Friends Stocks drifted lower for the 3rd trading session in a row. Again, at this point the pullback is nothing unusual or dramatic, but it is notable in that it’s been a while since we’ve seen anything but higher stock prices. Stretched valuations have entered the...

Friends, Stocks have hit a bit of a headwind as we wind our way into quarter end, with AI names finally running out of steam. We’ve have seen these brief pauses in the past couple of years with regards to the high flying tech/AI names, but a move to higher highs has...

Friends Stocks continued higher as the bulls appear very comfortable at the moment as they find themselves firmly entrenched on the high ground. The 10-year Treasury Note has pushed a little higher in yield since Wednesday’s Fed Funds rate cut, which we suspected it...

Friends So far, it appears the “don’t fight the Fed” narrative is winning as the bulls pushed the market averages to new highs. Despite the uncertainty of when and how much, it is almost certain that the Fed will be lowering rates again in the near future, and that...

Friends As expected the Federal Reserve lowered the Fed Funds rate one quarter of a point. The new range is 4.00 to 4.25%. The Fed Chair indicated that the risk has shifted to the weakening labor market, but made it clear that there is no risk free path forward. In...

Friends Stocks eased higher today as market participants braced for a very important Fed meeting this week. On Wednesday afternoon we’ll get the statement on the policy decision and then Chair Powell’s press conference. Word that trade talks with China have been...

Friends Investors were cautious as the trading week came to a close as they braced for next week’s FOMC meeting, and the likelihood that the Fed is likely to begin to lower rates again. The question remains whether that is already priced into stocks. We will see. As...

Friends   On a month to month basis, this morning’s CPI number actually came in a little hotter than expected, but the year over year number was in line with expectations. Nevertheless, despite what could be perceived as a slightly troublesome measure of current...

Friends Stocks pushed higher despite concerns about another revised labor report and nervousness about upcoming inflation data. We discovered today that 911,000 fewer jobs were created over the past 12 months than previously reported. Yikes. But, the data does add to...

Friends Stocks leaned higher today but with very little conviction. Thursday’s CPI number is in investors’ crosshairs as it is the inflation reading that could cause the Fed to dampen their enthusiasm for a rate cut next week. Remember, the jobs market appears to have...

Friends Today’s jobs report was another softer number than expected. Only 22,000 jobs were created in August vs. the 75,000 expected. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%. As we have noted for a while now the unemployment picture in the US has been weakening for...

Friends Stocks were somewhat mixed in today's trading with the Dow losing ground while the S&P and Nasdaq both posted gains. Gains in the shares of Alphabet (Google) and Apple helped fuel the move higher in the Nasdaq. But overall, there is a feeling that the...

Friends It was a difficult start to September for the bulls with questions about whether tariffs are legal or not and what outcome is actually better or worse for the markets. Stay tuned as that all plays out at the Supreme Court. In the meantime, September and...

Friends It appears that market participants wanted to take some profits after another good month for stocks and before a 3-day weekend. We did get the Core PCE number today, a key inflation measure, and it showed an increase of 2.9% which was in line with expectations...

Friends Despite the drama at the Fed, market participants still moved stocks higher during today’s trading session. The big market moving event this week will be the earnings release from Nvidia tomorrow after the close. As we mentioned, expectations are high, but...