US Stocks traded higher yesterday and are now 11% higher from the lows set on December 24th, after the Bank of America and Goldman Sachs reported much better than expected earnings.
 
The Founder of the Vanguard Group, and the father of the Index Mutual Fund, John Bogle, died yesterday.  He was 89.  Bogle founded the Vanguard Group in 1974 and as of last month the company is the largest mutual fund company in the world managing $5.3 Trillion.
 
China's central bank, The Peoples Bank of China, injected a record $83 Billion in the country's financial system to shore up liquidity, which initially soothed investors, then stoked fears about the slowing of the world's growth engine.
 
Mortgage lending at the countries largest banks continues to plunge.  In the 4th quarter of 2018 mortgage origination at Citigroup dropped 23%, Wells Fargo fell 28%, and JP Morgan dropped 30% year over year.  Mortgage lending is down because there simply aren't enough houses for people to buy.

Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management I'm Tyler Simones