Solis Wealth Management Report – April 22, 2013

The Markets
 It was a wild, wild week.
Last Monday, bombs exploded near the finish of the Boston Marathon. Not long after, media outlets let the public know letters to President Obama and a senator from Mississippi contained the poison ricin. On Wednesday, the town of West, Texas was flattened by an explosion at a fertilizer plant. By the end of the week, a man had been arrested for sending the ricin letters, the city of Boston had been locked down, the bombing suspects had been captured, and folks were returning to their homes in West, Texas .
The week’s economic news wasn’t all that encouraging. The pace of economic growth in China slowed unexpectedly, the International Monetary Fund reduced its 2013 growth forecast for the United States for the fourth time, earnings results were mixed, and an index of leading economic indicators in the Unites States unexpectedly moved lower. On the plus side, new home construction hit a five-year high. All three major indices – the Dow Jones Industrials Index, The Standard & Poor’s 500, and the NASDAQ – finished the week down more than 2 percent.
The most significant move of the week took place in the gold market which lost about 9 percent on Monday. That was the biggest one day fall in 30 years. The market recovered some value later in the week, finishing down about 8.5 percent. According to The Economist, “The usual explanation for sharp price movements, when an economic rationale seems lacking, is that someone is selling off their holdings at any price. Some have pointed at Cyprus which may have to sell gold in response to its debt crisis. Although Cyprus’ gold holdings are small, the fear is that other troubled eurozone nations may follow suit.”
Will this week be calmer? It’s possible, but economic news will include the first estimate of U.S. GDP growth for first quarter. According to Reuters, GDP growth is forecast at 3 percent annualized even though fourth quarter’s GDP growth was 0.4 percent annualized.

Notes: S&P 500, Gold, DJ-UBS Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; the DJ Equity All REIT TR Index does include reinvested dividends and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods.
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Barron’s, djindexes.com, London Bullion Market Association.
 
Are you responsible for your loved one’s unpaid debt? It’s never easy when someone dies. Grief is a powerful, and sometimes debilitating, experience that often leaves next of kin vulnerable. Unfortunately, there is a group that sometimes tries to take advantage of family members in mourning. No, they’re not scammers or confidence men. They’re debt collectors who try to persuade family members to accept responsibility for hospital bills, credit card balances, auto loans, and other debts incurred by the deceased even though family members have no legal obligation to pay.
People don’t always know when someone dies, their debts die with them. There are exceptions to this, particularly for spouses. If you live in a community property state, typically, spouses share property and debts equally. Non-spouse family members, however, have no obligation to pay outstanding debts of the deceased unless they have co-signed a debt agreement.
Regardless of these facts, debt collectors may contact you after the death of a loved one. The AARP Bulletin reported “debt collection agencies frequently employ specially trained representatives who make sympathetic calls to husbands, wives, children, and other family members to urge them ever-so-gently to pay what the loved one owed.” The Bulletin advised family members who receive these calls to hang up. There is an established procedure for collecting debts from a deceased person. It’s called probate, and it is the appropriate way for debt collectors to pursue collections after death.
After receiving numerous complaints about death-collections practices, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated the situation by listening to recordings of calls between collectors and mourners. The FTC determined that some debt collectors misled relatives into believing they had to pay the deceased’s debts. As government agencies are apt to do, the FTC issued new guidelines. Debt collectors should discuss a dead person’s debt only with the spouse or someone chosen by the estate to discuss the matter.
The next time you revise your will, you may want to designate someone to discuss any outstanding debts after your death. It could save your spouse some unnecessary heartache.
 
