Friends  Florida got hit bad by hurricane Irma, but it wasn't quite the destructive blow that many had feared. Add that to the fact the North Koreans didn't fire any missiles or do additional nuclear tests over the weekend, and market participants were poised and...

Friends  As Irma bears down on Florida, the markets seem to be somewhat on hold. While everyone keeps an eye on the storm, we'll also hope that nothing disturbing happens this weekend with the North Korean situation. We'll just have to stay tuned for all of it.  In...

Friends  Stocks were mostly quiet today other than shares of Disney (a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average) which suffered from an early earnings warning. Other than that everyone seems focused on just where Hurricane Irma will hit and what kind of damage could...

Friends  As our city of Houston attempts to recover, Irma is now assaulting islands in the Caribbean and threatening Florida and beyond. That would have been the biggest news of the day had President Trump not made a deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi on...

Friends  Was it "September is a bad month for stocks"? Or, how about Irma bearing down on Florida? Perhaps it was the North Koreans becoming more nuclear capable. Maybe it was a lack of confidence that anything positive can come out of the fiscal side of the equation...

Friends  September got off to a decent start for stocks despite a less than stellar jobs report. 156,000 new jobs were created in August and the unemployment rate came in at 4.4%. Average hourly earnings continue to tick up but at a snail's pace. Fed watchers seem to...

Friends  Stocks rallied on this last day of August, which helps the market averages actually show gains for August (which is often a difficult month for stocks). Though we continually get headlines that would concern even the most optimistic investor, it appears the...

Friends It has been several very trying days for our great city, and I hope all of you are well. The markets have been mostly quiet this week. The North Korean's launched a missile over Japan on Monday afternoon, and stocks sold off early on Tuesday morning, but...

Friends   You know the old saying, the talk of tax reform cooperation giveth and the the talk of government shutdowns and debt ceilings taketh away. After yesterday's healthy rally, stocks gave a portion of it back as much of the "good feelings" somewhat melted away. ...

Friends  Well, today's stock market rally was a bit of a surprise. Just the hint that there might be some meeting of the political minds with regards to tax reform seemed to fire up the animal spirits (or scare the shorts a bit) of market participants. Whatever the...

Friends  By the looks of the market action today, everyone must have been out watching the eclipse. Stocks drifted aimlessly for most of the trading session, as for one day at least, we didn't have any major political headlines. We are moving into a quiet time as...

Friends  Another day of political headlines.  I considered just ending the email right there. I know I'm exhausted with it all, but nevertheless the markets trade on. After being down about 100 Dow points, the news of White House aid Steve Bannon's dismissal sent...

Friends  Terrorism in Barcelona, White House Intrigue, technical omens- all too much for the markets to take today. Stocks were sold at the open and things got worse as the trading session wore on. Traders have no idea what political headlines they will have to deal...

Friends  Despite more political theater (that never ends) and the Fed minutes that indicate that the FOMC is ready to start reducing the balance sheet (sell bonds) next month, stocks still held their ground. The White House turmoil did take the winds out of the sails...

Friends  Stocks were quiet for much of the trading session as things were "relatively" calm on both the geopolitical front and also on the domestic front. Home Depot's earnings were better than expected and they raised their outlook going forward, but the stock...