Last Week: Our TIEs (Trade, Interest rates, Earnings) theme remained the dominate narrative, with relatively benign developments on the Trade and Interest rates front and continued spectacular Earnings. Unlike most quarters when analysts make downward revisions to...
Last Week: In the words of the legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen, “You can’t forsake the ties that bind”. In today’s market those “TIEs” are Trade, Interest rates, and Earnings. Trade continues to dominate the narrative, probably because President Trump is a master...
Last Week: Wow, what a strange week. Let’s call it the Good, the Bad, and the Confusing. The Good: Corporate earnings are terrific. It now looks like 20.8% net profit growth on a 9% revenue increase. The Bad: US housing starts fell 12.3% in June to a nine-month low,...
Last Week: Global trade tensions once again dominated the news, as the U.S. announced additional tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods. Curiously, the S&P 500 responded by rallying 1.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2.3%. I believe Fed Chairman Jerome...
Last Week: Goldilocks is still alive and well, as evidenced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics initial report on the labor situation in June, which was neither too hot nor too cold. While the unemployment rate increased slightly from 3.8% to 4.0%, the entire increase...
Last Week: “TINA”, which stands for there is no alternative (to equities), has been the battle cry for the bulls during this nine- plus year rally in the market. The gamble by the Federal Reserve that pushing short-term risk-free interest rates down to zero percent...
Last Week: Resilient? But wait, you might be thinking, didn’t the market decline last week? Indeed, the S&P 500 did lose 0.89% and the DJIA 2.72%, while the Russell 2000 managed to post a fractional gain. Given the escalation in trade tensions, I think those...
Last Week: Once upon a time, a long time ago, in February and March, the market declined, and volatility spiked over concerns of a trade war and tightening monetary policy. Last week Investors (traders?) displayed tremendous resilience to those concerns. On the heels...
Last Week: Once again, the market proved resilient, with the S&P 500 gaining 1.6%, despite numerous troubling global headlines. Most of the unsettling news relates to trade issues, which clearly could become significant impediments to the global economy if the...
Last Week: Definition of Resilient from Merriam-Webster: a: capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture. b: tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. I’m not so sure about “misfortune”, but there has certainly been...