Investment Management

Weekly Market Update. A catalyst triggered events and we are in the “summer stall” mode for the stock market which, in our view, started on April’s “Tax Day.” Catalyst action A higher-than-expected U.S. inflation report last week acted as enough of a summer catalyst for traders to cause equity markets…

Summer stall parked the stock market. This started mid-April, on Tax Day. We spoke of this coming in our April 9 podcast, “Volatility for Traders = Opportunity for Investors.” And we spoke of this in our April 12 Market Update, “New ATHs — Throttling it Back.” And here it is……

Economic recovery was overlooked because of continued concerns over higher trending corporate and individual tax rates led by the Democrat-controlled federal government. Therefore, these helped the S&P 500 churn for another week as it sits almost exactly where it did on Tax Day, April 15. The S&P 500 was flat…

Weekly Market Update: 2021-04-26. The S&P 500 churned last week, starting with an early-week sell-off that was reversed on Wednesday. But those gains were given back in the span of one hour on Thursday. The cause: concerns about the Biden tax plan. And the market mostly recovered once again on…

Market Update, 2021-04-19. The bull market and the S&P 500 rose again last week to another new ATH. This was the fourth consecutive week of gains. This is the first such streak since last August (which did mark a short-term top in the markets for 2 months of up and…

Market Update: 2021-04-12: No bubble. The S&P 500 rose 2.7% last week to more new all-time highs (ATHs). Its year-to-date gain stands close to 10% on the back of easing U.S. virus restrictions and improved economic data. This is in sharp contrast versus the draconian — and wrong — Q4…

Market Update, 2021-04-04: Marching to new all-time-highs (ATHs). Despite the hyped headlines and supposed market volatility, stocks finished the first quarter at more new ATHs. With a return of 5.7% for the S&P 500 for the first quarter, 2021 ranks third in first-quarter performance during the last 10 years. With…

Market Update: Significant. Overall equity markets rose last week, much to the dismay of the financial press amongst a further collapse in both spot market and future month volatility. The S&P 500 rose 1.6%, with more defensive and rate-sensitive leadership, utilities and consumer staples leading the pack as interest rate…

Market Update. Equity markets were marginally lower last week as the Federal Reserve was unchanged and stuck to the script. However, short term, longer-term interest rates continued to rise. The S&P 500 dropped 0.8%, with year-to-date leaders, energy and banks leading the declines. Telecom and consumer staples (defensive low-beta sectors)…

Market Update: Bull, not bear. Last week, the S&P 500 rose 2.6% last week to new highs and is now up 5.0% year-to-date. How can that be?  Long-term interest rates are rising.  The 10-year Treasury yield is slightly lower this morning at 1.62% after extending its year-to-date advance to 70…

Market Update: Again, equity markets ignore “smarter” bearish arguments — and rise. Overall equity markets rose last week. Yes, you read that correctly. Overall, measuring from the close of Friday, Feb. 26, to the close of Friday, Mar. 5, the S&P 500 was up. Listen to the day-to-day financial news…

Market Update: Equities pullback, but economic recovery should gain speed. Global equities were down across the board last week with the NASDAQ (-4.9%) leading the way. Most sectors were in the red with the biggest losses in health care (-8.2%) and tech (-8.1%). Gains in banks (+1.5%) and consumer discretionary…