Friends Well, 2024 is now officially in the books. We thought the conditions for stocks were going to be good for 2024 and they were. The market averages all moved higher, but not all market averages are created equal. The S&P was up over 23%, but the equal...
Friends Stocks continue to sputter into year end. We have now given back the gains achieved after the election in November and are simply limping into year end. In my 40 years of observing markets the sell-off at year end has become more and more common, especially in...
Friends On Tuesday (Christmas Eve) we had a nice rally in a shortened trading session but today Santa had difficulties getting his sleigh off the ground. It was a very quiet trading session, and I suspect it will be quiet tomorrow too. By the close, the Dow...
Friends Today’s PCE (personal consumption expenditures) index number came in a little better than expected which helped calm things down in the bond market a bit and subsequently helped fuel a bounce back rally in stocks. The inflation index showed a 2.4% year over year increase, which as...
Friends Stocks tried to rally several times during today’s trading session, but the action in the bond market was a huge headwind for stocks. The selloff in bonds continues to move yields higher and stocks are having a difficult time reconciling with the weakness in bonds. Economic data...
Friends The Fed Chair turned into the Grinch that is trying to steal the bulls’ Christmas. Though, as expected, the Fed lowered the Fed Funds rate a quarter of a point to 4.25% to 4.50%, the takeaway from today’s Fed statement and subsequent Fed Chair press conference was...
Friends Stocks tried to move higher today ahead of this week’s FOMC meeting. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were successful, while the Dow, being held back by weakness in United Healthcare, continues to struggle. As mentioned, market participants will be focused on the Fed and Wednesday’s decision...
Friends The tug of war between the fear of missing out (FOMO) and the fear of buying high continues as stocks simply continue to meander into the holiday season. Despite the mixed inflation and employment data recently, it is still almost certain that the Fed will lower the...
Friends Today’s PPI inflation data came in a little hotter than expected. Remember, the Producer Price Index measured prices at the wholesale level. Today’s number won’t likely change the Fed’s propensity to cut rates next week, but it is a concern that inflation is still sticky, and the...
Friends Today’s CPI number came in about as expected, with inflation growing at 2.7% year over year. That is still stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target but given that a big chunk of the monthly increase was from shelter and many think that will turn lower soon, market...
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