Last Week: In Chicago and on Wall Street, it was a very good week for the Bears. For the former, there were wins on Sunday versus the Vikings and Thursday versus the Lions. For the latter, there were steep declines on Monday and Tuesday which resulted in a 3.8% loss in the S&P 500, which wiped out the remaining gains for 2018. Whereas just two months ago the primary concern was [...]
Last Week: The market resumed its downward trend, with the S&P 500 shedding 1.61% and the Russell 2000 declining 1.42%. All ten sectors experienced losses, with Oil & Gas shares faring the worst as crude oil prices dropping for a record 12 straight days to settle at $56.46 down 26% since Oct. 3. The sharp decline in energy prices have stoked concerns over a global slowdown, but a feature article in [...]
Last Week: On Tuesday night, the mid-term elections went pretty much as planned, and the market responded with an impressive rally on Wednesday. Perhaps there was relief that the Democrats didn’t take control of both the House and the Senate, or perhaps there was enthusiasm over the prospects of a big infrastructure bill (yippee, more debt!), something that both Democrats and Republicans seem to support. The rally fizzled on Friday with [...]
Last Week: A bagful of earnings, economic data, and tweets, left investors to digest whether these were tricks or treats. By Friday’s close the verdict was primarily treats, as the S&P 500 snapped its losing streak to finish +2.42%. Nevertheless, there were a few rotten fruits in the bag, most notably Apple’s weaker than expected guidance for the fourth quarter. Friday’s blockbuster payroll report, showing that the U.S. added 250,000 jobs [...]