As U.S. stocks sit on hefty gains at the close of a rollercoaster year, investors are eyeing factors that could sway equities in the remaining weeks of 2023, including tax loss selling and the so-called Santa Claus rally. The key catalyst for stocks will likely continue to be the expected trajectory of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Evidence of cooling economic growth has fueled bets that the U.S. central bank could begin cutting rates as early as the first half of 2024, sparking a rally that has boosted the S&P 500 19.6% year-to-date and taken the index to a fresh closing high for the year on Friday.
The goal of every investor is to create an investment portfolio that increases in value significantly, and there's no shortage of advisors, investment managers and financial journalists sharing advice.
Battle between the benefit of lower gas prices and energy stocks taking it on the chin, lower gas prices win. for the consumer absolutely every time. and to charles point the global world is probably worse than it s ever been which makes us look that much better even though we are not in great shape. when we talked on your show, boeing 3 m all increasing dividendses. we got good economic data. a lot of tax loss selling. maybe people now are starting to bite a little and starting to see a little bit of movement and people get back in again. so i don t think it s all bad. you do have the fed speaking tomorrow which could be katie bar the door. that s the time we re waiting to hear we re going to telegraph if they start raising rates. it s irrelevant. i ask the question, i don t find it irrelevant. do i have to lecture you like the donald. exactly. i notice your show stinks, neil. crude oil down 50% in two months. whatever the fed says a month
Favorite thing to do, but we all have to do it filling out the tax form is one of the most important things you will do all year. maybe even more important, well, is making sure that you don t pay more than you have to. so it help you out this tax season, we brought in an expert. we re joined by wes moss, a certified financial planner and the host of money matters radio. so, wes, what are two or three key things that the average person can do to offset some of their taxes? well, there s a few things, and we still have two days left. so we still have monday and tuesday, two trading days in 2013, and really important days. so if you have had gains so far this year, and it s been a good year in the stock market, up almost 30%, if you have gains this year, you still have two days to find maybe one or two securities that have that you ve not made money in, you ve lost money in, tax loss selling, so you can pay those and pay less in capital gains for 2013. the money you made on stocks,
Good quality whether it be corporate, government, whether it be overseas. jamie: that s interesting, too, to look overseas for the rates that might be a little more than here. and you have to watch those carefully because if they do fluctuate or get called, you have to make another move. but it seems like people are saying it s all about capital gains and the higher tax rates if we are paid capital gains by companies because of the fiscal cliff. right. jamie: so should you look at what you have and ask your broker if you expect a capital gain on a particular equity that i have and we ve made money on it, let s not be a pig about it. let s get out of it right now, pay the lower tax rate, and we can rebuy it down the road if it makes sense. i think everyone needs to look at their portfolio seriously, and it s very different this year, you re absolutely right. most years we would do tax loss selling at the end of the year, getting rid of the clunkers and taking those losses. this year i think you might want to consider taking some of your gains, and i think you said it very well.