The equity markets certainly took investors on a wild ride in the holiday shortened week. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 650 points; on Wednesday, the markets rallied with the Dow gaining 1086 points, its largest one-day gain in history. On Thursday, extreme volatility drove the Dow down over 600 points before reversing course to close up 260 points. For the week, the major indices posted gains for the first time in December, the Nasdaq rebounded from bear market territ… View More
Today is a great example of the danger of trying to time the market. In October, November, and December, investor sentiment began to sour, and the markets trended lower. The S&P 500 sold off 19.8% from September 21, 2018 through December 24, 2018. The Dow sold off 18.5% and the Nasdaq sold off 22.5% during the same period. With market losses mounting, 2018 was beginning to feel a lot like 2008. However, there are sharp contrasts between 2008 and 2018. In 2008, the US (and glob… View More
The federal government is headed for a partial government shutdown that will likely last until January 3rd when the new Congress is sworn in. This is not the first time we have had a government shutdown through the holiday season, as we had one in 1995 when Bill Clinton was president. The major difference between today and 1995 is that this will be a “partial” shutdown with nearly 75 percent of the government already funded and completely unaffected by the shutdown. That leaves just 25 pe… View More
With attention on the Federal Reserve's decision to increase rates and their updated outlook for 2019, we wanted to share an article today that CNBC published (included below). As we wrote in our commentary after the Fed's press release on Wednesday, we believe the Fed and Powell were (1) buying themselves time - and the ability to review the data that will come in that time, and (2) leaving the door wide open to reduce the number of rate hikes they may do in 2019 without closing the door on f… View More
The markets are giving investors a rational reason to remain optimistic, but with investors' focus on the Fed's statement yesterday (and their interpretation of what they think it meant) seems to be clouding their vision. The chart below shows the S&P 500's earnings per share (green line), which is what ultimately moves the stock market (blue line)higher or lower. Looking over the last three years, we've seen consistent, stable earnings growth. In early 2018, we can see the dramati… View More