The Federal Reserve may implement a “twist” strategy, selling short-term securities that make up the majority of its balance sheet and purchasing longer-dated securities, in an attempt to lower longer-dated rates. The move could be made public at this week’s Fed meetings.
Anticipation of some sort of action from the Fed sent equity prices higher last week. The S&P 500 gained 5.4 percent.
Read more now.
The Rockland Public Library Endowment Association is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and continues to raise money in the community for the library endowment to help continue to share the library’s creativeness and usefulness with the public. In this photo, Joanne Billington, the business insurance specialist from Allen Insurance and Financial who works with the library, is presenting a donation to the endowment to Paul Spizzuoco, president of the Rockland Public Library Endowment Association.
Equity markets slipped lower during the holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 Index lost 1.65 percent.
President Obama’s speech last Thursday night—which outlined a new jobs package intended to help stimulate hiring—did little to inspire equity markets. Doubts immediately surfaced about the temporary nature of many of the programs presented, as well. Read more now.
Equity markets ended very close to where they started, and the benchmark S&P 500 Index (S&P 500) lost 18 basis points. But the market took a circuitous route to get there, as the small change was not as straightforward as it would have first appeared, with volatility spiking again late in the week on the jobs report.
The disappointing employment report showed that the U.S. economy had added net-zero jobs in August. This sent equity markets tumbling and reversed several days of solid gains. Read more now.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, last week was largely a nonevent, as he provided no new information or outlook. Read more now in our Weekly Market Summary.
Stephanie Griffin
Allen Insurance and Financial is pleased to announce that Stephanie Griffin has passed the Maine State Property & Casualty Producer licensing exam.
Griffin, of Camden, joined Allen Insurance and Financial in late 2010 as a receptionist in the company’s Camden office.
A native of Appleton, Griffin is attending the University of Maine in Augusta, working toward a bachelor’s degree in public administration. She has already earned a certificate in human resource management from UMA.
Griffin, who had not worked in insurance prior to joining Allen Insurance and Financial, participated in the company’s in-house education program, where employees who want to become licensed insurance producers in Maine attend class for four hours each week, then study and prepare for the state licensing exam on their own time.
Protecting boaters and their vessels, whether they are 20 or 200 feet in length, requires experience, industry knowledge and a degree of creativity. Read this special — and useful — PDF.
The Federal Reserve stated last week that it plans to maintain an accommodative rate environment “through at least mid-2013.” This is a change from the “extended period of time” language the Fed has used during the last few years.
The 2-year Treasury reached a new historical low of 0.168 percent during intraday trading last week, after the Fed’s announcement. Read more now.
A pet is part of the family. And like other family members, pets have health needs. Pet insurance, available through Allen Insurance and Financial, helps pet owners manage the rising cost of treating their pet’s illnesses and injuries.
A pet insurance plan includes:
• Visit any licensed veterinarian, including specialists.
• Get back 80 percent of bills for covered services. Plans cover office visits, lab tests, surgery and more.
• Pets as young as seven weeks old are covered — and no pet is too old for coverage.
For more information, contact Karen Reed at 236-4311 or 800-439-4311 or by email at email hidden; JavaScript is required.
Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. debt rating from AAA to AA+ on Friday. The news is likely to impact markets in the coming days.
In our opinion, the largest holders of longer-term Treasuries (the Federal Reserve, China, and Japan), along with some of the largest funds in the world, still consider U.S. Treasuries to be the safest security globally. Read more now.
