Relatively tame inflation data, a pullback in commodities, and continued dovish comments out of the Federal Reserve have all led to a growing feeling among investors that the big jump in inflation may be transitory after all. We have watched the bond market closely for the past two months to see if another leg up… Read the full article.
Volatility was the word of the week as we saw broad-based selling for three consecutive days to start last week. The Nasdaq led the drop, although all the major equity indices were down in the neighborhood of 4%. Fears of inflation, coupled with a terrible jobs report from the previous week, made for some serious… Read the full article.
Earnings season is wrapping up and more than 80% of all companies beat estimates. Aggregated earnings are projected to grow at an annual rate of 7% according to FactSet. This is not the double-digit growth we were seeing two years ago but is impressive nonetheless given all that has occurred in the past year. The… Read the full article.
U.S. equity markets finished the month of April with stellar performance. April gains were on the back a rally that began in early March after some choppy and sideways trading at the start of the year. The benchmark S&P 500 (SPY) finished up more than 11% year-to-date. Earnings continue to roll in and support the… Read the full article.
All major U.S. indices ended last week in the red, albeit only slightly. It was the first down week in the past three, and April overall has been strongly positive across the board. News of President Biden’s tax plan was the likely culprit for last week’s minor pullback. Markets sold off hard on the news… Read the full article.
Over the past week, equity markets moved higher, and interest rates continued to moderate. First quarter earnings will now be a large focus for investors in the next days and weeks. Banks kicked things off last Wednesday and reported big numbers. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all beat estimates. As mentioned previously, FactSet is… Read the full article.
Equity markets continue to push through to all-time highs. The S&P 500 is now right at +10% year-to-date. Cyclical sectors, including energy, financials, industrials, and transportation, remain the leaders. By no means is the bull market limited to these areas, but these are the beneficiaries of a newly minted bull market. Demand side growth is… Read the full article.
U.S. equity markets had a big week, perhaps in response to the prospect of a large infrastructure package out of Washington D.C., coupled with job growth and blowout consumer confidence numbers. The S&P 500 was up more than 2% last week and was up big again today. The economy appears to be on the brink… Read the full article.
Worldwide equity markets remain volatile, with moves up or down more than 1% occurring regularly. Everything is still tied to interest rates. Investors saw some expected moderation in rising rates last week, but this morning we hit a new high in the 10-year Treasury bond. The yield is currently at 1.75% and a test of… Read the full article.
We spent much of last week reviewing the ongoing rise in interest rates, with a particular focus on how it may impact other asset classes. Our weekly commentary also suggested some possibilities on the continued advance going forward. On Friday, we conducted our monthly webinar for our advisor partners and provided data that set out… Read the full article.
It is always something. Right now, that something is the precipitous rise in interest rates. The all-important 10-year Treasury bond has now broken above resistance at the 1.5% to 1.6% level and appears to be holding the breakout. As we have discussed many times over the past weeks and months, we believe the big jump… Read the full article.
Volatility remains elevated across all markets as investors seek some equilibrium between forecasted growth and rising interest rates. Money continues to rotate out of technology and into traditional cyclical sectors, including energy, financials, and industrials. The Nasdaq has been down several weeks in a row and, despite a big rally yesterday, the trend continues. As… Read the full article.
Interest rates remain the primary focus of investors. The rapid increase in rates over the past six months reached a crescendo last week with the 10-Year Treasury yield breaching 1.6%. To put this in perspective, that benchmark rate has risen nearly 200% since August 2020. Most of the jump has occurred since the beginning of… Read the full article.
The broad-based U.S. equity indices (S&P 500) sold off again yesterday, which made five consecutive down days (note that we made up for some of these losses at market close today). The reason for the recent drops given by most analysts, is the continuing unabated rise in interest rates. The 10-year Treasury yield has now… Read the full article.
U.S. and international equity markets continue to move higher, albeit more slowly. Despite a slow rotation into cyclicals, which has been occurring over the past several months, technology continues to move forward. This could be evidence that investors aren’t completely convinced we are on the brink of reopening our society, or that investors truly believe… Read the full article.
World equity markets have quickly shrugged off the January swoon, as well as the perceived GameStop/Robinhood threat to the workings of financial markets. As we have pointed out many times, the things that really matter transcend opinion – and the vast majority of everything else is noise. So, what is it that really matters? Interest… Read the full article.
Equity markets dropped across the board last week. The pullback erased all gains seen earlier in January and resulted in a monthly loss of more than 1% for the S&P 500. We recently discussed the possibility of earnings not meeting the lofty expectation set by the markets over the past few months. The move straight… Read the full article.
We are about to see if the equity market’s fabulous run since the beginning of November is supported by reality. Earnings drive price and price tends to forecast earnings. Beginning tomorrow (and over the next few days) we are going to hear from some of the nation’s bellwether companies about how well they did during… Read the full article.
Markets resumed their uptrend today after Friday’s selling and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The broad indices recovered last week’s losses and are again positive for the month. January is considered a good barometer for the rest of the year. If markets are positive to start the year, they usually end the year positive as… Read the full article.
Equity markets have begun the year in positive territory, continuing the move that started in early November. This is the result of investors projecting additional stimulus on the back of a Biden presidency and a Democrat-controlled Congress. We are seeing money move into cyclicals like transportation, industrials, and energy. This has occurred at the expense of… Read the full article.