Investment Management

By Chris Perras, CIO. The U.S. market rose last week on positive trial results for a COVID-19 vaccine and continued economic reopening measures.  As we have mentioned almost weekly since March 23rd, markets are forward-looking, so continue to expect a delay in economic activity relative to the markets. Buoyed by…

Weekly Market Update, 2020-05-18. Time in wins again. Much to the dismay of the financial news channels, equity markets are up over 3% on weekend. This was spurred by comments of Chairmen Powell, strong oil prices and positive vaccine news from Moderna. This proves again that it’s really hard to…

Weekly Market Update, 2020-05-11. Moving up, much to the dismay of the financial news channels. Yes, equity markets continued their upward move higher last week. Investors generally ignored hourly reports on “historically bad economic data” and some negative U.S. and China trade chatter. The rule remains: “Don’t fight the Fed.”…

By Chris Perras, CIO. Equity markets were mixed last week with the S&P 500 falling .2% on the back of a Thursday and Friday selloff caused by President Trump returning to the blame China playbook for the virus and our current economic situation. The Federal Reserve took a pause and…

By Chris Perras, CIO. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.10% closed 260 points higher on Friday, ending the week 1.9% down.  The Japan Nikkei (-3.2%) and German DAX (-2.7%) were the laggards.  Sector wise materials rocketing 11.1% (boosted by gold), tech (+4.5%), and energy (+2%) rounded out the top…

Weekly Market Update, 2020-04-20. Despite bad economic data and constant financial news network doomsday talk, the S&P 500 rallied 3% last week.  It closed the week at 2875.  Basically, where it based from January 2018 through Sept 2019.  In doing so, it stretched its one-month gain to 14% and pared…

Weekly Market Update, 2020-04-13. The S&P 500 is basically flat this morning at 2775. Markets were closed Friday for the Easter weekend. Through Thursday’s close, changed sentiment rallied the S&P 500 about 25% from a low reached on March 23. The broader market average has also retraced half of its…

Weekly Market Update, 2020-04-06. S&P 500 futures are up nearly 4% pre-opening this morning. This thaw would erase last week’s 2.1% decrease and chip away at the YTD loss of 23%. The 10-year Treasury rate is up 7 bps to 0.67%, retracing a good portion of last week’s decline. Virus…

Weekly Market Update, 2020-03-30. Last week US equity markets experienced historic intraweek volatility again. This time it pushed to the upside with the mid-week, three-day rally amounting to over 20% from its Monday trough to its Thursday intraday peak. And we experienced our first consecutive up-days in the market since…

Market Update, 2020-03-23. This morning, U.S. equity futures are flattish after opening trading last night limit down  (-5%). Declines were due to concerns over escalating COVID-19 cases (NYC’s become a global hot spot) and their negative economic consequences weighing heavy on U.S. and global investor sentiment. The short-term failure of…

Market Update, 2020-03-16: Historic intraweek volatility hit US equity markets again last week. Volatility in the S&P 500 has not been this high since the U.S. credit rating downgrade in 2011, which was a market low. Last week, domestic news surrounding the COVID-19 virus overshadowed better news in China and…

Market Update, 20-20-03-09: Last week US equity markets experienced significant intraweek volatility but ended the week slightly higher overall. Realized volatility of the S&P 500 has not been as high as it has over the past 10 days since the U.S. credit rating downgrade in 2011. Covid’s influence Last week,…