Woods receives follow-up procedures

10-year bond yields fall to 1.42%, stopping recent climb

Tiger Woods underwent additional procedures Friday in Los Angeles to treat injuries sustained in a Tuesday solo vehicle crash.

Woods’ Twitter account posted Friday evening, “Tiger has moved to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and received follow-up procedures on his injuries this morning. The procedures were successful, and he is now recovering and in good spirits.

“Tiger and his family want to thank you all for the wonderful support and messages they have received over the past few days. We will not have any further updates at this time. Thank you for your continued privacy.”

Woods, 45, was hurt in an early-morning, singlecar crash near the border of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes. Emergency personnel extracted him from his car and transported him to HarborUCLA Medical Center.

He underwent surgery Tuesday to treat multiple injuries to his right lower leg, including the insertion of a rod into the tibia. Additional screws and pins were needed in the leg, and he was treated for muscle and soft-tissue injuries.

Woods subsequently was moved to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center “for continuing orthopedic care and recovery,” according to a Thursday statement from Dr. Anish Mahajan, the chief medical officer and interim CEO at Harbor-UCLA Medical

Center.

Woods’ injuries include “comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones,” Mahajan said Tuesday, meaning the bones broke into more than two pieces and pierced the skin.

Woods told investigators at the hospital after the incident that “he had no recollection of the crash” that left him seriously injured, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said.

Facilities affiliated with Cedars-Sinai are known for their sports medicine and related surgeries. The CedarsSinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute provides orthopedic surgeries, and practitioners at their clinics work with Los Angeles-area sports teams.

A choppy day on Wall Street ended with stocks mostly lower Friday, helping push the S&P 500 to its second straight weekly loss.

Investors continued to watch the bond market, where Treasury yields eased lower, as well as Washington, where Congress is expected to vote on President Joe Biden’s stimulus package.

Losses in banks and health care stocks helped drag the S&P 500 down 0.5%, erasing an early gain. Falling oil prices weighed on energy stocks. Technology and communication services companies, which bore the brunt of the selling a day before, recovered slightly, which helped the techheavy Nasdaq composite manage a 0.6% gain.

Bond yields eased off of their multi-week climb. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell to 1.42% from 1.51%. late Thursday.

“We still think the uptrend in (stocks) is very much intact and that they’ll outperform bonds in the coming year,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

The S&P 500 index fell 18.19 points to 3,811.15. Despite a two-week slide, the index managed a 2.6% gain for February after a 1.1% loss in January.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 469.64 points, or 1.5%, to 30,932.37. The Nasdaq gained 72.91 points to 13,192.34. The index still posted its biggest weekly loss since October. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies eked out a small gain, adding 0.88 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,201.05.

The indexes remain close to the all-time highs they set earlier this month.

A sell-off on Wall Street Thursday picked up speed when the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose above 1.5%, a level not seen in more than a year and far above the 0.92% it was trading at only two months ago. That move raised the alarm that yields, and the interest rates they influence, will move higher from here.

The recent rise in bond yields reflects growing confidence that the economy is on the path to recovery, but also expectations that inflation is headed higher, which might prompt central banks eventually to raise interest rates to cool price increases. Rising yields can make stocks look less attractive relative to bonds, which is why every tick up in yields has corresponded

with a tick down in stock prices.

“Investors should look at this as an affirmation that the recovery is taking hold,” Brian Levitt, Global Market Strategist at Invesco.

Samana said he still expects interest rates will continue to rise, but at a slower pace.

Technology stocks have been impacted more than the broader market by the rise in bond yields. Tech stocks tend to trade at higher valuations than the overall market. Investors are also betting that with vaccinations, the coronavirus pandemic may be coming to an end which would pivot consumer behavior away from online-only shopping.

In Washington, Democrats in Congress are preparing to move forward with President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, with a vote in the House of Representatives planned for Friday. The Senate could vote on the package as early as next week.

The stimulus bill would include yet another round of one-time payments to most Americans, including an expansion of other refundable tax credits like the child tax credit, as well as additional aid to state and local governments to combat the pandemic.

Q: Given that interest rates are so low, does it make sense to buy real estate with cash? We have the ability to do that; we have no other debts but wonder if an all-cash purchase is a good strategy.

A: There have been several reasons which have traditionally made all-cash financing attractive.

First, you don’t have to worry about lender qualification standards. If you have the dollars, you can simply buy a property outright.

Second, without a lender, you can avoid many loan-related closing costs.

Third, you may be able to get a better price and terms with a cash offer because the seller can be certain of your ability to close the deal.

Fourth, you can avoid monthly mortgage payments.

Fifth, you can avoid mortgage interest costs that add up to big money. For example, if you borrow $250,000 at 3%, the total interest cost after 10 years will be $66,531.

Sixth, it used to be that financing real estate was effectively encouraged by federal tax rules. Mortgage interest costs within certain limits have generally been tax-deductible. This means that tax benefits can offset interest costs. However, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 — the 2017 tax reform measure — larger standard deductions became available while itemized deductions were capped. For most borrowers, it now makes more sense to take the standard deduction, and that means while mortgage interest can be deducted, in theory, it’s not a practical choice for most taxpayers. For details, speak with a tax professional.

Seventh, inflation has generally been the friend of mortgage borrowers, allowing them to pay off fixedrate loans with cheaper and cheaper dollars over time. However, in late 2020 the inflation rate was running at 1.2%, according to Trading Economics, a low level.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says the typical firsttime buyer purchases with 7% down, but 17% of all first-timers manage to buy with all cash. According to NAR, the typical purchase is made with 16% upfront among repeat buyers, but 12% of all existing-home buyers purchased with no money down.

While there are several advantages to all-cash purchases, there are also negatives.

If you have the dollars, it’s easy enough to put cash into a home but not so easy to get it out unless you sell or finance. If you have higher-cost debt such as credit card bills, the money might be better used to eliminate such obligations. Lastly, the money might be better spent to start a business, buy additional property, pay for college, etc., depending on your personal preferences.

There’s no answer that works for everyone. For that reason, it can make sense to review the pros and cons of an all-cash purchase with a fee-only financial planner, someone who can look at your overall individual situation.