August was a choppy, but essentially flat month for the markets. The price return of the S&P 500 was -0.19%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was -0.07%, and the Nasdaq’s price return was 1.59%. The Barclays Aggregate Bond Index was up about 0.67%. As for volatility in the markets, the VIX hit its year-to-date high on August 11th, climbing nearly 70% higher than where it started the month. Much of the increase in the VIX can be attributed to the tensions with North Korea, and certainly som… View More
Our hearts go out to the families affected by the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. The American spirit is alive and well as was demonstrated to us in last week’s search and rescue of the flooded areas. We wish all of our neighbors in Texas and Louisiana a speedy recovery. Stocks rose last week on generally upbeat economic data and elevated expectations for tax reform, even as Hurricane Harvey inflicted major damage throughout Texas and Louisiana (more on this below). The September employment … View More
Last week, a broad market rally led by small cap stocks followed the previous week’s selloff. The Russell 2000® Index rose 1.45% while the other major indices also gained (the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.64%; S&P 500® Index rose 0.72% and the NASDAQ gained 0.79%). As expected, trading volumes remained low. The annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole garnered attention although the meeting did not reveal any notable changes in Fed monetary policy. Chair Yellen s… View More
Markets declined modestly in relatively light trading last week as political events continued to dominate headlines. Conservative areas of the market, including large cap stocks and Utility companies, outperformed while riskier areas of the market like small caps lagged. So far in the third quarter, the Russell 2000® Index of small companies (-3.9%) has significantly underperformed the large-cap dominated S&P 500® Index (+0.6%). Energy stocks also underperformed despite last week’s decli… View More
With unemployment below 5%, the stock market near record highs, inflation contained, and the possibility of pro-business policy changes, what could go wrong in the U.S. economy? Realistically, quite a few things. Besides the more obvious issues of war with North Korea, tensions with Russia, terrorist attacks from ISIS, the ongoing probe of President Trump and the potential that Trump may not be successful with his agenda for economic growth, there are other less reported on issues in the backgro… View More