Earlier this month, on July 4th, President Trump signed into law the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’.  The largest bill of its kind since the TCJA bill in 2017, this will have sweeping impacts on many government areas including immigration, federal budgetary restrictions, Medicaid, and personal income taxes.

This has been a hotly contested bill, and both sides of the aisle have argued strongly for and against some of these changes.  We aim to avoid any political bias but felt it was important to discuss the key impacts this bill will have, specifically on personal finances and taxes.

With many of the changes to this bill, the answer to how this could impact you is, as always….’it depends’.  

Excerpt from Westview article from January 2025:
For the second year in a row, the stock market was up significantly in 2024.  The S&P500 ended the year up 25%, the Dow was up 15% and the NASDAQ was up 27%.  Notable drivers in the stock market were technology up 35.7%, communication services (includes Facebook, Alphabet), consumer discretionary 29.1%, and financials up 28.4%.

Excerpt from a Westview article written on April 7, 2025:
Is this another Trump negotiation tactic? How will nations react and enter negotiations? Will businesses move manufacturing back to the US (which takes years) or will they wait and see? These are all questions that will be watched closely.

Third quarter 2023 recap: Equities took a much-needed breather during the 3rd Quarter of 2023. The S&P 500 was down -3.3% during the period but as the chart illustrates, remains up +13.1% for the year-to-date period. 

Second quarter 2023 recap: Equities continued to climb in Q2 2023. The Nasdaq was the standout yet again, up +12.8% in the 2nd Quarter (+32% YTD). Shares of the S&P 500 gained +8.3% (+16.9% YTD) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose +3.4% (+4.9% YTD).

Total Returns for Q1 2024: Dow +5.62%, S&P +10.16%, Nasdaq +9.11%, Russell 2000 +4.81%

Investors dialed back their expectations for rate cuts during the first quarter of 2024 and now expect the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates only three (as op­ posed to six) times this year.

2023 - the year no one saw coming. Uncertainty around inflation, interest rates, and a possible recession was the dominant theme in the stock and bond markets in 2023. The Fed wound down its two-year inflation fighting campaign of interest rate increases this fall as inflation continued its down- ward retreat, all while the economy continued to grow. This resulted in significant gains for the stock market and modest gains for the bond markets in 2023 after an atrocious 2022.

Second quarter 2024: U.S. stock markets continued their ascent in the latest quarter with the S&P 500 now up 15.3% year to date. The tech heavy NASDAQ was up 18.1%, while the Dow was up only 4.8%. Small cap stocks were up only 1.7% as they continued their decade long underperformance.