Friends  It was a quiet day of trading in what should be a quiet week of trading. Markets are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving Day and then Friday is only a half day of trading. The only reason they open the market for a half day of trading on Friday is an archaic...

Friends  Despite retailers enjoying a better week than one might have expected, stocks in general experienced another less than stellar trading session. Stocks were down from the open and basically went sideways the rest of the day. As mentioned, shares of many...

Friends  We had a bit of a reversal today as stocks opened to the upside, continued to push higher, then finally ran out of gas in the last hour of trading. Good earnings reports from Walmart and Cisco helped fuel the advance at the open, then the House passing its...

Friends  We are seeing some cracks in the stock market. The question is, is this market beginning to roll over, or is this just a pause that refreshes that will lead to a year end Santa Claus rally? For many days now we have seen stocks open on the weak side, fall...

Friends  We saw some interesting volatility today as stocks opened down once again, accelerated to the downside before lunch and then spent the rest of the trading session erasing most of the losses. Home Depot had a really good earnings report, but traded down early...

Friends  Stocks were quiet today, with the exception of General Electric which after cutting their dividend experienced  an awful day of trading. A once mighty giant has really lost its way. But other than the GE news things were calm. What I find so interesting right...

Friends  First and foremost on this Veterans Day, we would just like to thank each and every man and woman who have served our great country. They have protected this country's freedom since its birth, and we owe them our gratitude.  The markets were quiet for the...

Friends We had a bit of a roller coaster ride for stocks today. Markets were weak at the open, and then news of the Senate proposed tax bill delaying the corporate tax cut until 2019 sent stocks tumbling. The day's lows saw the Dow down more than 250 points, but as we...

Friends  Another quiet day for stocks as market participants wait to see what the Senate unveils tomorrow with regards to their tax reform bill. As mentioned, traders are beginning to wonder if an actual bill can get to the President before year end, and just what...

Friends  Stocks limped along today as traders  remain concerned that  the tax bill might be a bit difficult to get enacted. Indeed, small cap stocks seemed to be the least favored today, but market participants just didn't seem to be in a buying mood.  By the close,...

Friends  Despite more domestic tragedy, Saudi intrigue and continued concerns about North Korea stocks simply forge ahead. It appears that nothing seems to be able to derail the stock markets march toward year end (was that just the kiss of death?). Oil prices have...

Friends  The non-farm payroll number came in a little shy of expectations, but still 261,000 new jobs were created and the unemployment rate is now at 4.1%. Basically we are at full employment. Average Hourly Earnings actually came in lighter than expected, so again...

Friends  There is a lot going on. First, congratulations to the Astros for their first World Series win. Good for them and good for our great city. On the business front, we got a look at the Republican tax reform plan, and we also learned who will lead the Fed going...

Friends  Stocks did little today on this last day of October. Volatility was almost non-existent as traders continue to sort through the plethora of earnings releases. Speaking of earnings, this is another busy week which will be highlighted by reports from Facebook...

Friends  Stocks recovered after yesterday's softness, as despite the occasional "sell on the good news", earnings reports continue to be good. We will get a look at Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Intel and others after the closing bell today, which will likely set the...