On Friday, the much anticipated earnings season began with JP Morgan reporting earnings 5% above expectations; positive commentary by management on the strong demand for credit by consumers and businesses helped propel the Financials sector higher. The Nasdaq led all indices for the week (0.57%) followed by the S&P 500® (0.51%) and the Russell 2000® Index (0.14%); the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.05%. The S&P 500® reached an important milestone on Friday when the Index cro… View More
China’s release of strong economic data last Sunday set the stage for across-the-board market gains in an otherwise quiet week leading into next week’s start of earnings season. The Russell 2000® Index (2.78%) led the major indices followed by the Nasdaq (2.71%), S&P 500® Index (2.06%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (1.91%). Last Monday’s momentum extended through the week with upbeat comments from U.S. and Chinese officials on the progress of trade negotiations; a meeting… View More
The S&P 500's performance for the first quarter is its best quarterly gain since Q3 of 2009 and its finest start to the year since 1998. The quarter certainly benefited from an oversold bounce back after the fourth quarter's heavy 14% slump, but analysts still see a positive period ahead. While there could be some bumps in Q2 as the market struggles with earnings growth and a slower economy, positive U.S. China trade relations and investing sentiment could propel stocks higher. The last da… View More
The tug-of-war between the bulls and bears continued with mixed economic data and the absence of significant market catalysts. On Friday, all of the major indices sold off on global growth concerns and ongoing trade tensions. For the week, the Russell 2000® Index fell 2.67%, followed by the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-1.34%), the S&P 500® Index (-0.77%), and the Nasdaq (-0.60%). The Federal Reserve provided news headlines on Wednesday: the Fed lowered its 2019 U.S. economic grow… View More
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Committee announced (as we have been expecting) that they would not raise rates again in 2019. Powell indicated that the Fed's pausing is because of a more significant slowdown in growth than anticipated. Much of this "slow down" is being measured through "Industrial Production." We think the magnitude of the slow down may be a little overstated. Below is a chart of U.S Industrial production over the last five years. As you can see, the current drop i… View More