The S&P 500 has officially closed out weekly trading at new all-time highs. It is now up nearly 8% for the year. We have watched this “broad” index battle to pass February highs over the past several weeks. It follows the tech-focused Nasdaq, which did so earlier in the summer and has continued to plow higher… Read the full article.
This past week the S&P 500 battled resistance at its previous all-time highs (just below 3400). We had two consecutive record closes, only to fall back after the Wednesday release of minutes from the previous Federal Reserve meeting. Those minutes revealed just how much uncertainty exists within the minds of our central bankers. The gist is… Read the full article.
The S&P 500 and the Dow continue their respective attempts to break through the all-time highs established in February. Both major indices have been trading in a tight range just below those levels for the better part of the last two weeks. The tech-focused Nasdaq has already done so and has set numerous records over the… Read the full article.
Major equity indices are positive for the year. The Nasdaq is now at all-time highs on the back of blowout performance from Amazon, Google, Facebook and Netflix. These companies, along with the tech sector in general, have thrived amid social distancing and remote working. Technology is the driver of innovation and will continue to benefit as… Read the full article.
Equity markets continue to push higher in the face of ongoing uncertainty. We discussed last week that the next probable stop for the S&P 500 (SPY) is the February high of 3400. We continue to move in that direction. All eyes are currently on Congress as coronavirus relief package negotiations resume this week. It is… Read the full article.
My apologies to everyone for the late commentary this week. I spent the last five days on a golf and BBQ tour across the beautiful state of Arkansas in an RV with my son Jack. Truth be told, we only made it two nights in the RV before we had enough of the “roughing it”… Read the full article.
The benchmark S&P 500 index has officially broken out above 3200 and, in doing so, broken out of its two-month trading range. We have been watching this unfold for several weeks now. It appeared that the likelihood of a move to higher prices was greater than a pullback after equity markets survived several serious attempts… Read the full article.
Equity markets moved to the high end of their trading range over the past week. For those keeping track, the S&P 500 has been rangebound between 3000 and 3200 for the better part of two months. During this time, there were two occasions that sharp and rapid selling threatened to cause a break below 3000… Read the full article.
To start, I hope everyone had a safe and restful July 4th holiday. Time spent with family and friends is what matters most. The older I get the more that reality sinks in. I have spent a lot of time over the past few weeks thinking about the world that we are living in and… Read the full article.
The S&P 500 closed on Friday just below its 200-day moving average. This was the culmination of a 5% drop for the week. The Dow and Nasdaq suffered an equally bad week. This is the second serious technical challenge that the S&P 500 has faced in the month of June. The selling was prompted by… Read the full article.
U.S. equity markets continue to be range bound but hold above the all-important 200-day moving average at 3000 (S&P 500). I read over the weekend that there remains a record amount of money in cash via money market accounts. The belief among the “experts” is that this is evidence that the rally off the March 23… Read the full article.
Two weeks ago, we commented on the ongoing test faced by the broad indices at their respective 200-day moving average. We noted that if equity markets were able to regain and hold above that important technical level, we were likely to see prices move significantly higher as institutional money was forced off of the sidelines… Read the full article.
We have spent the past few weeks discussing the need to have a rules-based process in place that helps take the emotion out of investing when markets appear to disconnect from what we perceive as reality. This “perception” issue has long been studied within the field of behavioral finance and psychology. Humans are by nature… Read the full article.
Equity markets closed out the month of May with big gains. The S&P 500 climbed more than 5% for the month despite a lot of volatility. Swings of more than 1% a day were the norm as investors continue to try and sort through the carnage that has been the past three months. These gains… Read the full article.
Equity markets worldwide continue to climb in the face of dire economics. In two decades of investing I have never seen a starker example of investors immediately setting the bar for a worst-case scenario and then just as quickly repricing as if anything but the catastrophic appear inevitable. The last three months (and perhaps the… Read the full article.
The past week saw continued volatility as equities sold off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday just below the 200-day moving average and right at the late April highs. Major indices opened down more than 1% on Thursday and Friday, only to make their way to positive territory by the close. This is a big positive on… Read the full article.
Major stock indices gained more than 3% last week, continuing a remarkable bounce off the March 23 bottom. The S&P 500 is testing both its 200-day moving average and the late April high just under 3000. The speed and size of the price gains over the past six weeks has not been seen since the… Read the full article.
Equity markets finished off April with the biggest monthly gain since 1974. The huge rally followed an even bigger decline in March. Face-ripping rallies are common in bear markets, although it must be noted that this one was especially quick. The S&P 500 moved all the way back to its 200-day moving average, just below… Read the full article.
As our country begins to consider reopening for business, I am left wondering how we will forever be changed? Will we shake hands with new acquaintances? Will we travel for meetings or will we stay put and Zoom? Will home delivery of food, groceries and other goods become the norm? Will college education be an… Read the full article.
We’re mixing things up this week. The below commentary is a compilation of the questions and answers that came out of a monthly webinar our team hosted last week with professional advisors around the country. The advisors that participated are currently using our portfolios for their own clients, and in my opinion, had some very… Read the full article.