Last Week: It was quite stormy in Washington and on Wall Street, as it was the worst week for the stock market since January 2016, with the S&P 500 declining almost 6%. Early in the week it was the technology stocks that fared the worst, with the disclosure that Facebook had failed to protect customer data leading to a sharp decline in its shares, followed by earnings from Oracle that were [...]
Last Week: The glass was half-empty, as the rally that was ignited by the previous week’s release of the February Jobs report proved to be short lived, and the S&P 500 declined Monday through Thursday before bouncing on Friday to finish the week down 1.2%. A couple of weak economic reports, most notable a surprising decline in retail sales weighed on the equity markets but did help drive the yield on [...]
Last Week: Like following a well-written television series, one needs to watch all the previous episodes to appreciate the nuances of the plot twists in “Trumpworld” (no disrespect intended, the POTUS would probably like the title anyway). In August, rumors of Gary Cohn’s resignation roiled the markets. In February, an unexpectedly strong jobs report triggered a 10.8% “correction” in stock prices and pushed interest rates to a four-year high. Last week, [...]
Last Week: It was the headline Olympics last week, with Putin, Mueller, Powell, and Trump competing for medals. Putin failed to make the podium, despite boasting of a new generation of “invincible” nuclear -capable Russians weapons. Mueller earned the bronze medal, with a flurry of recent activity, including expanding the investigation into possible ties between the United Arab Emirates and the White House. The silver medal went to Fed Chair Jerome [...]