Market Blog

Index Performance

S&P 500 Index: 1.7%

Dow Jones Industrial Average: -.2%

Nasdaq Composite: 3.7%

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Market Blog

Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. These five stocks have helped spawn a number of acronyms as they try to capture the rise of mega-cap tech stocks that have led the market higher for much of the past decade. The average return for those five stocks so far this year has been a gain of more than 30%, while the broad S&P 500 Index is just marginally positive, at 0.4% through July 30. Continue reading →

DAILY INSIGHTS

Tech stocks fuel gains to end week. The S&P 500 Index is marginally higher in early trading, as large cap growth stocks fuel gains in the technology, consumer discretionary, and communication services sectors. Asian markets were mostly lower, led by a more than 2.5% drop in Japan’s Nikkei. European markets are solidly green late in trading, despite Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) showing a record contraction for the Eurozone. Congress will try to hammer out the latest wave of stimulus money to combat economic weakness. The latest news shows the White House is willing to cut a deal with Democrats to omit liability protection for employers, a top Republican request. Continue reading →

Economic Blog

The best thing we can say about today’s US gross domestic product (GDP) report for the second quarter is that it’s behind us. GDP contracted at a 32.9% annualized rate during the quarter, the largest decline on record. If we had quarterly GDP stats during the Great Depression, this quarter’s contraction might have eclipsed those declines too. The number covering the “Great Lockdown” was historic. There isn’t much of a silver lining, but the number did come in slightly better than consensus forecasts (34.5% per Bloomberg). Continue reading →

Economic Blog

The Federal Reserve (Fed) completed its latest two-day policy meeting Wednesday, July 29, and the primary message coming from the world’s most important central bank was a continued commitment to supporting the economy as long as it’s needed—and probably even a little longer, we believe, just to provide a margin of error. Continue reading →

DAILY INSIGHTS

Stocks opened lower on big news day. Futures were already lower ahead of the historic gross domestic product (GDP) report and jobless claims data and those data points didn’t change the picture much. Asian markets were modestly lower overnight. Markets in Europe are down more than 2% in midday trading. Today is the busiest day this earnings season and includes reports from Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Facebook. Continue reading →

Market Blog

“An object in motion tends to remain in motion along a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force.” Sir Isaac Newton Continue reading →

DAILY INSIGHTS

Markets showing resilience. After finishing near their lowest trading levels Tuesday, US markets opened higher this morning. Investors are gauging the wide differences between Republicans and Democrats on the next fiscal stimulus package given the present economic climate. The Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting today is expected to be a non-event, but it will get headlines. With the exception of Hong Kong and China, Asian markets traded lower. European markets are mostly higher through midday.       Continue reading →

Economic Blog

After carving out the first part of a “V-shaped” recovery, the US economy has leveled off somewhat in response to the latest wave of COVID-19 infections. In this week’s Weekly Market Commentary: Stalling Economic Recovery May Slow Stock Market Rally, we highlighted some evidence of a pause, mostly around mobility. We also cited the recent drop in seated diners from OpenTable and the leveling off of map requests for driving directions reported by Apple Maps, and several other data points. Continue reading →

DAILY INSIGHTS

S&P 500 slightly lower with stimulus, virus in focus. The S&P 500 Index is slightly lower early today as market participants continue to assess stimulus progress, COVID-19 case growth, and earnings. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% Monday as Republicans prepared to present their version of the next stimulus bill, while COVID-19 case growth appeared to be leveling off. Most major Asian indexes were higher overnight, helped by a weaker dollar. Most major European indexes are down slightly at midday. Continue reading →