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