Market Review
Financial markets experienced significant volatility in April, driven largely by escalating trade tensions and unpredictable policy shifts from the White House. For example, on April 9th the S&P 500 rose 9.5% (due to the country specific tariff pause) but then fell 3.4% the following day (China announcement of 125% tariff on U.S. goods). As we move into May, intraday movements in the markets seemed to have calmed down.
Beyond tariffs, in late April investors were spooked by President Trump’s comments on Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve. The President was unhappy with Mr. Powell’s decision not to reduce interest rates and made comments on social media that he might fire him (which he later walked back). It seems for now that Powell’s job is safe, but he has a tough job ahead of him navigating tariff inflation and a possible slowdown of GDP growth hoping to avoid stagflation in the U.S. economy. On May 7th the Fed left interest rates steady, opting to wait and see if any progress is made on reducing tariffs with China and the rest of the world before making any adjustments to interest rates.
Diversification has continued to help investors in 2025 as international developed (+12.02% YTD) and emerging markets (+4.39% YTD) stocks both have positive returns for the year. Fixed income continues to deliver yield and has a positive return (+3.18% YTD) for the year. The S&P 500 is down -4.92% YTD but at the level it was last September so in the grand scheme of things, not catastrophic.
Due to the volatility mentioned earlier, April was a tough month to tune out the noise in the market, but it seems individual investors did just that. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal[1], Vanguard estimates that more than 97% of investors in its 401(k) retirement plans avoided trading through mid-April. Approximately 1/5th of investors even increased their saving rate!
YTD return %s as of 4/30/2025.
Closing Thoughts
This past week at his annual shareholders’ meeting, Warren Buffet announced that he will relinquish his role as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway to Greg Abel, his current deputy. At 94, it’s probably time for Warren to give up day-to-day control of Berkshire, but it also feels like the end of an era for an iconic figure in the investing world.
On May 6th, New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to allow the state treasurer to invest up to 5% of public funds in digital assets, such as bitcoin. What could go wrong with investing state funds in a highly volatile and speculative asset? Luckily for New Hampshire residents, according to Monica Mezzapelle, the New Hampshire State Treasurer, an investment in digital assets could only be made in $30 million of what the state considers long-term investments which would limit the total investment to digital asset investment to $1.5 million.
The following table summarizes the performance of major asset classes through 04/30/2025:
Note: Return data obtained from Dimensional Fund Advisors database. Returns include dividends and reinvestments.
Regards,
The Milestone Team
[1] Gregory Zuckerman and Gunjan Banerji, “As Markets Swooned, Pros Sold—and Individuals Pounced,” Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2025, https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/market-chaos-professional-investors-sold-stocks-individuals-bought-d1c325c6.
Reminders
Please contact us if your financial goals or circumstances have changed or if we can address your needs. Also, please let us know as soon as possible about any change to your contact information.
SEC regulations require us to remind you to compare our reports with the statements provided by the independent custodian that holds your accounts (Fidelity). Please let us know if there are any discrepancies, or if you are not receiving separate statements (or notification of their online availability) directly from the custodian. Please remember that past performance does not predict future results.
Disclaimer: This is not to be considered investment, tax, or financial advice. Please review your personal situation with your tax and/or financial advisor. Milestone Financial Planning, LLC (Milestone) is a fee-only financial planning firm and registered investment advisor in Bedford, NH. Milestone works with clients on a long-term, ongoing basis. Our fees are based on the assets that we manage and may include an annual financial planning subscription fee. Clients receive financial planning, tax planning, retirement planning, and investment management services and have unlimited access to our advisors. We receive no commissions or referral fees. We put our client’s interests first. If you need assistance with your investments or financial planning, please reach out to one of our fee-only advisors. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Milestone and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance shown is not indicative of future results, which could differ substantially.
Market Review
Financial markets experienced significant volatility in April, driven largely by escalating trade tensions and unpredictable policy shifts from the White House. For example, on April 9th the S&P 500 rose 9.5% (due to the country specific tariff pause) but then fell 3.4% the following day (China announcement of 125% tariff on U.S. goods). As we move into May, intraday movements in the markets seemed to have calmed down.
Beyond tariffs, in late April investors were spooked by President Trump’s comments on Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve. The President was unhappy with Mr. Powell’s decision not to reduce interest rates and made comments on social media that he might fire him (which he later walked back). It seems for now that Powell’s job is safe, but he has a tough job ahead of him navigating tariff inflation and a possible slowdown of GDP growth hoping to avoid stagflation in the U.S. economy. On May 7th the Fed left interest rates steady, opting to wait and see if any progress is made on reducing tariffs with China and the rest of the world before making any adjustments to interest rates.
Diversification has continued to help investors in 2025 as international developed (+12.02% YTD) and emerging markets (+4.39% YTD) stocks both have positive returns for the year. Fixed income continues to deliver yield and has a positive return (+3.18% YTD) for the year. The S&P 500 is down -4.92% YTD but at the level it was last September so in the grand scheme of things, not catastrophic.
Due to the volatility mentioned earlier, April was a tough month to tune out the noise in the market, but it seems individual investors did just that. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal[1], Vanguard estimates that more than 97% of investors in its 401(k) retirement plans avoided trading through mid-April. Approximately 1/5th of investors even increased their saving rate!
YTD return %s as of 4/30/2025.
Closing Thoughts
This past week at his annual shareholders’ meeting, Warren Buffet announced that he will relinquish his role as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway to Greg Abel, his current deputy. At 94, it’s probably time for Warren to give up day-to-day control of Berkshire, but it also feels like the end of an era for an iconic figure in the investing world.
On May 6th, New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to allow the state treasurer to invest up to 5% of public funds in digital assets, such as bitcoin. What could go wrong with investing state funds in a highly volatile and speculative asset? Luckily for New Hampshire residents, according to Monica Mezzapelle, the New Hampshire State Treasurer, an investment in digital assets could only be made in $30 million of what the state considers long-term investments which would limit the total investment to digital asset investment to $1.5 million.
The following table summarizes the performance of major asset classes through 04/30/2025:
Note: Return data obtained from Dimensional Fund Advisors database. Returns include dividends and reinvestments.
Regards,
The Milestone Team
[1] Gregory Zuckerman and Gunjan Banerji, “As Markets Swooned, Pros Sold—and Individuals Pounced,” Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2025, https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/market-chaos-professional-investors-sold-stocks-individuals-bought-d1c325c6.
Reminders
Please contact us if your financial goals or circumstances have changed or if we can address your needs. Also, please let us know as soon as possible about any change to your contact information.
SEC regulations require us to remind you to compare our reports with the statements provided by the independent custodian that holds your accounts (Fidelity). Please let us know if there are any discrepancies, or if you are not receiving separate statements (or notification of their online availability) directly from the custodian. Please remember that past performance does not predict future results.
Disclaimer: This is not to be considered investment, tax, or financial advice. Please review your personal situation with your tax and/or financial advisor. Milestone Financial Planning, LLC (Milestone) is a fee-only financial planning firm and registered investment advisor in Bedford, NH. Milestone works with clients on a long-term, ongoing basis. Our fees are based on the assets that we manage and may include an annual financial planning subscription fee. Clients receive financial planning, tax planning, retirement planning, and investment management services and have unlimited access to our advisors. We receive no commissions or referral fees. We put our client’s interests first. If you need assistance with your investments or financial planning, please reach out to one of our fee-only advisors. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Milestone and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance shown is not indicative of future results, which could differ substantially.
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