Table of Contents

Featured Article: Looking Beyond Politics

Economic Calendar

Quote of the Week

Recipe of the Week: Mustard Crusted Meatloaf

Tax Tips

Golf Tips

Healthy Lifestyle

Green Living

Looking Beyond Politics

Markets went for a wild ride last week—especially on Friday. In fact, on December 1, the S&P 500 had its largest fluctuations since the day after the 2016 presidential election. Nonetheless, two of the major domestic markets hit new record highs on Thursday and ended the week with sizable gains. The S&P 500 added 1.53% and the Dow gained 2.86%. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ lost 0.60% and international stocks in the MSCI EAFE gave back 0.95%.
What drove markets last week?
Politics played a large role in market performance last week with big developments on tax reform and the Russia investigation.

Tax Reform
On Thursday, news that the Senate bill was more likely to pass contributed to the Dow and S&P 500 closing at record highs. Early Saturday morning, the Senate did end up voting in favor of the proposal.