2026 | March 30

The Markets

Stocks Drop

The U.S. stock market’s positive Monday momentum failed to hold and sell-offs on Thursday and Friday left the major indexes down overall for the fifth week in a row. The NASDAQ dropped 3.2%, the S&P 500 fell 2.1%, and the Dow retreated 0.9%.

The NASDAQ on Thursday entered a correction, as the index closed more than 10% below its record high set about five months earlier. The Dow followed suit on Friday, and the S&P 500 slipped closer to the 10% correction threshold, as it ended the week 8.7% below the record level that it achieved in late January. 

U.S. market volatility continued to weigh more heavily on growth stocks than on their value counterparts, reversing course after the growth style’s outperformance in 2025. A growth stock benchmark fell 3.4% for the week while its value counterpart slipped by just 0.5%. On a year-to-date basis, growth was down almost 13% versus a fractional gain for value. 

A U.S. small-cap stock benchmark outperformed a large-cap counterpart by a wide margin, expanding smaller stocks’ year-to-date margin of outperformance. The Russell 2000 Index finished 0.5% higher for the week, while its large-cap counterpart, the Russell 1000 Index, fell 2.0%.

The recent surge in oil and natural gas prices continued to provide lift for energy stocks, as the S&P 500’s energy sector finished up more than 6% for the week. Since March 1, energy has gained nearly 13%, making it the only sector in positive territory over that time frame. Year to date, the sector has added 41%.

Prices of U.S. government bonds fell for the fourth week in a row amid diminished expectations of future rate cuts, lifting the yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury to 4.43%—the highest in more than eight months. The yield of the 2-year note briefly eclipsed the 4.00% level on Friday before finishing at 3.91%, slightly higher for the week.

A monthly gauge of U.S. consumer sentiment fell to the lowest level so far in 2026, reversing course after recent gains. The University of Michigan’s survey showed that sentiment fell to 53.3 from a 56.6 reading in February. Most economists had been expecting a smaller March decline to about 54.0.

A report due out on Friday will show whether February’s weaker-than-expected jobs numbers extended into March. In February, the net loss of 92,000 jobs marked the third jobs decline in five months. Friday’s report will be released on a day when U.S. financial markets will be closed for observance of Good Friday. 

Source: John Hancock Investment Management

Retirement Contribution Deadline

With about two weeks left before the tax filing deadline, we want to remind clients to consider making contributions to your retirement accounts. For accounts like Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs, individuals have until the tax filing deadline — typically April 15^th — to make contributions that count toward the prior year’s limits. This means that even after the calendar year ends on December 31st, there is still an opportunity to boost retirement savings and potentially adjust one’s tax situation before filing.

The deadline for funding a SEP IRA is tied to your business’s tax filing deadline, not April 15 specifically in all cases. For most business owners, the contribution deadline is the due date of the tax return, including any extensions. That means if you file your taxes by April 15, your SEP IRA must be funded by that date — but if you file for an extension, you may have until October 15 to make the contribution.

Other accounts like Health Savings Accounts can also receive contributions by the April 15^th deadline. If you have questions regarding your contributions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

What do you know about Fictional Wealth?

When markets are volatile, we can all use some light-hearted fun. Recently, a financial website picked up where Forbes left off in 2013 by publishing the “Fictional 15”, a list of wealthy characters from fiction (movies, books, cartoons, television, video games, and comics). See what you know about fictional wealth by taking this brief quiz.

1. Why did Forbes originally create the Fictional 15 List?

a. Estimating the wealth of dragons, comic book moguls, and cartoon tycoons, allowed Forbes analysts to explore unconventional asset classes.

b. Cruella de Vil financed it because she likes to see her name in print.

c. Wealthy people often are reduced to caricatures, Forbes decided to satirize that by treating fictional characters as real people.

d. People like reading about wealthy people, fictional or not.

2. Which fictional character topped the 2025 list of richest fictional characters?

a. Scrooge McDuck, richest duck in the world

b. Forrest Gump, shrimping magnate

c. T’Challa, King of Wakanda

d. Tony Stark, Iron Man

3. Why was Santa Claus removed from the Forbes Fictional 15 list?

a. Santa preferred not to publish data about his net worth.

b. Analysts struggled to apply traditional valuation models to Santa’s operation.

c. People objected to Santa being on a list of fictional characters.

d. Santa’s business model of delivering packages for free in a single night was economically disruptive.

4. Who was the only woman to be included on the list in 2025?

a. Carol Miller, Mom in Futurama

b. Lara Croft, Archeologist

c. Lady Mary Crawley, Downton Abbey

d. The Tooth Fairy

While none of us has a dragon’s hoard or a magic money tree, we all have the opportunity to build wealth by saving and investing.

Answers: 1) c; 2) c; 3) c; 4) b

Phone: (615) 709-8709

Fax: (615) 709-8709

eMoney

Charles Schwab

Advyzon

Eli Culley

Associate Advisor

eli@ajadvice.com

Emily Triano

Operations Manager

emily@ajadvice.com

Maya Laws

Operations Associate

maya@ajadvice.com

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