Last Week: It was a mixed bag of tricks and treats for stocks, with the S&P 500 suffering its worst decline since Halloween at -1.5%, while the Russell 2000 gained 1.5%, and 1827 advancing issues outnumbered 1402 decliners. The dollar, gold, and interest rates were all largely unchanged. I guess you could call it a “quiet” week in the market. The economic data continued to soften, with Retail Sales for December [...]
Last Week: Cheers! The Wall Street party raged on as the S&P 500 rose 1.8%, to 3824.68, Nasdaq Composite gained 2.4%, and the Russell 2000 surged 5.9%. It was the best start to a year for small caps since 1987 (causing a party on North Star Street). On the other hand, partygoers found a sober and somber setting on Bourbon Street, Rush Street, and other restaurant and bar hot spots. New [...]
Last Week: If a ball drops in Time’s Square but the public is not invited, then is it still New Year’s Eve? In any event, the party on Wall Street raged on, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.43% to finish at a new record high. Profit-taking hit the small caps, as the Russell 2000 declined 1.45%, but still posted its best quarter ever. The dollar finished at a two-year low, gold [...]
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 fiscal stimulus bill on Tuesday, but before the ink could dry, President Trump refused to sign it. Spoiler alert: Skip to [...]
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 benefits which unexpectedly jumped to the highest level in three months, suggesting the labor market’s recovery is faltering amid the surge in Covid-19 cases and widening business restrictions. [...]
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 downbeat as the week progressed. The surge in COVID-19 cases raged on, with record new cases and deaths. The $908 billion stimulus package [...]
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 equities as investors concluded that the weak numbers will lead to compromise on a near-term relief package. One has to start to question this “glass is half full” mentality in [...]
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 a carry against my beloved Bears. On a brighter note, the market continued to climb to new record highs fueled by additional vaccine announcements, Biden’s [...]
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 hosted a party at Standard Club (now closed after 150 years in business) with a group of twenty friends for a [...]
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 haste. On that news the market surged on the opening and spent the rest of the week trying to hold those gains, with the S&P 500 [...]