A Confusing World Financial Markets Equity markets could not maintain their early week gains.  No one can blame market participants with a short-term outlook for taking some money off the table.  The markets and the economy remain confusing, but that is often the case.  The domestic political situation is, by and large, unprecedented.  The Republican…

A Breakthrough Financial Markets After what seemed like ages, Congress made a breakthrough in a temporary funding action by passing a Continuing Resolution.  What seemed as perfunctory in years past was held up by a smallish group of ideologues in Congress.  Clearly, ideology collapsed, as it became evident that voters were turning against them.  Joseph…

A Confused Market Financial Markets By any measure, it has been a difficult three weeks for investors.  It culminated this past week with all three major indexes being buffeted.  The Dow fell by 1.89%, the S&P 500 by 2.93%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ by 3.62%.  A difficult week indeed.  Of course, this did not happen…

A Bad Week for Tech Financial Markets Technology stocks, the market leaders for the year, reversed course and drove equity markets down this past week.  Of course, there were other pressures, but the tech sector stood out.  The Dow was the only index that could hold any of the gains from earlier in the week. …

The G-20 without China and Russia Financial Markets Equity markets declined last week, led by two dominant technology companies.  They are, of course, Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA).  The Dow fell by 0.75%, the S&P 500 by 1.29%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ by 1.93%.  Friday found some relief, but it was clearly a tough week…

Markets Struggle with Good News Financial Markets The long-awaited Jackson Hole meeting came and went, and Chairman Powell’s speech, although not particularly bullish, was far from bearish.  Throughout the week, there were a number of positive economic reports.  Earnings reports were generally fine and the market ended mixed.  The Dow lost 0.45%, the S&P 500…

Earnings Rise, Prices Fall Financial Markets Two out of the three major equity markets fell last week in the midst of positive earnings reports.  Historically, August has been a weak month for equities, but there must be a better explanation. The Dow gained 0.62%, the S&P 500 fell 0.31%, and the NASDAQ fell 1.90%.  One…

A U.S. Downgrade and Markets Slump Financial Markets This past week saw both the debt and equity markets declined.  The Dow fell 1.11%, the S&P 500 fell 2.27%, and the NASDAQ Composite fell 2.85%.  Before last week’s decline, the S&P 500 had risen 28% from its October low.  As you will see in the Economic…

The Week That Was! Financial Markets United States financial markets continued on their remarkable run this past week.   The Dow gained 2.08%, the S&P 500 gained 0.69%, while the NASDAQ fell 0.57%.  It really has been a remarkable show of investor confidence.  When we look at the past year, there are many things that could…

A Sigh of Relief! Financial Markets Equity investors breathed a sigh of relief this past week.  The Dow rose 2.29%, the S&P 500 rose 2.42%, and the NASDAQ rose 3.32%.  The relief rally was spurred by a softer than anticipated inflation report and an encouraging start to 2nd quarter earnings season by a handful of…