Audio Commentary by Tim Seymour

Audio Commentary by Tim Seymour

Amplify ETFs Declares August (2023) Income Distributions for its ETFs

Amplify ETFs Declares August (2023) Income Distributions for its ETFs

ABOUT BLOK The Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK) is an actively managed fund, seeking to identify the leading companies focused on the transformation and development of the blockchain and cryptocurrency markets. The managers focus on how companies can capture the growth, innovation, and disruption of the blockchain paradigm shift. The evolution of the internet has changed how people communicate. We believe growth companies that embrace blockchain evolution will capture secular growth trends that are accelerating and disrupting core processes in business.

Audio Commentary by Tim Seymour

Recent economic figures, which show improving inflation and steady GDP growth, continue to support the market rally. The S&P 500 has gained over 20% with dividends this year and is now only 4.5% below its early 2022 peak through 7/28/2023. The Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average have returned 37% and 8%, respectively. These are sharp reversals of last year’s market trends and serve as a reminder that conditions do not need to be perfect for markets to turn around if conditions are moving in the right direction.

Audio Commentary by Tim Seymour

RECAP The equity market entered August on the heels of five consecutive months of positive returns (as measured by the S&P 500). Late summer has historically carried some seasonal volatility and August proved no different. As Q3 corporate earnings wrapped up, all eyes turned to the Federal Reserves annual meeting in Jackson Hole with investors trying to measure the expectation of future rate increases. Volatility picked up from an average of 14 in June and July to a mid-August peak of nearly 18, as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index.

Long-term interest rates have come full circle over the past year. After falling as low as 3.3% during the banking crisis earlier this year, the 10-year U.S. Treasury is now yielding around 4.2%. However, while today’s long-term yields look similar to last year’s on paper, they are quite different from an economic and market perspective. What are interest rates telling us today and how does this impact long-term investors? An important concept in economics is the distinction between “nominal” and “real” values. The simplest way to understand the difference is that nominal values include the effects of inflation while real ones do not. For instance, the price of a gallon of milk at the grocery store is a nominal price since it changes based on inflation. The paychecks we receive are also nominal values since they are paid in dollars or other currencies whose purchasing power changes as the prices of goods and services fluctuate.