Friends It is not real surprising that some buyers showed up this morning after Friday’s new Covid variant selloff. But, as we have mentioned things have been a little sloppy below the market’s surface for a while now as a narrow few have kept the market averages near...

Friends   Well, the Friday after Thanksgiving is typically very quiet. But with news that a new Covid-19 variant is rearing its ugly head in Africa, markets were in disarray. It’s likely that given that many traders are out until Monday, today’s moves were driven...

Friends   There was some economic data to chew on today, namely a good initial jobless claims number (lowest number since 1969), a revised 3rd quarter GDP number slightly higher, and a lousy durable goods orders number. But after a slew of mixed earnings data...

Friends   The White House announced today that the U. S. will release 50 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This move was coordinated with developed nations around the world to combat the rise in energy prices. Well, that should push...

Friends   Market participants didn’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to find out who was going to be heading the Federal Reserve for the next 4 years. Word came early today that President Biden had decided to stay with current Fed Chair Jerome Powell to continue...

Friends   Covid-19 concerns, inflation concerns, who will be appointed the next Fed Chair concerns, all contributed to the sloppiness in stocks today. The tech heavy Nasdaq was able to post gains helped by behemoths Apple and Microsoft, but the Dow was weighed...

Friends   Stocks were mixed today and trading was rather quiet. We continue to get good earnings numbers from retailers, today Macy’s and Kohl’s and shares of both companies did very well, and today’s economic data was also helpful with the Philly Fed...

Friends   This morning we had more earnings reports from retailers and we had similar responses to the numbers as we had yesterday. Both Lowe’s and TJ Maxx had nice numbers and their shares moved nicely higher after the release. But Target’s shares like Walmart’s...

  Friends   Buoyed by a strong retails sales number and good earnings reports from a couple of the country’s largest retailers, stocks posted decent gains for the trading session. Both Walmart and Home Depot had very good earnings numbers though Walmart’s...

Friends   It was a somewhat unenthusiastic day of trading with the market averages doing very little throughout the trading session. Last week was all about the inflation story. This week we are going to get a good look at how retailers are doing as we head into...

Friends   Despite all of the hand wringing over the inflation numbers and today’s awful consumer sentiment data, stocks managed to avoid too much damage for the week. We’ve used the term resilient for some time now when referring to the stock market and this week...

  Friends   Market participants still seem to be trying to determine how they want to position portfolios given the inflation pressures that are being felt in the economy. Interestingly, the tech heavy Nasdaq was the winner today, despite growth stocks being...

Friends   6.2%. That was the year over year rise in inflation that today’s CPI number revealed. It is the largest increase in inflation that we have seen in more than 30 years.  Month over month, the index rose .9% which was more than had been expected. Bonds,...

Friends   It was a profit taking trading session right from the opening bell this morning, and after the move higher we have had in the past several weeks that is certainly not surprising. Stocks have made new highs day after day so a little pause could actually...

Friends   Despite disappointing numbers from Apple, Amazon and Starbucks (and especially with the first two the word “disappointing” could certainly be debated) stocks held strong on this final day of trading of the month. October was a good month for stocks...