Quick Takes Stock and bond investors received the green light from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and sent markets higher. Powell made the case that the time had come for a shift to less restrictive monetary policy and essentially guaranteed a rate cut in...
Quick Takes A trifecta of low inflation readings sets the stage for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in mid-September. Wholesale inflation, consumer inflation, and import prices were all relatively soft and helped rekindle investor confidence after the sharp...
Quick Takes It was a wild week in the markets, but in the end stocks and bonds were little changed. Global stocks were rocked on Monday, with the S&P 500 suffering its worst one-day decline since September 2022. But Thursday had its best one day gain since...
Key Points ROTATION – Virtually all major asset classes saw gains in July, but the big story was a significant rotation in market leadership. Small cap stocks outperformed large cap stocks, and value stocks outperformed growth stocks at magnitudes not seen on a...
Quick Takes It was a definitive risk-off week, as a combination of disappointing earnings, weaker-than-expected economic reports, and specifically a stinker of a nonfarm payrolls report sent stocks reeling and bonds soaring. The S&P 500 Index fell -2.1% for the...
Quick Takes The market rotation from large cap and growth stocks to small cap and value stocks continued for a third straight week. The S&P 500 had its worst day of the year on Wednesday on the way to a -0.8% drop for the week, and the Nasdaq fell -3.6% on...
Quick Takes For a second straight week, market leadership shifted from large cap and growth stocks to small cap and value stocks. The S&P 500 had its worst week since April 19, falling -2.0%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down -3.7%, while the Russell...
Quick Takes Last week was marked by a rather sudden and sharp trend reversal on Thursday. Large cap and growth stocks have dominated small cap and value stocks for more than a year, but that reversed abruptly last week with big outperformance by small cap and value...
Key Points HERE WE GO AGAIN – The Magnificent 7 are back and stronger than ever. Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Meta Platforms (Facebook), Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Tesla are once again collectively, and almost solely, driving equity returns. In the first half...
Quick Takes Major stock indices were mostly higher in a quiet, holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at record highs, up 2.0% and +3.5%, respectively. However, the small cap Russell 2000 slipped -1.0%, and value indices fell as well. Hopes for...