Latest news with #FinancialAdvisorCouncil
CNBC
10-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Market volatility has marked Trump's second term — here's how investors have fared
For all the drama in the stock market of late, investors' portfolio balances may not look too different from when President Donald Trump entered office. There have been some unnerving days amid the Trump administration's tariff policies. The S&P 500 dropped by 2% or more on six days between Jan. 20 and June 6, according to data provided to CNBC by Morningstar Direct. During that period, there were 18 days where the index shed 1% or more. Still, the S&P 500's annualized return for Trump's second presidency is positive, at 1.58%, Morningstar Direct found. With more market swings on the horizon amid threats of a worsening trade war and warning signs in the labor market, the numbers serve up an old lesson for investors: When the market is freaking out, it pays to stay calm. "I always remind clients that volatility doesn't predict direction," said Cathy Curtis, the founder of Curtis Financial Planning in Oakland, California. She is a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council. Investors have reaped bigger returns in the early days of previous presidents. The S&P 500's annualized return was over 34% in the roughly first five months of former President Joe Biden's tenure, Morningstar Direct calculated. Meanwhile, the index was up around 30% during that same period in former president Barack Obama's first and second term. Here's a look at other stories affecting the financial advisor business. But there have been worse starts to recent presidencies than Trump's second term, as well. The S&P 500 had a negative annualized return of about 12% during former President George W. Bush's first term, up until June 6, 2001. There were also 23 days in those first months for Bush where the S&P 500 declined 1% or more. "Sharp daily declines can test resolve, but the market's resilience highlights the peril of impulsive exits during turbulence," said Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and the founder of Bone Fide Wealth. He is also a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council. In practice, investors want to keep their money in the market over decades, and many presidencies. Almost all presidential terms since President Jimmy Carter saw healthy stock market returns for the full four or eight years, Mark Motley, portfolio manager at Foster & Motley in Cincinnati, wrote in a pre-election market update. The exception: President George W. Bush, due to the Great Recession. Foster & Motley is No. 34 on the 2024 CNBC Financial Advisor 100 list. To prove that point to clients, Curtis will show a chart of the S&P 500 going back to 1950. For example, if you invested $1,000 in the index on Jan. 20, 1950, when Harry S. Truman was president, you'd have around $3.8 million as of the market's close on June 6 of this year, Morningstar Direct found. "The short-term dips are unmistakable, but so is the overall upward trend," she said.
CNBC
12-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Fidelity login glitch kept some investors out of their accounts as market rallied
Some Fidelity Investments customers experienced login issues Monday morning during as the market rallied. More than 3,000 user complaints were reported around 10 a.m., according to Downdetector, a website that tracks outages. About 79% of the reports were login issues, 12% were website-related and 9% were online brokerage-related, per the site. The Fidelity login issues occurred as major stock indices spiked on the news that China and the U.S. had agreed to temporary tariff cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,136 points, or 2.7% points by mid-afternoon. The S&P 500 is up nearly 3% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 4%. More from Personal Finance:Changes for Social Security beneficiaries to monitor under new agencyWith foreign tourists boycotting the U.S., businesses brace for falling salesTrump's tax cuts: The key issues and who stands to benefit Fidelity told CNBC the firm was aware of the issues, and in early afternoon announced the issue was resolved. Fidelity did not specify the cause of the technical issues. The brokerage's login issue may have been a greater problem for day traders, institutional investors and options investors, or investors who want to buy at a certain price before the market jumps, said certified financial planner Lazetta Rainey Braxton, the founder and managing principal of The Real Wealth Coterie. Not having access to their brokerage accounts during big market swings can hurt their strategies because they are actively managing their portfolios, said Braxton, a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council. But for long-haul investors, a login glitch that lasts a few hours might not make a huge difference, she said. "Most investors are not chasing the market," Braxton said. Technical issues at brokerages have happened in the past. In August, customers of Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments were unable to trade in the middle of a steep market sell-off of global equities. If a blip like this happens again, "it is important for investors to remain calm," said Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and the founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida. She's also a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council. While it can be a grievance at the moment, such technical difficulties are temporary — "these outages usually don't last long," said CFP Cathy Curtis, the founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning in Oakland, California. And besides, "tech outages will not affect the value of investments," said Curtis, a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council.
