Weekly Market Commentary November 20, 2023 The Markets Is it done? (We’re not talking about the turkey.) Last week, investors enthusiastically embraced the idea that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could be done raising rates – and that it might even begin to lower them. As conviction about the possibility of rate cuts increased, stock and bond markets rallied, reported Koh Gui Qing and Dhara Ranasinghe...

Weekly Market Commentary November 13, 2023 The Markets Earnings grew in the third quarter. Four times a year, during earnings season, publicly traded companies report how well they performed during the previous quarter. The strength of corporate earnings – also known as bottom-line profits – is one of the economic indicators that investors watch closely. When companies consistently grow earnings,...

Weekly Market Commentary November 06, 2023 The Markets Will there be a year-end rally? Last week, there was a lot of speculation about whether the United States will see a year-end stock market rally. Some say yes, and some say no. For example, at Bank of America, “Chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett broke from his usual bearish view to say technicals no longer stand in the way of a year-...

Weekly Market Commentary October 30, 2023 The Markets The Mark Twain Effect? Historically, economic theory was based on the idea that financial decisions were grounded in rational thought. In recent years, behavioral economists have recognized that people don’t always behave rationally. In fact, research has found that investors like shortcuts that help simplify decision-making. While rules of thu...

Weekly Market Commentary October 23, 2023 The Markets Stay calm and consider the big picture. Today, investors have a myriad of worries that are creating tremendous uncertainty. A September Investopedia survey found investors are concerned about how their investments may be affected by: Inflation (59 percent), The upcoming election (52 percent), A possible recession, (51 percent) Higher interest r...

Weekly Market Commentary October 16, 2023 The Markets Markets were resilient. Last week, investors had a lot to process – geopolitics, inflation, consumer sentiment, the possibility of government shutdown – and markets were volatile. Toward the end of the week, some investors were reassured when earnings season kicked off with reports showing major banks posted stronger-than-expected profits durin...

Weekly Market Commentary October 09, 2023 The Markets Financial markets lost ground during the third quarter. While year-to-date returns for the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index remain above the historic average, which was 10.24 percent, including dividends, from 1973 to 2022, the rally in U.S. stocks stalled during the third quarter of 2023, reported Lewis Krauskopf, Ankika Biswas and Sh...

Weekly Market Commentary October 02, 2023 The Markets Inflation is slowing but consumers aren’t feeling it. In August, for the first time in two years, inflation (excluding volatile food and energy costs) dropped below four percent. Last week, one of the Federal Reserve (Fed)’s favored inflation measures – the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index – indicated that prices rose 3.9 per...

Weekly Market Commentary September 25, 2023 The Markets How high will they go? Just as the market anticipated, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) chose not to raise interest rates last week. However, Fed officials made it clear another rate increase might be necessary before the end of 2023 as continued economic strength, higher energy prices, robust consumer spending, and rising wag...

Weekly Market Commentary September 11, 2023 The Markets All the work, work, work. 2023 has been a remarkable year so far. It has, “confounded economists, humbled forecasters, and rewarded investors. Despite a rapid rise in interest rates, the U.S. economy continues to grow. Inflation has fallen – if not quite to desired levels – and stocks have entered a bull market, with the S&P 500 gaining 1...