Last Week There were no lumps of coal in the stockings of investors as Wall Street closed out the penultimate week of the year with a solid advance. The S&P 500 added 1.4%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2%, while the Russell 2000 inched up 0.2%. Advancing issues...
Last Week Prices on Wall Street were sideways, while trading volume was extremely heavy thanks to “triple witching”, a quarterly phenomenon when stock options, index options, and futures contracts all expire. Declining issues outnumbered advancing issues by a factor...
Last Week It was a small (cap) world after all, at least for Wall Street, as the S&P Small Cap Index rallied 2% while the S&P 500 lost 0.6%. Once again, AI and Fed policy were the determining forces. Shares of Oracle and Broadcom both suffered as investors...
Last Week Wall Street kicked off December with modest gains in anticipation of the impending interest rate cut at this week’s FOMC meeting. The Nasdaq Composite fared the best, notching a 0.9% gain, while the S&P 500 added 0.3%, and the Russell 2000 rose 0.8% to...
Last Week The stock market posted its best Thanksgiving week since 2012, as investors piled into tech and small-cap shares, taking a “risk on” approach in the holiday spirit. The Nasdaq composite scored its biggest Thanksgiving weekly advance since 2008, gaining 4.9%,...
Last Week Wall Street posted its worst week since early October, which would have been even worse had there not been a sharp rally on Friday. Once again, AI and the Fed dominated the narrative. Nvidia's blowout quarterly results on Wednesday after the market close...
Last Week A deal to end the longest U.S. government shutdown in history on Monday got the week off to a strong start, propelling the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new record on Tuesday, with the index closing above 48,000. Then the mood shifted over concerns about...
Last Week There was an early snowstorm in Chicago and tough sledding on Wall Street, as many of the hot sectors slipped on the ice. The Nasdaq Composite slid 3%, and Bitcoin tumbled 6.9%, while a 10% spike in the VIX, or the “Fear Index,” further suggested a risk-off...
Last Week The headline in Barron’s “The Trader” column reads “A Winning Week Masks Trouble Below the Surface”. Indeed, while the casual observer might see Wall Street scoring a three-week winning streak and closing out October on a six-month positive run, digging...
Last Week Strong earnings reports, tame inflation data, and optimism over trade relations with China combined to drive the stock market to a new record high. Investors remained unconcerned about the spike in oil prices or the government shutdown, which reached its...