Friends   We have seen intraday volatility pick up recently as news or rumors out of the Middle East combined with comments from Fed officials, especially Fed Chair Powell, continue to move stocks and bonds in various directions. On the earnings front United...

Friends   Stocks got off to a great start this morning only to run into massive headwinds as the trading session wore on. First, we have concerns over the mess in the Middle East, then on the economic front we got a hotter than expected retail sales number this...

Friends   Jitters about global tensions and jitters about corporate earnings sent stocks lower today. Earnings from the big banks were good but it didn’t seem to matter. Buyers disappeared and sellers were left to their own devices.   For the day, the Dow Jones...

Friends   The PPI number came in a little better than expected which helped take the pressure off of stocks, although the bears did try to press the situation early in the trading session. But the bulls did step in and did some buying to move stocks higher by the...

Friends   We teed up the CPI number for you yesterday and sure enough it came in on the hot side of our range. Month over month we saw the CPI up .4 vs. the .3 that was expected, and the all-important year over year number came in up 3.5% vs. the 3.4% expected. Stocks...

Friends   Market participants are very indecisive as we wait for tomorrow's inflation report. Stocks started higher, took a couple of legs lower (down 300 Dow points midday) and then recovered into the close. As we mentioned yesterday, if tomorrow’s number is hot...

Friends   Stocks were quiet as traders wait for inflation data to be released this week. On Wednesday we will get a look at the Consumer Price Index and then on Thursday we will get the Producer Price Index. Remember, the last couple of months CPI data has been a...

Friends   This morning’s employment numbers were better than expected once again. In March 303,000 new jobs were created vs. the 200,000 expected, and the unemployment rate fell back to 3.8% after ticking up to 3.9% last month. Average hourly earnings came in as...

Friends   It was quite a reversal day for stocks. After a nice opening where it appeared that buyers were willing to step in and buy the recent weakness, market participants worrying that tomorrow’s jobs number would be too good began to sell. Yes, good news...

Friends   The stock market is off to a horrible start here in the second quarter of 2024 as market participants are becoming weary given the bullish narrative of Fed rate cuts continues to dissipate. Coming into 2024 there was a common belief that the Fed could lower...

Friends   Stocks slumped on this first day of the new quarter as bond yields pushed higher. As we prepare for the upcoming earnings season, investors are beginning to ask themselves if the Fed is going to follow through with rate cuts that were...

Friends   So, today’s Fed release and subsequent press conference with Jerome Powell delivered a message that was pretty much anticipated. The statement indicated that the Fed sees 3 quarter point rate cuts in the Fed Funds rate in the second half of the year. That is...

Friends   Stocks finished the quarter strong with the market averages pushing new all-time highs. We’ve said that conditions have been right for higher stock prices and that was certainly true in the first quarter of 2024. We have also worried that valuation is...

Friends   As we have seen time and time again lately, stocks just can’t stay down for long. After a few days of lackluster interest, the bulls seemed to have rediscovered their appetite for stocks. Nothing has really changed with regards to the investing environment...

Friends   As the market waits for new inflation data and a holiday released jobs report on Friday, stock buyers seemed to be biding their time. The market averages were lower but not in any meaningful way. We might just be in a spot where we drift into the quarter...