Last Week: Curiouser and curiouser. How does this market keep setting new highs? During this past week, decliners and new lows outnumbered advancers and new highs, yet the S&P 500 notched a 0.85% gain and the DJIA surged 2.25% to finally reach new record. The usual suspects did not drive the rally, as both the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 experienced modest declines. Instead, there was a rotation into the three [...]
Last Week: Once again, the market floated higher, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.16%, as the sweet vapors of good economic news filled the air. The September University of Michigan sentiment index rose to its second highest level since 2014, and Index of Business Optimism registered its highest reading ever. Additionally, both CPI and PPI came in lower than expected, at least temporarily quieting the inflation concerns, and perhaps weakening the [...]
Last Week: If the proof of the pudding is really in the eating, then the current economic policy recipe seems to be valid as the US numbers remained terrific with very strong manufacturing and non-manufacturing ISMs, and jobless claims this week were 203,000, the lowest level since December of 1969. As we mature, however, we come to realize that there is more than just the pleasure of eating a tasty dessert [...]
Last Week: Another record high for the stock market, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.93% and the Russell 2000 0.87%. There wasn’t much news, fake or otherwise, driving the action, and volume was light in the pre-holiday week trading. One might say the song remains the same, or perhaps the songs remain the same, as clearly there are two tunes in the air. The momentum investors continue to dance to Sly [...]