The S&P 500's performance for the first quarter is its best quarterly gain since Q3 of 2009 and its finest start to the year since 1998. The quarter certainly benefited from an oversold bounce back after the fourth quarter's heavy 14% slump, but analysts still see a positive period ahead. While there could be some bumps in Q2 as the market struggles with earnings growth and a slower economy, positive U.S. China trade relations and investing sentiment could propel stocks higher. The last da… View More
The tug-of-war between the bulls and bears continued with mixed economic data and the absence of significant market catalysts. On Friday, all of the major indices sold off on global growth concerns and ongoing trade tensions. For the week, the Russell 2000® Index fell 2.67%, followed by the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-1.34%), the S&P 500® Index (-0.77%), and the Nasdaq (-0.60%). The Federal Reserve provided news headlines on Wednesday: the Fed lowered its 2019 U.S. economic grow… View More
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Committee announced (as we have been expecting) that they would not raise rates again in 2019. Powell indicated that the Fed's pausing is because of a more significant slowdown in growth than anticipated. Much of this "slow down" is being measured through "Industrial Production." We think the magnitude of the slow down may be a little overstated. Below is a chart of U.S Industrial production over the last five years. As you can see, the current drop i… View More
For the first time since October, the S&P closed above the 2815 level to end last week. Technology has driven this last leg higher with the equally-weighted Nasdaq 100 right on the cusp of fresh all-time highs and the Semiconductors continuing to exhibit leadership. More broadly though, the market still appears to be in the midst of a consolidation phase with the Russell 2000 still below its February highs and the Transportation stocks again lagging. These aren’t major blemishes, but … View More
While last week marked just the second down week of the year for the S&P, many individual names have been consolidating since mid-February. The equity markets declined, with the worst 1-week performance this year, on mixed economic data. For last week the Russell 2000® Index, the weakest performer, fell 4.26%, followed by Nasdaq (-2.46%), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-2.21%), and the S&P 500® Index (-2.16%.) Low trading volumes suggest that many investors are sitting on the… View More