Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary January 03, 2023 The Markets It’s finally over. 2022 was a dismal year for financial markets. Major United States stock indices moved lower, trimming or eliminating the previous year’s gains. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, which had gained about 27 percent in 2021, dropped almost 20 percent in 2022. The Nasdaq Composite Index, which had gained more than 21 percent in...

Weekly Market Commentary December 27, 2022 The Markets What a year!   In some ways, it feels as though we lived through several years in 2022. The onslaught of events included, “The first major European war since the 1990s, unprecedented sanctions, energy-price mayhem, bail-outs, global interest rates rising at their fastest pace in four decades, a faltering Chinese economy, an overheating Am...

Weekly Market Commentary December 19, 2022 The Markets Bad news is bad news, once again. For months, investors have cheered bad economic news. When the United States economy showed signs of weakness, stock markets often reflected investor enthusiasm. The thinking was that bad economic news would persuade the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of rate hikes. Inflation would slide lower, and recession...

Weekly Market Commentary December 12, 2022 The Markets What comes next? The U.S. stock market tends to be a forward-looking vehicle. Investors make decisions today based on what they think may be ahead for the economy, and how economic change may affect the companies they’re considering for investment. Currently, key questions include: Will inflation be lower in 2023? Will Federal Reserve (Fed) po...

Weekly Market Commentary December 05, 2022 The Markets What will it take to slow this economy down? In 2001, railway workers slowed a runaway train in Ohio by latching a second engine to the back of the locomotive and applying the brakes. In all, the train traveled sixty-six miles over two hours, decelerating from a maximum speed of 47 miles per hour to 10 miles per hour before workers regained co...

The Markets There was a shift in the winds of monetary policy. Last week, it became clear the Federal Reserve (Fed) had softened its hawkish stance. The minutes of the central bank’s November policy meeting indicated the Fed was likely to slow the pace of rate hikes soon. There was a caveat, though. The minutes noted: “…with inflation showing little sign thus far of abating, and with supply and de...

The Markets Thanksgiving and football go together like turkey and stuffing. For some families, though, this year may be more like a turducken, stuffed with American football and the sport the rest of the world knows as football (soccer). The men’s World Cup, which is played every four years for national glory, the Jules Rimet trophy, and millions of dollars in prize money, began on Sunday and will...

Weekly Market Commentary November 14, 2022 The Markets Last week was remarkable for many reasons. One reason is that sky watchers around the world had an opportunity to see a total lunar eclipse. The moon, Earth and sun aligned, causing the moon to appear crimson. We won’t see another total lunar eclipse for three years, reported Denise Chow of NBC News. Another reason, and one that’s far more imp...

Weekly Market Commentary November 07, 2022 The Markets It’s the lag time. To no one’s surprise, the Federal Reserve continued to battle inflation last week, raising the federal funds rate for the fourth time this year, reported Claire Ballentine of Bloomberg. The Fed is making borrowing more expensive to dampen demand for goods, which should lower inflation – but it’s not a quick fix. Rate hikes a...

Weekly Market Commentary October 31, 2022 The Markets Some companies are doing better than others – a lot better. It’s earnings season; the time when companies share how well they performed during the previous quarter. Earnings reports are important because they provide information about a company’s financial health. Shareholders pay particular attention to earnings, which are company profits afte...