Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary March 03, 2025 The Markets Is it supposed to be doing that? At the end of last year, economists believed the chance of a recession in 2025 was relatively low. In December, economist Torsten Sløk wrote, “The outlook for the US economy remains strong with no signs of a major slowdown going into 2025.” The economy has not been performing as expected, though. “The U.S. Citi Ec...

Weekly Market Commentary February 24, 2025 The Markets A difference of opinion. Broadly speaking, there are two types of investors: individual investors and institutional investors. Individual investors buy and sell investments to grow their personal wealth. This group of investors often works with financial advisors as they pursue their financial goals. Individual investors tend to invest smaller...

Weekly Market Commentary February 18, 2025 The Markets Why are stock markets wary of tariffs? In two of the last three weeks, tariff announcements led to late week stock market sell-offs. Stocks quickly recovered lost value, but uncertainty about the administration’s trade policy and the potential impact of that policy on U.S. companies remained. That’s likely to be the case until it becomes clear...

Weekly Market Commentary February 10, 2025 The Markets Optimism headed south on Friday. After rising for most of the week, stock markets lost momentum last Friday as economic data raised doubts about further Federal Reserve rate cuts, reported Rita Nazareth of Bloomberg. Late in the day, President Trump announced new tariffs would be imposed this week, and stocks dropped into negative territory. C...

Weekly Market Commentary February 03, 2025 The Markets Wait! What just happened? Last week, investors were inundated with market-moving data and news. Stock markets gyrated as investors tried to process everything that was occurring. Here’s some of what happened: China surprised the artificial intelligence industry The week got off to a rough start with major United States stock indices declining...

Weekly Market Commentary January 27, 2025 The Markets What moves financial markets? The short answer is: Lots of things! Almost one hundred years ago, Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd wrote, “the market is a voting machine, whereon countless individuals register choices which are the product partly of reason and partly of emotion.” Today, the same holds true. Stock prices are influenced by many f...

Weekly Market Commentary January 21, 2025 The Markets As the markets turn. Last week, investors breathed a sigh of relief when the latest price data showed core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, moved lower in December. Investors has been worried because economists forecasted inflation would be stickier in December, reported Frank Lee of Morningstar. If that proved out, th...

Weekly Market Commentary January 13, 2025 The Markets Bond yields are rising—and they have investors’ attention. Last year, the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) lowered the federal funds rate by one percent. (The federal funds rate is the interest rate the Fed charges banks. It influences other interest rates.) This shift in Fed policy made a lot of people happy. Companies, business owners, and...

Weekly Market Commentary January 06, 2025 The Markets Hello, 2025!  As we head into a new year, it can be helpful to look back at the previous year—and 2024 was a doozy. Stocks in the United States delivered a double-double—posting double-digit gains for a second year in a row. That kind of performance is a relative rarity and has only occurred nine times over the last 96 years, according to...

Weekly Market Commentary December 30, 2024 The Markets Consumers were more optimistic. Investors were less so. As we neared the end of 2024, U.S. consumers were feeling optimistic. Every month the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers conducts about 600 interviews with American households, asking interviewees about their personal finances, business conditions, and buying conditions. In Decemb...