Friends We found out this morning that the final number for inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index in 2021 was a whopping 7%. December’s number was up .5% so the trend might be easing just a little but not much. Stocks took the news pretty much in stride as...

Friends Stocks once again were able to reverse some early morning weakness and move higher after the Senate nomination hearings Q&A with Fed Chair Powell. The Fed Chair did not really reveal anything new with regards to future monetary policy, but market...

Friends Today began as another difficult day for stocks but by the close the market averages were well off the lows of the day with the Nasdaq actually getting into the green. The 10-year Treasury note touching 1.80% was a bit unnerving, but investors are going to...

Though stocks moved higher early in the week it ended up being a difficult week for the bulls. The Fed’s additional hawkish tone derailed the move higher and confusing employment numbers didn’t help. Today’s non-farm payroll number was 199,000 new jobs created in...

Friends The bulls spent today’s trading session trying to rally the troops but in the end the bears still were able to hold the high ground. Of course the release of the Fed minutes sent a bit of a shiver through the financial markets yesterday and by this morning...

Friends The Fed minutes released this afternoon indicated that the FOMC members appear to be more willing to embark on a hawkish path than even the market had anticipated. Not only is the Fed going to end the asset purchase program (quantitative easing) in the next...

Friends We had a very bifurcated market today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished off the Santa Claus rally in style, while the Nasdaq laid an egg. The narrative as we move into 2022 is that expected higher interest rates will be a headwind for tech and high...

Friends   What a year it has been. Who thought the pandemic would still be with us at this point? Well, at least we were hoping it wouldn’t. We did get some fiscal spending, but not as much as the President and perhaps the markets were expecting. We got plenty of...

Friends   Once again we had a very quiet trading session – so quiet that the bulls seem to have disappeared in the last hour of trading. Stocks had drifted mainly in positive territory throughout the trading session, but dipped into the red in the last hour of...

Friends   Though somewhat tepid, the Santa Claus rally continues as we grow closer to year end. Today we saw some of the ‘boring’ consumer staples, utilities, materials and healthcare names lead the market slightly higher. In addition, we are finally seeing bond...

Friends   After a four day mad dash higher, stocks took a bit of a breather today, and that’s probably a good thing. We went from an oversold situation to a very overbought condition in five trading days, so a little pause should be refreshing.   It was a...

Friends   It looks like Santa had plenty of presents in his sleigh for the bulls as stocks rallied nicely on this, the first official day of what is referred to as the Santa Claus rally. Stocks opened higher and remained decisively in positive territory for the...

Friends   As expected is was a very quiet day of trading. Stocks opened higher and it seemed like traders simply disappeared after that as the markets simply drifted into the close.   For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 196 points to close...

Friends   Stocks were able to add to yesterday's rally giving the bulls some holiday cheer as we head towards Christmas break. We have one more day of trading in this shortened holiday trading week, and unless there is some major news, it wouldn’t be a surprise...