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The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was created to provide loans to support small businesses and save jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. New legislation seeks to offer opportunities for qualifying businesses to receive a first or second forgivable PPP loan.

General Market News

• Rates increased modestly last week. The 10-year Treasury yield opened at 1.67 percent and closed at 1.71 percent. On Monday morning, the 30-year opened at 2.35 percent, down from last week’s open of 2.38 percent. On the shorter end of the curve, the 2-year opened last week at 0.14 percent and increased to 0.18 percent on Monday.

Solid Month Caps Positive Quarter for Markets

U.S. stock markets saw gains for the month and quarter, but not all stocks did well. Higher interest rates led to some volatility, especially for growth and technology companies. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.48 percent during March, with the heavy technology weighting dragging down the index’s performance. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) saw stronger results, up by 4.38 percent and 6.78 percent, respectively. On a quarterly basis, the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.95 percent, and the S&P 500 managed a 6.18 percent gain. The DJIA led the way with an 8.29 percent return.

General Market News  

• Inflation fears have increased recently, and yet inflation remains muted, growing at just 1.4 percent year-over-year, according to the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. In August, the Federal Reserve agreed to let the PCE price index run hot to get average inflation closer to the targeted 2 percent level, so this data is worth watching. On Monday morning, the 10-year Treasury yield opened at 1.65 percent, a decline of 12 basis points (bps) from last Monday’s open of 1.73 percent. The 30-year yield opened at 2.36 percent, down from last week’s open of 2.44 percent. There was a slight increase on the shorter end of the curve, with the 2-year rising 0.2 bps to Monday’s open of 0.14 percent.

After several weeks of improvement, the big picture on the medical front has gotten worse. As the economy has reopened, case growth and positive test rates have ticked up. So far, this change is relatively small. Nonetheless, it could be a signal that both reopening and the spread of more contagious variants are outpacing the positive effects of vaccinations.

General Market News  

• Rates continued to rise last week. On Monday morning, the 10-year Treasury yield opened just below 1.71 percent, an increase of 8.5 basis points from last week’s open of 1.63 percent. The 30-year opened just above 2.41 percent, up from last week’s open of 2.36 percent. Finally, on the shorter end of the curve, the 2-year opened last week at 0.15 percent and remained flat through Monday morning’s open. Despite comments from Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell, rates did not rise based on inflation concerns. Powell continued to highlight the Fed’s stance of keeping rates low for some time amid uncertainty in its economic forecasts.

General Market News  

• Rates moved higher last week but at a more muted pace, with the 10-year Treasury yield opening just shy of 1.58 percent and closing at 1.64 percent, where it remained through Monday’s open. The 30-year yield opened at almost 2.40 percent, up from last week’s open of 2.30 percent. There was a slight increase in yields on the shorter end of the curve as well, with the 2-year opening Monday at 0.15 percent.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“the Act”) into law, with large portions of the bill acting as an economic stimulus for individuals and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. At $1.9 trillion in total expenditures, the bill contains provisions pertaining to a variety of areas. This summary is intended to address only the critical provisions for individuals and small businesses.

Over the past two weeks, the big picture has improved, but the rate of improvement has slowed significantly. So far, there haven’t been any signs of a resurgence in case growth due to state reopenings or more contagious variants of the virus. Still, that resurgence remains possible as some of the risk factors may be coming into play under the surface. Right now, it’s a battle between the speed of vaccinations and the potential negative effects of reopenings and viral variants. The vaccines are winning, but the risks of faster spread remain.

General Market News

• Rates continued to rise last week, with the 10-year Treasury yield opening at almost 1.41 percent and closing at 1.59 percent. On Monday morning, the 10-year opened just shy of 1.60 percent, and the 30-year opened at 2.32 percent, up from last week’s open of 2.16 percent. There was a slight increase in yields on the shorter end of the curve as well, with the 2-year yield opening at 0.15 percent. Last week, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell said he expects some transient inflation in the near term. There is a rumor that the Fed may relaunch Operation Twist, which was last launched in 2011 and involved the Fed selling short-term Treasuries and purchasing longer-dated ones to mitigate rising financing costs.