The Factor Report

Market Wrap

For the week ended June 20th, 2025, stocks lower everywhere. The week started out on a positive note as it appeared tensions were cooling between Israel and Iran, which sent indexes higher. That was short-lived, however, as President Trump indicated the following Tuesday that the US may get involved on behalf of Israel and stocks fell. Wednesday brought "Fed Day" as the Federal Reserve would announce their benchmark interest rate stance and economic outlook. Shares were in the green for most of the day, but there were no surprises from the central bank as they left rates unchanged and said they expect two rate cuts later in the year. They stuck to the narrative of waiting to see how tariffs play out on inflation and everything ended about flat. Markets were closed on Thursday in observance of Juneteenth. Friday was another day of indecision for investors as they contemplated the Fed's next move and what Trump will decide vis a vis Israel and Iran, so indexes ended lower. Bonds were relatively calm and ended modestly higher, sending the 10-year US treasury yield lower to about 4.38%, according to MarketWatch.

Performance Summary

As shown in the chart, Emerging Markets again won the week, but only by being flat. The US came in not too far behind and Non-US Developed was by far the biggest loser on concerns in the Middle East. Within the US, both the Tech-heavy Nasdaq and the more traditional Dow Jones Industrial Average were able to best the S&P 500. From a factor perspective, Momentum and Value outperformed the global All Country World Index (ACWI).

In The News

A great look at how the Senate is trying to change Trump's tax bill.

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2025/06/17/the-biggest-changes-in-senate-tax-bill/?kw=The%20Biggest%20Changes%20in%20Senate%20Tax%20Bill&utm_position=1&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=financialplanninginsider&utm_content=20250618&utm_term=tadv&oly_enc_id=6911H2583589A7Z&user_id=3d158419d93f4751d4b3b79dd78d9abf446b89b61e92e7567cb4126b86cb53c5

A fun piece on sports betting and why the sports books like parlays too...

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-college-grad-almost-turned-13-into-270-000-with-a-bet-on-the-nhl-finals-why-draftkings-and-other-sportsbooks-love-parlays-c884b5fb?mod=home_lead

Some great insights from Kroger's CEO on how consumer spending patterns and behaviors are changing.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-spending-habits-are-changing-in-this-key-way-kroger-says-7eee23c0?mod=home_ln

Disclosures

Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk. Therefore, it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy will be profitable or equal the corresponding indicated performance level(s). Moreover, you should not assume that any of the above content serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Metric Financial.

All data and performance information sourced from Morningstar and MarketWatch, unless otherwise indicated.

USA is the MSCI USA index, Non-US Developed is the MSCI EAFE index, Emerging Markets is the MSCI Emerging Markets index, and All Country World is the MSCI ACWI index. One cannot invest in an index. Because the factor indexes have varying inception dates, some of the returns provided are back-tested and do not represent actual performance. Inception dates are as follows:

Momentum = MSCI ACWI Momentum NR USD Index (Inception: 11/30/95)

Value = MSCI ACWI Enhanced Value NR USD Index (Inception: 5/29/15)

Quality = MSCI ACWI Quality NR USD Index (Inception: 5/29/92)

Low Volatility = MSCI ACWI Minimum Volatility (USD) NR USD Index (Inception: 5/28/93)

Size = MSCI ACWI Risk Weighted NR USD Index (Inception: 4/6/11)

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