Page 35 - Investment Advisor - December 2021
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complete waste of my time…so please don’t second guess me   at her office, LPL ended its affiliation with her, according
                or go against what i ask…listen to me and give me what i ask   to the firm.
                for please.”                                         “Following our process for review of advisor conduct, Ms.
                  LPL has “seen the video alleging discriminatory comments   Cure is no longer a client of the firm,” LPL said in a statement
                by  Ms.  Cure,”  the  firm  said  in  a  statement  at  the  time.  “We   provided to Investment Advisor.
                immediately launched an internal investigation to review the   Cure did not respond to a request for comment about LPL’s
                matter and a decision is forthcoming this week regarding Ms.   decision to end its relationship with her.
                Cure’s relationship with the firm. We will not tolerate dis-  However, prior to LPL’s decision, Cure emailed a com-
                crimination of any kind in our LPL community.”     ment to Investment Advisor about the controversy, saying:
                  Cure was registered with LPL since 2018, according to   “The entirety of this situation is based upon a TikTok video
                her report on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s   published by an unrelated individual without press creden-
                BrokerCheck website.                               tials or affiliations using an unauthenticated photo of an
                  Indeed, only one day after saying it was investigating that   alleged internal office chat without validation or context of
                Cure refused to hire Black applicants for an open position   any content.”





                  Portfolio News




                    he U.S. stock market has demonstrated tremendous resil-  Reserve’s favorite inflation indicator. The PCE index advanced
                Tience in 2021. Year-to-date through Nov. 16, the S&P 500   4.4% overall, with energy and food prices included). The com-
                has gained 25% — far more than most                                   parable rise in the consumer price
                strategists were projecting in late                                   index (CPI) was even higher — 4%
                2020 — despite the COVID-19 pan-                                      (core) and 5.3% (overall).
                demic, rising inflation, sharply slower                                 Those  numbers  didn’t  appear  to
                second half GDP growth and reduced                                    have hurt financial markets for much
                fiscal stimulus. The Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol                              of the year. But that changed after
                riot, dysfunction in Congress and                                     the October CPI report. The report
                more violent storms and fires around                                  showed a 6.2% surge in consumer
                the country also had little effect, if                                prices over the past 12 months, push-
                any, on the broad stock market.                                       ing the 10-year Treasury yield, which
                  Moreover, this year’s gains in U.S.                                 had been hovering near 1.5%, above
                large-cap stocks follows two previous                                 1.6% by Nov. 15. The idea that the
                years of strong gains — 32% in 2019                                   rise  in  inflation  was  transitory  as
                and 18% last year. The odds of such                                   the Federal Reserve had maintained
                strong showings three years in a row                                  seemed to be fading.
                is just one out of 10, based on data going back almost 100 years,   The stock market stayed strong, even though GDP growth,
                according to Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research.  adjusted for inflation, slowed from an annualized rate of 6.3%
                  As of the market close on Nov. 16 — almost six weeks before   and 6.7% in the first and second quarters, respectively, to 2%
                year-end — the S&P 500 had soared above the 4,700 year-end   in the third quarter. Stocks seemed unfazed by supply-chain
                target of the most bullish stock market forecast among Wall   problems, the economic impact of the more infectious Delta
                Street institutions, Goldman Sachs. The S&P 500 closed at   variant and rising consumer prices.
                record highs in 65 trading sessions this year.
                  The rally has persisted despite the surge in inflation and
                slowdown in economic growth in the second half of the   This year’s headlines also were dominated by the continued
                year compared to a year ago. Inflation soared to a 30-year   growth in the popularity of ETFs, not only among investors
                high of 3.6% in September, as measured by the core Personal   and advisors, but also among asset managers who bring
                Consumption Expenditures index, which is the Federal   ETFs to market.



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