Friends   Today’s final GDP revisions for the 1st quarter of 2023 showed the economy grew at 2% rather than the 1.3% that had been reported earlier. Of course, that is looking backward and gives no real insight into whether we are heading into a second half slowdown...

Friends   The bulls weren’t able to follow through on yesterday’s brief momentum. Perhaps Fed Chair Powell’s comments while being questioned on a panel full of Central Bankers took the wind out of the sails of the bulls. Basically, the Fed Chair hinted that a couple...

Friends   More detours on the path to recession helped send stocks higher today for the first time in about a week. May durable goods data was better than expected and consumer confidence in June improved more than expected too. In addition, home prices in April were...

Friends   We are closing in on the end of the month, the quarter, and the first half of the year. Stocks have seemed to run out of gas as market participants appear reluctant to doing much before the quarter end. The big seven growth names were the losers today...

Friends   Apparently, Thursday was the outlier as stocks had a downward tilt today and the rest of the week. Things feel a bit heavy, especially in those names that have carried the water lately, and economic data, though not terrible, is certainly continuing to show...

Friends   Stocks came back on the winning side of the ledger today (well except for the small loss in the Dow), with the Nasdaq and the big growth companies leading the way once again. Broaden out? Who needs to broaden out? Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft...

Friends   Stocks continue to flounder a bit after the meaty run-up in prices we have seen for much of the year and as we have mentioned, that may not be a bad thing. We are seeing the year’s high-flying leaders take a break and there are those who wonder if this...

Friends   It definitely feels like we are in a bit of a pause with regards to stock price action. Not so much a rash of selling as it is a lack of buyers wanting to commit more firepower at these levels. As I mentioned last week, that seems reasonable to me and might...

Friends   Stocks finally took a breather today, and for the bulls that is probably a good thing. It’s better to digest gains along the way than to have stocks move higher in a straight line without any pauses.   For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down...

Friends   Simply put, the bulls are in charge at the moment. Stocks are moving higher and despite what people think about the reasonableness of it all, the fact is that momentum is moving stocks higher and the fear of missing out (FOMO) is palpable. Are stocks cheap?...

Friends As we expected the Fed paused today, in other words they kept rates the same. Again, not a surprise and it also wasn’t a surprise that the statement was filled with hawkish commentary. The Fed kind of wants to stop raising rates but they don’t want you to know...

Friends The CPI number came in as expected with a reading of inflation at the retail level at 4% year over year. By that measure inflation has been more than cut in half over the last 12 months so who could blame Fed Chair Powell if he takes a victory lap during...

Friends The push higher for stocks continues despite the potential head winds of a hotter than expected CPI print tomorrow, or a goofy Fed statement on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the bulls are in charge and emboldened. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was...

Friends No one enjoys stocks going higher than I do, believe me. But labels can sometimes make me uncomfortable. For instance, today we are hearing about the “new bull market”. Yes, it is true that stocks as measured by the S&P 500 are 20% off their lows of last...

Friends   Though day to day it has often been a mixed picture, stocks continue to push higher in general. Yes, most of this year’s performance has been provided by the stars of the market, but as of late we are getting more and more participation from the masses. The...