Friends   There appeared to be somewhat of a buyers strike today with regards to stocks and given that the much-anticipated monthly Consumer Price Index report will be released tomorrow morning, it’s not really a surprise. The inflation story has been front and...

Friends It looked like the bulls were going to get the upper hand as the trading week began this morning, but as the day wore on the gains slipped away and stocks ended up mixed for the day. Now the question will be this week “was this just another bear market rally...

Friends   A much more robust jobs number than had been anticipated stunned market participants this morning. Instead of estimated 200,000-250,000 new jobs created in July, there were 528,000 new jobs created. The unemployment rate is at 3.5% and average hourly...

Friends   Stocks were quiet as market participants prepare themselves for tomorrow’s non-farm payroll number. It is expected that about 250,000 new jobs were created in July. Nowadays it’s hard to determine what investors want to see at this point. Do they want a...

Friends   Some surprisingly strong economic data and falling oil prices helped stocks recover what they lost yesterday, and then some. The ISM non-manufacturing (services) purchasing managers index showed a surprising rebound in July. June factory orders also...

Friends   It was a difficult day for stocks as talk of inflation (mainly by Fed officials) worked its way back into the narrative. Indeed, bond yields moved back up a bit today after plunging lower amidst all the recession talk the last couple of weeks. The...

Friends   With the Fed apparently threading the needle (of course interpretations could change by tomorrow), and some surprising reactions to better-than-expected earnings releases, stocks moved powerfully higher. As expected, the Fed raised the Fed Funds rate by...

Friends   Despite a somewhat favorable mix of earnings releases, stocks struggled for most of the trading session. After the close today we get earnings from Google, Facebook, Visa and Microsoft among others.   For today, by the close the Dow Jones...

Friends   Market participants appear to be on pins and needles as they await the outcome of this week’s Fed meeting and the plethora of data on the economy and corporate earnings. We mentioned the big-name companies that are reporting this week, Apple, Amazon,...

Friends   The weight of continued weakness in economic data has moved interest rates lower this week and finally took a toll on stocks today. While the corporate earnings picture remains relatively good, though certainly not perfect, the economy is definitely...

Friends   I can’t remember going into an earnings season where analysts and market strategist were more nervous/concerned about companies disappointing and guiding estimates lower. Well, so far it has not really worked out that way. Earnings have been pretty...

Friends   Market participants were wondering if today’s Consumer Price Index release would show that inflation is peaking. Well, the easy answer is no, not really. Yes, we have seen commodity prices fall in recent weeks, but headline inflation is still running...

Friends   Did someone get an advanced look at tomorrow’s CPI number? Stocks were minding their own business meandering around in slightly positive territory when all of a sudden, a wave of selling hit right at 2:00 our time. The Dow fell more than 300 points in...

Friends After a decent week for stocks, it didn’t appear that any good vibes from last week were carrying over as trading began this morning. Stocks slumped throughout the trading session with Nasdaq faring the worst, and things did not improve as the day wore on. By...