The equity markets ended this holiday-shortened week essentially unchanged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.12%) and the Nasdaq (+0.11%) led with modest gains followed by the Russell 2000® Index (+0.02%) while the S&P 500® Index fell 0.22%. Shortly before the markets closed on Friday, President Trump announced a deal with lawmakers to approve a bill which would reopen the federal government until February 15th while negotiations continue. State unemployment claims for last week … View More
The equity markets recovery continued last week led by a 2.96% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average followed by the S&P 500® Index (2.87%), Nasdaq (2.66%) and Russell 2000® Index (2.43%). Corporate earnings season began last week with major financial institutions including Citigroup, JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs; each posted earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations despite low trading revenues related to December’s severe volatility. The companies believe t… View More
The equity market recovery continued this week as the oil price rebound, Federal Reserve comments regarding ‘patience’ in interest rate policies, and mid-level trade negotiations with China improved investor sentiment. The lack of progress on the government shutdown, which on Saturday will become the longest in history, apparently did not influence market sentiment. Fears of a recession subsided as the Russell 2000® Index led the markets with a 4.83% gain followed by Nasdaq (+3.45%); S… View More
Friday’s rally provided a welcomed start to the New Year as all of the major indices posted solid gains. For the week, the Russell 2000® Index (3.20%) led all of the major indices, followed by the Nasdaq (2.34%), S&P 500® Index (1.86%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (1.61%). Consumer sentiment rose on positive employment data, and comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Powell. Friday’s release of the December employment report included 312,000 jobs in December, the largest month… View More
Each year our Friend Bob Doll, who is Chief Equity Strategist & Senior Portfolio Manager at Nuveen asset management, gives his view on the new year. His insights are very thoughtful and give us some insight to the year ahead. Below are Bob’s comments for 2019 and how he believes the year will unfold in the Economy, markets and some insight to geopolitical events that could affect your portfolios. 2019: Choppy and frustrating, but no recession First a look back at a disappointing 20… View More