Weekly Market Insights 01.16.24
Markets Take a Break Financial Markets Financial markets recouped some of their losses after falling the first week of the year. The S&P 500 increased by 1.84%, the Dow Industrials by 0.34% and the tech-laden NASDAQ by 3.09%. It is reasonable to expect investors to step back a bit and see what they have wrought. …
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 01.08.24
A Shaky Start Financial Markets U.S. equity markets opened the New Year on a decidedly weak note. The S&P 500 decreased by 1.52%, the Dow by 0.59%, and the NASDAQ by 3.25%. Not what investors were hoping to see after a remarkably strong 2023. Why the sudden pessimism? As was the case in 2023, it’s…
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 01.02.24
An Amazing Year and a Brave New World Financial Markets Both the economy and financial markets showed utter disregard for forecasters’ initial 2023 predictions and had very good years. Of course, the strong equity performance was driven by a very narrow part of the market, but, still, it was a very good year, indeed. The…
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 12.18.23
“And visions of sugar plums…” No doubt the story of the week, and, perhaps the year, is the present Jay Powell and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve gave to investors this past week. As all of us interested in the economy are well aware, Chairman Powell not only held interest rates steady, but gave…
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 12.11.23
Six Weeks of Gains! Financial Markets United States equity markets registered their sixth straight week of gains. The Dow increased by 0.01%, the S&P 500 by 0.21%, and the NASDAQ by 0.69%. All three indexes closed at their highest levels of the year. If this continues, sugar plums will dance in investors’ heads this Christmas. …
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 11.20.23
Is it Real? Financial Markets United States equity markets continued to gain ground this past week as investors became more confident that this rally may be more than a correction. The S&P 500 increased by 2.24%, the Dow by 1.94%, and the tech-laden NASDAQ by 2.37%. The S&P 500 has gained nearly 10% since bottoming…
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 11.13.23
All Eyes on the Government Financial Markets The NASDAQ Composite ended the week with its best day since May 26th, gaining 2.05%. Not to be left behind, the Dow and S&P 500 also experienced strong gains on Friday, advancing 1.56% and 1.15%, respectively. For the week, the Dow rose by 0.65%, the S&P 500 by…
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 11.06.23
A Great Week for Equities—Will it Last? Financial Markets It has almost become axiomatic that an equity rally follows a bond rally. That is just what happened this past week. Market participants, having seen the latest economic releases and Fed comments, have decided that the Fed’s most likely path is to hold rates where they…
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 10.30.23
A Speaker is Elected, GDP Grows, and Equities Fall Financial Markets There were several major developments last week. At long last, the House of Representatives elected its Speaker, the first preliminary reading for 3rd quarter GDP indicated that the economy is moving ahead at a good clip, and the market correction continued. Of course, that’s…
Read MoreWeekly Market Insights 10.23.23
The Four Horsemen Financial Markets There is a great sense of unease, even malaise, around the world, and it is being reflected in financial markets. This past week, the Dow fell by 1.61%, the S&P 500 by 2.39%, and the NASDAQ by 3.16%. A case can be made that it is not any one or…
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