Floating Forward

The Dow & S&P 500 Edge To Fresh Records… The S&P crept to a new high as investors were duly impressed by a host of impressive earnings reports. The ‘broad’ stock market gauge added 217 points or 0.2% to reach 4468 on Friday’s close, clinching its 48th record close of 2021. Impressive Indeed. The Dow … Read more

A Tenacious Market

The market is tough, strong and sturdy, and able to withstand the ‘tech’ route. After all when you live by Big Tech, you die by Big Tech. That’s just what happened this past week. Big techs floundered and lost ground, but the value stocks maintained their course. Outstanding earnings reports by these mammoth techs didn’t … Read more

The Roller Coaster

The Bears made an unexpected appearance, short-lived as it was at the start of the week, retreating back to hibernation by weeks’ end. Our friendly bull took a break, but showed himself strongly on Friday, with the bears nowhere in sight. As the week kicked off, an appearance by the bears shoved the Dow Jones … Read more

The Inflation Puzzle

U.S. Stocks Fall, Posting a Weekly Loss… U.S. stocks fell, snapping a three-week streak, as data showed consumer sentiment regressed in early July, driven in part by concerns of high inflation. The week was ‘marked’ by several choppy sessions of trading, as investors digested a higher-than-expected inflation reading on Thursday, including comments by Fed Chairman … Read more

The Steadfast Bull

The stock market closed out the week with bullish gains in lower volume, led by financial, energy, and materials stocks. The ‘topsyturvy’ week ended with the indices hitting fresh records. The Sentiment was positive as money flowed out of bonds and into stocks. The 10-year yield snapped a sharp weekly decline, rising 7 basis points … Read more

Accelerating Markets

The Big News is… The U.S. labor-market recovery is accelerating after a spring lull. Employers added 850,000 jobs in June-the biggest gain in 10 months- and workers’ wages jumped briskly, the government said Friday. Both were strong signs of a developing, yet robust economy, still with a strong demand for workers. Job growth lagged behind, … Read more

Markets Rally

Markets bounced back with a vengeance, with a broad rally this past week. Flowing optimism about the global recovery, and a new stimulus lifted most stocks. It was the best week since February, fueled by robust gains among shares of everything from banks to oil producers and all types of manufacturers. As the week opened, … Read more

The Creeping Inflation?

No one was expecting much from the Federal Reserve this past week. Rates weren’t predicted to rise and no one was expecting a start to tapering. Instead the entire process of ‘tightening’ monetary policy looks to have finally started — with a long awaited market correction. It certainly didn’t work that way immediately after the … Read more

Oblivious Investors

Consumer inflation now is running at a 5% annual rate, the fastest pace since mid-2008. Fed policy makers dismiss the current increase as “transitory,” an extraordinary phenomenon that will disappear once the economic effects of measuring from the past year’s pandemic depressed price levels end and supply catches up. Interestingly Deutsche Bank warns that “neglecting … Read more

The Treasury Rules

Treasury yields drop after U.S. jobs report signaled that the labor market may take longer than expected. The 10 year yield which tends to rise when investors expect periods of growth and… inflation has spent several months stalled near 1.6%. The yield for the ‘benchmark 10-year Treasury note finished Friday’s session at 1.559%, according to … Read more