Last Week The lyrics of the Four Tops were the same old song, with Trump and Powell setting the beat. This latest verse was a slightly hawkish interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve, offset by some positive sentiment on trade after U.S. President Donald Trump...
Last Week On the cover of the most recent Barron’s is a picture of a lone bull in a grassy field with the caption “Where Did the Bulls Go?" (Bob Dylan might answer that question if he wrote a song about the stock market.) The cover story highlights that the percentage...
Last Week Stock market trading got off to a grim start on Monday, with no tariff agreements reached over the weekend and President Trump intensifying his pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lower rates or face termination. North Star Chief Investment Officer Eric...
Last Week “Slip sliding away, slip sliding away You know the nearer your destination The more you’re slip sliding away” Paul Simon The stock market posted its seventh negative week out of the last nine, as tariff whipsaw and the standoff between the Federal Reserve...
Last Week “It’s good to be king, if just for a while To be there in velvet, yeah, to give 'em a smile It's good to get high and never come down It's good to be king of your own little town” -Tom Petty The stock market posted its best weekly advance since early...
Last Week In our last commentary, we discussed the onset of the tariff fog. It is safe to say that the fog thickened dramatically, as the details unveiled were far denser than even the most draconian forecast. President Donald Trump's “Liberation Day" turned into...
Last Week Fog appears to be the new buzzword on Wall Street. One definition of Fog is “something that confuses or obscures.” A dense Tariff Fog has descended on the U.S. economy, resulting in dangerous driving for investors and business operators. The hazard lights...
Last Week As March Madness unfolds, we embrace the bounces and rebounds on the hardwood floors around the country, as well as those on Wall Street. The market snapped its four-week losing streak, rebounding from correction territory. The bounce off the correction was...
Last Week There must be some kind of way outta here Said the joker to the thief There’s too much confusion I can’t get no relief All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix/Bob Dylan “There’s too much confusion,” the portfolio manager told the trading desk. I can’t get...
Most economists agree that excessive tariffs are harmful to the economy. As we learned in the classic 1986 movie *Ferris Bueller’s Day Off*, Ben Stein’s character famously explains: ‘In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives… passed the… Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act. Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?… raised tariffs… Did it work? Anyone?… It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression.’
Last Week To tariff or not to tariff, that is the question. Is it nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an outrageous trade deficit, or rather risk triggering a rise in inflation? Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss. Donald Trump took office in...
Last Week What a difference a week makes. One could simply reverse the narrative from last week’s commentary, “Rate Concerns Rising,” as tame inflation data led to a downtick in rates and the best weekly performance by stocks since the post-election rally in November...
Last Week Stocks sank during the holiday-shortened week as solid economic data reignited concerns that the Federal Reserve will keep monetary policy tight in early 2025. In fact, several central bank policymakers hinted that the rate easing cycle might be on hold,...
Last Week The New Year got off to a sluggish start as uncertainty over the economic effects of the incoming administration’s policies and concerns about the recent hawkish monetary policy tilt weighed on sentiment. December proved to be an anticlimactic finish to a...
Last Week The stock market was volatile during holiday-shortened trading, with light volume as many on Wall Street opted to take an extended holiday. There were hopeful signs of a Santa Claus Rally early in the week, as stocks posted their best Christmas Eve session...
Last Week The good news for value investors is that on Friday the IVE (iShares S&P 500 Value ETF) snapped its 14-day losing streak. During that stretch, the Index lost more than 8%, which almost qualifies as a correction. The Small Cap Value Index has fared about...
Last Week If you asked somebody how the weather was that day, the answer would depend on several factors, with their location being the most important variable. The same dynamic holds when people ask, "How was the market today?” The answer depends on the individual...
Last Week It was the best of times for Magnificent 7 and Crypto enthusiasts, with both asset classes surging over 6%. Fundamental investors, handicapped by paying attention to traditional valuation measures, missed the party. In fact, declining issues outnumbered...
Last Week The Santa Claus rally that started in November 2023 continued to jingle away as the market logged its 53rd record high for 2024. While the Scrooges bemoaned inflation and tariffs, other investors embraced the strong economic data and loaded their...
> Last Week A banana affixed to the wall with a piece of silver duct tape sold for $6.2 million to a cryptocurrency operator as the price of Bitcoin approached $100,000. Turning to more traditional assets, the U.S. dollar, gold, crude oil, and every stock market...
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