Last Week: The last six months have certainly been “interesting”. A dramatic rally in January and February recovered about most of the horrific losses of October- December, followed by a brief nasty sell-off to kick off March which quickly reversed into a Mad March bounce which lasted until Friday’s swoon, which left the S&P 500 down 0.8% for the week. Whereas the market was responding to policy issues (monetary and trade) [...]
Last Week: The global bounce-back equity rally resumed, as the S&P 500 posted its best week since November by gaining 2.89%. The narrative remained the same with accommodative monetary policy, subdued inflation, reduced trade tensions, and aggressive stimulus programs in China. The economic data was tepid as durable goods, new home sales, industrial production, and the Empire Manufacturing Index all came in slightly below expectations. January retail sales exceeded expectations, but [...]
Last Week: The temperature of the global economic data porridge was cold enough to nudge the stock market pendulum towards risk-off, as the ECB and China both reduced growth forecasts while the U.S. jobs report was downright frigid. Concerns shifted from monetary tightening by the big bad Fed to the prospects of an impending global recession. Things were not all quiet on the eastern front, as North Korea has rebuilt its [...]
Last Week: Inertia: a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force. With no changes to the narrative to motivate traders, the stock market pendulum has recently found a resting place. Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s communications provided support to current expectations that the rate hike cycle was on pause for the foreseeable future. A [...]