s.t. We will also monitor what the Federal Reserve has to say about the economy and interest rates.
Another key metric to look for are corporate earnings, these earning reports come out quarterly, so keep an eye out for those reports to start this month. As the economy starts to open up, and people get back to work, we expect stock shareholders to benefit from these economic improvements.

So, to summarize how boodle sees Q1 and Q2 from the point of view of our members; keep adding to your portfolios by dollar-cost-averaging into the market, in other words, putting your money to work on a regular basis. Maintain your allocation of stocks, bonds, and cash instruments. Be prudent in your portfolio choices, and contact boodle if you have any questions.

Our goal at boodle is to keep you financially educated as you manage your own portfolio, and never forget, our goal is to make money over the long term and preserve our hard-fought financial gains.
We will be back here next month to report on earnings, the economy, and all things financial. Thank you for choosing boodle.