Friends   The President hurled a threat at Europe this morning to start negotiating in good faith or big tariffs are coming June 1st. In addition, the President let Tim Cook at Apple know that he wants iPhones made here in the USA. Those saber-rattling comments sent...

Friends   The reaction to the big, beautiful bill getting through the House of Representatives ended up being mostly muted after some early in the day consternation. At the open the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose above 4.60% sending stocks lower. But as the...

Friends   The bond vigilantes are at it again. Concerns about widening fiscal deficits are sending yields higher along the yield curve with the 10-year Treasury note yield rising to 4.58% during today’s trading session. It’s not that 4.58% is that extravagant a yield...

Friends   Stocks struggled to gain any traction throughout the trading session and drifted lower by the close. There were no market moving headlines for traders to sink their teeth into as it is a slow week for economic data.   By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial...

Friends   It was thought that Friday afternoon’s announcement from ratings agency Moody’s that they were downgrading U. S. debt from AAA to Aa1 would send shock waves through the markets. It was not non-consequential, but there really weren’t any shock waves. First of...

Friends   Though some of the big tech names struggled, it was another pretty good day for the bulls. The S&P continues to push higher and is now less than 4% from the February highs. On the retail front, Walmart had pretty good earnings but did indicate that...

Friends   Stocks were mostly quiet today and if you are a bull that might be a good thing. After the rally we have seen in the S&P 500 to erase 2025’s losses, a little pause that refreshes might just be just what the doctor ordered if indeed we are going to...

Friends   Don’t let the Dow fool you, it was another pretty good day for stocks. The Dow was pulled down by one stock, United Healthcare, but the rest of the market averages all saw positive returns. Sentiment has changed very quickly as just a couple of weeks ago...

Friends   Word of a preliminary tariff deal with China sent stocks soaring this morning as the bears were sent scrambling to cover their shorts in the face of rising prices. Patient investors who didn’t panic sell when share prices were much lower have been rewarded...

Friends   After some gyrating it appeared that market participants were simply out of gas as the trading week came to a close. Stocks tried to rally early but drifted aimlessly in the later hours of the trading session. There were some tariff headlines but nothing of...

Friends   A trade deal (or framework of a trade deal) with the United Kingdom helped send stocks higher during today’s trading session. Though the market averages did finish well off the highs of the day, it nevertheless was another good day for the bulls. Word that...

Friends   As expected, the Fed did not alter monetary policy today. During his press conference the Fed Chair basically said that they are stuck in a wait and see stance until more clarity on tariffs and other fiscal policy issues are known. Asked whether they are...

Friends   Stocks have struggled so far this week as traders appear to be waiting for announcements on trade deals as well as waiting to see what might come out of the Fed meeting. The President’s comments today seemed to downplay that any deals are close to being...

Friends   It was a bit of a sloppy start to the week but that was to be expected given the winning streak stocks have been on. The Fed’s FOMC meeting begins tomorrow and concludes with the statement and a press conference tomorrow afternoon. We are not expecting any...

Friends   This morning’s jobs report was better than expected with 177,000 new jobs created in April vs. the 133,000 that analysts had predicted. Stocks liked it, bonds did not. From the open, stocks moved higher and so did bond yields (bond prices down). Many have...