Stocks were mixed-to-down last week as political events dominated headlines. The firing of FBI Director James Comey might have impeded the administration’s tax reform and infrastructure agendas; so far, though, the market’s non-reaction may actually accelerate policymaking timelines as the administration looks ahead. Friday’s announcement of certain trade agreements with China highlighted progress on discussions that began following the President’s meeting last month with Chinese Preside… View More
Stocks continued to rally last week following the first round of France’s presidential elections. Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron emerged as the favorite to win the May 7th run off vote against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen; the latest polls show Mr. Macron, a political neophyte, leading with 60% of the vote. The two offer starkly contrasting visions for France and, by extension, the future of Europe. Mr. Macron’s candidacy has been cast, especially in light of ongoing Brexit ne… View More
Earnings are expected to come in well ahead of last year's numbers, despite a couple of notable misses this week (GS, IBM). Weak growth in 1Q16 provides an easy comp and improved nominal growth provides an additional boost for companies to report high single digit to low double digit Y/Y growth rates. S&P 500 earnings are expected to rise 10.8% Y/Y. It is worth noting the double anniversary effect of Energy sector earnings weakness, which will mitigate the lift to earnings. S&P profi… View More
With the United States and many global markets closed for Good Friday, stocks ended the short trading week lower. Trading volumes were low for much of the week, as investors may be concerned with rising tensions overseas in Syria and North Korea, and the continuation of strained diplomatic relations with Russia. Of the indexes listed here, only the Dow's losses were under 1.0%. On the other hand, the Russell 2000 and Nasdaq suffered the largest dips, falling 1.42% and 1.24% respectively. The pri… View More
Markets last week varied from unchanged (for the Dow Jones Industrial Average) to modest, or more significant, declines for the S&P 500® Index, the NASDAQ and the Russell 2000® Index, respectively. The mixed results followed the midweek release of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting minutes. Discussions among Fed officials on the gradual unwinding of bond holdings, a process known as “balance sheet normalization,” unsettled investors. Most members of the monetary policy committee a… View More