The US economy added 313,000 new jobs in March compared to consensus estimates of 200,000. This was a big surprise to Wall Street. Further adding to the robust showing was the labor participation rate which showed more than 800,000 Americans entering the workforce. Markets interpreted this news favorably and stocks surged. Unlike the February jobs […]

The stock market suffered a severe setback at the outset of February. Numerous factors might have contributed to the mayhem but the overriding reason for the damage was fears of higher interest rates. The stock market has an indelible link with interest rates. This is a problem, right now. Lower interest rates push down borrowing […]

Thine Market is an Outlier The New Year started with a bang as the stock market shrugged off a languid, but steady, a pattern of advance in 2017 and shifted into a steepening ascent. The renowned investment manager, Jeremy Grantham, most famous for his longstanding bearish view, joined the enthusiasm by proclaiming, “As a historian […]

What is the investment playbook for the dawn of the New Year? Predictions for 2018 abound but none are really more than just opinions and you should remain suspect of the validity of these opinions. They often miss the mark. Last year, the market defied everybody. Analyst’s forecasts fell way short for the stock market. […]

Stocks Continue to Climb The market climbed inexorably higher during the third quarter. This relentless march upward without yielding a meaningful decline is virtually unprecedented. Usually, even in the best of years, the market always sustains ordinary pullbacks. 2017 might end up being the first time the market has made positive returns every calendar month […]

It is normal for the stock market to have setbacks, on a regular basis. Usually, the stock market always goes through a garden variety 5% or 10% correction, even during strong years. Declines of this magnitude occurred in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, etc. Sometimes these declines happen more than once. But, this year is […]

The market and our client accounts continue to grind higher in the early stages of this quarter. If historical measures could serve as a guidepost, the outlook for the market is strong. Since 1945, when the market has been up in January and February, it has finished the year positive all 27 of 32 times […]

A “Goldilocks” Market Turmoil in Washington, geopolitical concerns, a four hundred point one day drop in the DOW, and higher interest rates were not enough to keep the markets from creeping higher in the second quarter. Led by the FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google) markets were able to largely dismiss the predominantly […]

This quarter, the market shrugged off geopolitical uncertainty and has moved back to the top end of its trading range that it first set in February. A lack of progress in Washington, international conflict, and the French elections has not been able to derail the markets. The S&P 500 is back to 2400, its record […]

1st Quarter 2017 Market Overview The Big Picture Following the financial crisis in 2008-2009, the market staged a recovery but it began to run out of juice by 2011. At that time, the Federal Reserve was trying to figure out how to repair our economy and help it escape the lingering ills of the crisis. […]