by Reuters ERIC KUBY, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, NORTH STAR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CORP, CHICAGO "It's really two major stories pushing the market lower. One is the lack of any trade deals over the weekend. I think that we all go home at night hoping that we wake up in...
The stock market reached a record high closing price on February 19, fueled by strong corporate earnings, a steady economy, expectations of lower interest rates, and optimism over business-friendly policies from the new administration. Unfortunately, the narrative...
By Reuters The S&P 500 posted a weekly loss, selling off on Friday after data pointed to underlying price pressures. The index is down 9.17% from its February 19 high as uncertainty over the health of the U.S. economy and trade policy has kept investors on edge....
Last Week In the words of Yogi Berra, “It’s deja vu all over again” as the market slumped to a four-week losing streak, and trade war and economic downturn concerns continued to unnerve investors. “I don’t like Mondays” was in fashion as trading kicked off with...
It was a mixed bag for stock market investors during the fourth quarter, with a dramatic narrowing by size and sector particularly during December. Instead of a Santa Claus Rally, it was a lump of coal for small-cap enthusiasts as the Russell 2000 dropped 8.3%. That...
The overall market performance remained strong in the third quarter, with the S&P 500 gaining 5.3%. It was a broad rally, with the S&P 500 equal weight index returning nearly 10%, following a lengthy period when a small number of mega-cap companies accounted...
The market was able to extend its winning streak to five weeks despite escalating tension in the Middle East, a slightly hotter-than-anticipated consumer inflation report, a spike in jobless claims, a decline in consumer sentiment, and a 9-basis points increase in the yield on the 10-year Treasury.
The overall market performance remained strong in the second quarter, with the S&P 500 gaining 4.3%. That performance was largely driven by a relatively small number of individual stocks in the S&P 500. In fact, while the six companies with trillion-dollar...
Last Week Over the decades many championship basketball teams have been built on a “Big 3” superstars foundation. As Chicago sports fans we would highlight Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman, of the 95-98 Bulls as a prime example although there have been other (less lovable)...
For the three-month period ending March 31st, the S&P 500 Total Return Index increased 10.56% while the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Intermediate Bond Index decreased 0.42%. The U.S. economy continued to show great resilience, with corporate earnings, employment, and...
Market Commentary Fourth Quarter 2023 For the three months ending December 31st, the S&P 500 Total Return Index increased 11.69%, while the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Intermediate Bond Index increased 5.50%. For the year, the S&P 500 Total Return Index finished...
Third Quarter 2023 Economic Review For the three-month period ending September 30th, the S&P 500 Total Return Index decreased 5.4% while the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Intermediate Bond Index fell 1.9%; for the year, the S&P 500 Total Return Index is up 13.0%...
Second Quarter 2023 Economic Review For the three-month period ending June 30ᵗʰ, the S&P 500 Total Return Index increased 8.7% while the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Intermediate Bond Index fell 0.7%. Year to date, the S&P 500 Total Return Index is up 16.9% and...
Unchanged and Uninspired There was certainly a lack of consistent direction and movement magnitude across major indices last week. The indexes certainly had mixed results, with the Nasdaq Composite shedding -0.6%, the S&P 500 rising 0.7%, and the Russell 2000...
Inflation Cooling, Earnings Warming, and Sentiment Heating Up There are hundreds of songs that relate life’s “ups and downs” to the weather. Our favorites cover the spectrum from Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane” to the Allman Brothers Band’s “Blue Skies”. Similarly, the...
Fireworks and Fed Chirps Unlike Joey Chestnut’s win (he consumed 62 hot dogs en route to his 16th Nathan’s Famous competition win on Fourth of July), the stock market posted a modest loss during the holiday-shortened trading week, as traders digested conflicting...
Which Camp? The stock market had a strong finish in its final trading week of the first half of the year, with gains of 2.4%, 2.3%, and 3.7% for the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Russell 2000 respectively. While the Tech sector remained strong, with Apple Inc...
Stalled Out The stock market rally stalled during holiday shortened trading, as the indices suffered their worst weekly losses since the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank in March. Further evidence of a slowing economy combined with the continuous “further...
Eleven Straight Months The new bull market got a nice boost from the inflation data with CPI only +0.1% for the month and PPI decelerating even more dramatically to measure only +1.1% for the 12 months ended in May. Producer prices have now been cooling for eleven...
A New Bull A funny thing happened on our way to the recession; a new bull market developed. It took 248 trading days for the S&P 500 to rise 20% from its bottom, marking the longest bear market since 1948, but on Thursday that threshold was reached, and the new...
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