Last Week: Welcome to the last week of 2020. One might say it done come and gone, and my oh my what a long strange trip it has been indeed. The fiscal stimulus saga, which first grabbed headlines in June, took another twist as Congress finally passed a $900 billion...
Last Week: “Help!” Apparently, our representatives in Washington were unable to “Come Together” and pass a bill to provide the needed funds to give the economy a desperately needed shot in the arm. The damage was reflected in applications for U.S. state unemployment...
Last Week: The wintertime blues seem to be settling in as this very strange year comes to a close. Perhaps my mood is colored by the Chicago Bears' inexplicable loss the previous Sunday, or the grey skies and blustery weather, but the news on Main Street seemed pretty...
Last Week: All three major large cap stock market indexes closed at all-time highs Friday as Congress appeared to make progress toward passing a COVID-19 stimulus bill. A weaker than expected rise in November non-farm payrolls had the bad-news-is-good-news effect on...
Last Week: The Chicago and Wall Street Bears were both in hibernation as Thanksgiving gave way to winter. I turned off the game versus the Packers last night at halftime. Without Akeem Hicks in the middle, my 18-month old granddaughter Jane could probably gain 5 yards...
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, it would be an epic understatement to say that 2020 has been a most unusual year. In our family my birthday on March 12 comes first in the calendar and my son Alex’s on November 19th comes last. Flashing back to March 12th, I...
Markets: Monday morning Pfizer announced that early data from its coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90% effective with no serious side effects. The study should be concluded by the end of the month with the likelihood of emergency FDA approval to follow post...
Markets: What a difference a week makes. A blue undertow (Biden won, but the Senate appeared likely to remain with a Republican majority) swept into the sea of red and turned the market green. Volatility vanished and FOMOTINATE (Fear Of Missing Out There Is No...
Now is the time to review and consider your Medicare choices for 2021. Seniors currently enrolled in Medicare can reconsider their choices from October 15 through December 7, 2020. This is called the Open Enrollment Period and coverage can start on January 1, 2021....
Markets: It was the worst week in the market since March, with the S&P 500 sinking 5.6% and small caps faring even worse shedding 6.22%. Volatility surged with the VIX spiking 38% to match its highest level since June. The chart below shows the percentage changes...
North Star is proud to announce the sponsorship of the Chicago North Stars. They are the first all women’s team to play in an adult men’s league. Please view the article in the Chicago Sun-Times featuring one of our own — Anna Lurie. We wish the team success in their...
Markets: The high for the week was set on the opening Monday morning, but those modest gains quickly evaporated by lunch time as the S&P went negative -0.5%, and basically stayed around that level the rest of the week. Small and Mid-Cap stocks fared slightly...
The S&P 500 Total Return Index finished up 8.93% for the quarter and is up 5.57% for the year. The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index gained 0.62%% for the quarter and is up 6.72% for the year. This has been a historically volatile year for the stock market. Investors...
For the next few weeks, we are going to format the Blog to cover the topics that seem to be of most interest, those being the markets, stimulus, economic reports, earnings reports, and COVID-19. We would appreciate any relevant feedback on this new layout. The...
Last Week: From Dictionary.com: Stimulus (stim-yuh-luhs), noun. In economics, a stimulus is a government injection of money into an economy and intended to spur (stimulate) economic growth. If William Shakespeare were around in 2020 he might have penned “to stimulate,...
Last Week: Here is how we wrapped up our previous commentary: “Politics will become an even more dominant verse, with the first presidential debate being held on Tuesday in Cleveland. The most important economic release will come on Friday when The Bureau of Labor...
Last Week: The song remained the same on Wall Street with a disconcerting level of COVID-19 cases and deaths combined with dysfunctional drama in D.C., somewhat offset by promising vaccine development announcements. The market experienced roller coaster daily swings...
Last Week: Hot tech IPOs and renewed optimism on the development of COVID-19 vaccines provided a springboard for a rally in the markets on Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday afternoon’s FOMC meeting poked the bears back into action. The Nasdaq 100 sank as much as 2.8%...
Last Week: The Bears are back in action. On Wall Street the market labored to find its footing following the holiday weekend, with the S&P declining 2.5% to post its first back-to-back weekly loss in four months. The Tech sector had its worst week since March with...
Last Week: At lunch on Friday I saw a band called “The Momentum Traders” singing a somber tune: Yesterday The market was such an easy game to play Now it looks as though might stocks might sway Oh, I believe in yesterday Suddenly My portfolio isn’t what it used to be...
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