Equities declined last week (S&P 500 -1.2%) with the bulk of the decline coming toward the end of the week. The decline came after four straight weeks of gain. Downside occurred due to Fed commentary indicating determination to fight inflation and therefore more rate increases. Downward earnings revisions and stretched valuations were also of concern. Best sectors were consumer staples (+2.0%), utilities (+1.3%) and energy (+1.3%). Biggest decliners included communication services (-3.3%), m… View More
Second Quarter Earnings Better Than Expected In Aggregate… With over 90% of companies reporting earnings for the second quarter, aggregate EPS growth of 9.7% for the S&P 500 is well above the original estimates of 5.6%. The energy sector provided a significant boost; however, 8 of the remaining ten sectors also beat their initial estimates. In addition, revenue growth of 13.7% was also better than expected. …But 2023 Earnings Per Share Estimate Being Revised Lower In our opinion, th… View More
Stocks were mixed last week (S&P 500 +0.4%). The most notable event for the week was the hot jobs report on Friday as the Fed continued to push back talk of a Fed pivot post the turn of the year. Best sectors were technology (+2.0%), consumer discretionary (+1.2%) and communication services (+1.2%); worst sectors were energy (-6.8%), real estate (-1.3%) and materials (-1.3%). At full employment, U.S. job growth should be slowing – we’re still waiting. U.S. nonfarm payrolls surged +528… View More
Stocks rallied again last week (S&P 500 +4.3%) for the third week in the past four helped by continued better than feared earnings (especially big technology companies), declines in bond yields, and valuation improvement. Best sectors were energy (+10.4%) and utilities (+6.5%); worst sectors were consumer staples (+1.6%) and healthcare (+2.0%). 2Q Aggregate Earnings & Sales Growth Improving Last week, more than 150 companies reported earnings, and overall results continued to show signs… View More
What do you do when you are technically in a recession and inflation is running out of control??? Raise taxes and increase spending on climate change of course! The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) came out at -.90% for Q2 today to confirm our country is technically in recession. The White House is trying to change the definition of recession like it does everything else these days, but the classic definition of a Recession is two quarters of negative GDP. Instead, we are being told we are in a tr… View More