Friends   The back and forth continues as stocks moved smartly higher today, helped by lower oil prices, despite the sluggish session we saw yesterday. It still feels like the bulls are comfortably entrenched on the high ground, but the bears continue to probe their...

Friends   Rising interest rates (bond market selling off) seemed to put a bit of a damper on the stock market today. After seeing nothing but falling rates and rising bond prices for the last several months, rates have moved decisively higher in the past week after...

Friends   Today’s non-farm payroll number came in much better than expected with 254,000 new jobs created in September vs. the 150,000 expected by analysts. We also saw a sizable upward revision in the August number. Stocks liked the news, bonds did not. Bond yields...

Friends   As we mentioned earlier in the week, recent headlines have become headwinds for stocks. Tensions in the Middle East has caused oil prices to rise fueling fears of inflation. Remember, the Fed has embarked on their easing cycle so any disruption to the...

Friends   It was a very quiet day of trading as market participants didn’t seem to have conviction in any direction. The bulls have had most of the fun so far this year, while the bears have been waiting for something to break. The strike at the East coast and Gulf...

Friends   It was a very difficult day of headlines for the markets to grapple with. Iran was firing ballistic missiles at Israel and on the domestic front we have dock workers going on strike (a potentially inflationary occurrence). The market averages were not able...

Friends   We saw a little more volatility on this last day of trading for the quarter, mainly driven by comments from Fed Chair Powell, but in the end the bulls still appear to have hold of the high ground. The Fed Chair hinted that quarter point rate cuts might be...

Friends   Stocks were mixed today as we wind our way towards the end of the 3rd quarter. On the economic front the August personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) increased 0.1% which was what analysts were expecting, putting the all-important inflation...

Friends   The bulls were back at it today as stocks moved higher at the opening bell, and were able to hold onto those gains throughout the trading session. On the economic front weekly jobless claims fell more than expected (which is good) and durable orders came in...

Friends   The Dow had a few components that had really bad days causing that index to have a larger downside move than the S&P or the Nasdaq during today's trading session. On the whole, it was another somewhat quiet day as the bulls appear to have run out of gas...

Friends,   It was a quiet day of trading with a slightly upward tilt. Market participants will be focusing on economic data in the coming weeks, looking to determine if a soft landing is indeed in the cards. It would be just fine if the market averages took a pause...

Friends,   It looked today like market participants were out of gas as markets were pretty quiet all in all. We’ve had a lot of economic data to chew on recently, and we’ve seen the Fed embark on a new path with monetary policy. A breather was warranted.   For the...

Friends,   It’s appears, at least for a day, that market participants decided not to fight the Fed. Stocks soared higher right from the opening bell and never really looked back. Not everything was a winner but the move higher in the winners greatly outpaced the...

Friends,   The Federal Reserve decided to cut the Fed Funds rate by 50 basis points today. The yield will now be 4.75% -5% (it was 5.25%-5.50%). Given the Fed probably could have cut by a quarter point back in July, today’s 50 basis points move seemed to sit fine with...

Friends   Stocks gave up early gains in today’s trading session, as market participants brace themselves for tomorrow's Fed decision on interest rates. It’s hard to tell just what the market wants to hear from the Fed. We are going to see a cut in the Fed Funds rate,...