Usaa - Emerging markets, fragile five market commentary - February flip

Why tapering concerns seem to be tapering off in the month of February and the latest on Fragile 5, all that coming up on this edition of Market Commentary. MUSIC R- I'm Rosenda Rios. John Kvantas with USAA Investments joins us now, thank you very much, John. Harsh winter was a topic that we discussed just recently. It continues on for the markets, where does it stand right now? John-Yes, the polar vortex has hit our companies and management has been talking about that so for example the retail area has been hit. Wal-mart talked about the danger that weather put in their numbers. But on the other hand we heard some good numbers from Home Depot and Lowe's so it just kinda depended on what industry you were in. R- Yeah and in December, the Fed did their first tapering, so to speak, where does it stand right now? J-Yeah, January the markets were down. There was a lot of concern about tapering. Markets all over the world were negative. February, that flipped. U.S. Markets, very positive and pleasant surprise was emerging markets and international developed areas also did very well. R-We're always looking for opportunities. So where are they John? J-There is. We find attractive right now, emerging markets and the international developed area of the world as far as equities goes. And it's important, I think, to remember emerging markets are different than they were five years ago. You have to be much more strategic so now there's what's called the "Fragile Five" countries like Brazil and India having problems with their economy, with their currency. However, countries like South Korea even Mexico uh, are almost not even considered emerging markets anymore. R-So let's go ahead, we're saying good-bye to February and hopefully harsh winters and we're looking into March. Where are we looking? J-What I'm looking at or looking forward to is my grandson's birthday. Jonathan is going to be a year old and we're looking forward to celebrating with him. R-Aww, we have a cute picture of him. He's adorable. Happy Birthday, Jonathan. J-Happy birthday. R-What else are we looking at? J-As far as the economy goes though, we're going to be very interested in what March brings as far as February numbers. We'll be looking at housing, manufacturing, and just the economy in general and see what the weather did to February. R-Okay, we'll be watching that and John, thank you very much for that information. And we want to remind you that USAA will be here to help you with your financial plan. So simply give us a call, check us online or though our mobile app.