What’s happening at Solis Wealth Management?
 Please enjoy this week’s commentary from ~ Tiffany Valentine, Director of Client Relations
It’s bittersweet that the summer heat is right around the corner.  I’ve enjoyed the last few nights of sleeping with our windows open and needing to wear a sweater in the mornings before work, but I am looking forward to the slower pace and less traffic that the summer brings.
It’s hard to believe that Pre-K will be over in a few short weeks.  Avery is finally starting to come out of her shell at school more and is so smart! The work that she does and what she’s memorized at 4 years old absolutely blows my mind.  Just the other day we were looking in the sky because we heard a plane.   She said “Look mom, you can see the contrails.  That’s how you know the plane is really high.”  I stared at her for a minute and actually had to ask her what a contrail was.  She told me that daddy taught her what contrails are.  She is such a sponge!!
Travis is also doing exceptionally well!  He loves learning new things and knows pretty much his entire alphabet and the sound each letter makes.  Sometimes I’ll catch him in the hallway looking and pointing at books all alone.  I have a feeling he’s going to be a lover of reading like his mommy! It’s so sweet when he says something he knows is right; he will look up at me with a huge smile, knowing that I’ll give him a high-5 or praise him.  He’s just so unbelievably precious.
Just watching how fast the days go by, and with the events that happened last week, I am constantly reminded to be “in the moment” each and every day.  I am reminded to hug my family a little tighter, to extend patience and grace in the everyday chaos, to tell my children how much I love them and illustrate how important it is to love others, and to thank God daily for all of my blessings.  I am touched by the inspiring stories that came out of Boston , for the people that went above and beyond to help those in need.  That is what America is about and why I am proud to live here, despite the senseless acts of violence that seem to occur more frequently lately.  As the National Day of Prayer occurs next week on May 2^nd, I encourage everyone to take a moment to pray for those hurting and for America as a whole.  We desperately need to pray for our nation and its leaders, whether you agree with who is in charge or not, whatever your denomination, political, or background is.  This is a great opportunity to stand together as a nation, remember the beliefs of our forefathers and to remember what America stands for: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. “In His name the nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12:21) ~Tiffany
Best regards,
Greg R. Solis, AIF®
President
Solis Wealth Management
78-075 Main Street
Suite 204
La Quinta, CA 92253
Office: (760) 771-3339
Fax: (760) 771-3181
www.soliswealth.com (http://www.soliswealth.com/)
E-Mail: greg.solis@lpl.com
CA Insurance License #0795867
Greg R Solis is a Registered Representative with and
Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC
The information contained in this email message is being transmitted to and is intended for the use of only the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby advised that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately delete.
P.S. You have my permission to forward this commentary to family, friends, or colleagues. If you would like us to add them to the list, please reply to this e-mail with their e-mail address and we will ask for their permission to be added.
 
________________________________________________
* This newsletter was prepared by Peak Advisor Alliance. Peak Advisor Alliance is not affiliated with the named broker/dealer.
* The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general.
* The DJ Global ex US is an unmanaged group of non-U.S. securities designed to reflect the performance of the global equity securities that have readily available prices.
* The 10-year Treasury Note represents debt owed by the United States Treasury to the public. Since the U.S. Government is seen as a risk-free borrower, investors use the 10-year Treasury Note as a benchmark for the long-term bond market.
* Gold represents the London afternoon gold price fix as reported by the London Bullion Market Association.
* The DJ Commodity Index is designed to be a highly liquid and diversified benchmark for the commodity futures market. The Index is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical commodities and was launched on July 14, 1998.
* The DJ Equity All REIT TR Index measures the total return performance of the equity subcategory of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry as calculated by Dow Jones.
* Yahoo! Finance is the source for any reference to the performance of an index between two specific periods.
* Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance.
* Past performance does not guarantee future results.
* You cannot invest directly in an index.
* Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.
* To unsubscribe from the Solis Wealth Management Weekly Market Commentary please reply to this e-mail with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.
 
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/us/explosions-reported-at-site-of-boston-marathon.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/us/politics/officials-intercept-suspicious-letter-sent-to-obama.html?_r=0
http://abcnews.go.com/US/west-texas-fertilizer-plant-explosion-residents-allowed-return/story?id=19006786#.UXQA58p9wXg
http://nation.time.com/2013/04/19/was-boston-actually-on-lockdown/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-19/s-p-500-has-worst-weekly-drop-since-november-on-earnings.html?cmpid=yhoo
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-19/biggest-rally-of-13-signaling-fifth-april-rebound-muni-credit.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/hot-stock-minute/stocks-regain-losses-close-down-2-week-200048337.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324763404578430963323219852.html
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21576403-it-hard-find-economic-explanation-golds-sharp-fall-chess-only
http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-week-ahead-earnings-frenzy-apple-crushed-230827987–finance.html
http://www.aarp.org/money/estate-planning/info-08-2010/debts_after_death.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204224604577030043890121710.html
http://consumer-law.lawyers.com/debt-collection/What-Happens-to-Debt-After-Death.html
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/confucius104254.html