Friends As expected, the Fed did raise the Fed Funds rate a quarter of a point which now stands at 1.75% to 2%. The FOMC statement did indicate that they still see 2 more rate hikes this year and 3 next year. That would bring this year's total to 4 rate hikes and not...
Friends Once again, markets were somewhat unaffected by the global headlines overnight. Despite the theater in Singapore, market participants appear to be more focused on the Fed and the likelihood of the FOMC announcing a rate hike tomorrow. Stocks were mixed, with...
Friends Market participants didn't seem that concerned about the supposed "breakdown" of trade talk at the G7 meeting over the weekend. Of course traders have their eyes on the Korean summit that is about to take place, but let's not take our eye off the ball of the...
Friends As world leaders gather in Quebec for the G7 meeting, it appeared by the lack of action in the stock market today, that traders may have headed for the beach early. Stocks did post gains for the trading session, and it was a very good week in general for...
Friends Stocks were mixed today as the momentum/tech names stumbled a bit, while some blue chip names like McDonalds, Chevron and Home Depot kept the Dow in positive territory. Traders seem now to be focused on the upcoming G7 meeting and the Korean summit. For the...
Friends Well, the bulls seem to have the upper hand at the moment as they charge towards the earlier in the year highs. Stocks got off to a good start today, and things got better for the bulls as the session wore on. It wasn't so much the tech and momentum darlings...
Friends While traders contemplated the idea of an independent mind like former Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz running for president in 2020 (considering his interview on CNBC this morning, his message appeals to what has become a small minority), stocks drifted...
Friends The stock market seems to be focusing on the positives right now (the economy, corporate earnings, consumer confidence, etc.) and not the negatives which could include the consequences of possible trade wars. The bulls appear to have the upper hand right now,...
Friends Stocks rallied nicely on this first day of June buoyed by a strong jobs report. The non-farm payroll number was better than expected, the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, and the average hourly earnings numbers continues to climb-albeit at a rate that keeps...
Friends What a day a difference makes. Yesterday, the bears looked firmly in charge, and just a day later, the bulls regrouped and bought the dip. The ADP private payroll number was a little light and the first quarter GDP number was revised lower (but most...
Friends Stocks slumped under the weight of worries about Italian politics and debt and the contagion that could result. We've seen this movie before, and you probably remember the near collapse of Greece some years back. Once again, the future of the Euro is being...
Friends Stocks traded lower today with no real conviction. Yes, there were new headlines- the Summit could happen eventually, or not, etc. Actually, it was energy shares that accounted for the losses, as oil dropped significantly on word that the Saudi's may add...
Friends Stocks were off to a quiet start this morning with a slightly upward bias, when the news hit that the Summit meeting with the North Koreans was called off by the President. In what seemed like slow motion, stocks tumbled more than 250 Dow points. But, at...
Friends Stocks got off to a rough start this morning adding to yesterday's difficulties, but the Fed minutes release at 1:00 seemed to encourage the bulls to do some buying. The minutes indicated that the Fed is comfortable with inflation nearing the 2% level, and...
Friends As we mentioned yesterday, we don't have a very busy economic calendar this week but we are subject to headline risk and that is exactly what we got today. Stocks were happily drifting in positive territory early in today's trading session when the President...
