Friends  The Fed did indeed raise the Fed Funds rate a quarter of a point today. That takes the rate to 1.25% -1.50%. In addition, the outlook for next year is 3 quarter point rates hikes that would take the Fed Funds rate to 2%-2.25% by the end of 2018. By the end of...

Friends  Despite a nice move in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (led by Boeing and Goldman Sachs), stocks were mostly quiet today with the S&P only up slightly and the Nasdaq actually down for the day. The PPI number was a little hotter than expected which makes...

Friends  As we wait for the 2 day FOMC meeting which begins tomorrow, and while the trading world immerses itself in trading Bitcoin futures, stocks had a quiet but positive day of trading. In our mind, that the Fed will raise rates a quarter of a point on Wednesday...

Friends  The jobs number came in better than expected. 228,000 new jobs were created in November vs. the expectations of about 190,000. The unemployment rate remains at 4.1%, and average hourly earnings increased by .20% for the month and 2.5% year over year. All this...

Friends  Stocks fared a bit better today than we have seen over the past several trading sessions. It certainly wasn't anything to get excited about if you are a bull, but at least the lackluster pattern that we had been seeing was broken for a day. We have the...

Friends  It was a quiet day of trading with stocks basically hugging the break-even line for most of the trading session. The ADP private payroll number was good, which tees us up for Friday's non-farm payroll number. Nevertheless, neither the bulls nor the bears...

Friends  Stocks tried to rally today, but sellers continued to appear as the afternoon dragged on. Finally, all of the market averages fell into negative territory, with the Dow leading the way. The ISM non-manufacturing (service sector) number came in a little light,...

Friends  Though the headlines will show the Dow with a modest gain, this was a less than stellar day for stocks overall. The S&P gave up a nearly 1% early gain and the Nasdaq, which was weak all day long, ended with a greater than 1% loss. We have seen many...

Friends   It was another wild day for stocks, one which for a time looked like we were about to have the ultimate buying climax. Things did settle down a bit in the afternoon portion of the trading session as stocks came off earlier highs. More good economic news and...

Friends  Well, we had another crazy day in trading, and that's not even including Bitcoin. As the banks and retailers, not named Amazon, saw their shares advance nicely; NASDAQ, led by the momentum guys (Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook etc.) tumbled mightily. Some...

Friends  Stocks had a wild ride today as positive economic data and hopes of a Senate tax bill sent shares higher in early trading. But word of a North Korean missile test sent stocks southward giving up much of the earlier gains. After remembering that flying...

Friends  It appears traders had a tryptophan hangover as we began the new trading week. Stocks had very little direction, and market participants seemed to have very little interest. We now head into the teeth of the holiday season which often is good for stocks, but...

Friends  It was a painfully quiet day of trading. Other than reports/rumors that Apple's iPhone X is not selling as well as expected (always take Apple rumors with a grain of salt, they are usually wrong), there was not much of consequence to discuss. Energy shares...

Friends  We always like to take this opportunity during the Thanksgiving holiday to thank all of you for entrusting us with your financial future. As you know we take that responsibility very seriously, and we really do strive to provide the best service in the...

Friends  Stocks had a nice day with the market averages challenging new all-time highs, led by the big boys -Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook. After the initial early morning surge, traders seemed to disappear and stocks just floated along a rather flat line.  For...