Quick Takes Stocks and bonds started the new year on a down note. The S&P 500 Index was off -1.5% in the first week of 2024, while the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index fell -1.2%. The losses extended overseas, with the MSCI EAFE Index losing -1.3% and the...
Quick Takes The S&P 500 Index was up +0.3%, marking nine straight weeks of gains. That’s the longest weekly winning streak since 2004 and leaves the index just below its all-time high set on January 3, 2022. For 2023, the S&P gained +24%. The 2-year U.S....
Quick Takes The S&P 500 Index was up +0.8%, marking eight straight weeks of gains. That’s the longest weekly winning streak since November 2017 and leaves the index just +0.9% from its all-time high set on January 3, 2023. The 2-year U.S. Treasury yield fell...
Quick Takes On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve maintained its key policy rate at 5.25%-5.50%, but the most noteworthy aspect came as Chairman Jerome Powell surprised economists and delighted investors with a press conference that was much more dovish than expected. ...
Quick Takes Investors appear to be betting that there will be sufficient economic strength for the U.S. to skirt a recession but not too much strength that the Fed will have to remain restrictive with monetary policy. That helped the S&P 500 and Nasdaq advance for...
Key Points November to Remember Like the ’70s hit single “Every 1’s a Winner”, virtually all major asset classes had their groove on in November, and everybody was a winner. The collective cross-asset return for eight major asset classes was the second-strongest...
Quick Takes The S&P 500 Index gained +0.8% for the week, its fifth straight weekly gain. The Nasdaq is also on a five-week win streak after gaining +0.4% last week. The small-cap Russell 2000 Index jumped +3.1% for a three-week win streak. The MSCI EAFE Index was...
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has tweaked the rules for Form 1099-K, and here’s the scoop! This adjustment comes after getting feedback from taxpayers, tax pros, and payment processors. The goal? Less confusion. The IRS has hit the pause button on the new...
Quick Takes U.S. stocks have been positive for every week in November. The S&P 500 was up +1.0% last week, putting it on course for the best month since July 2022. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up +0.9%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 Index advanced +0.5%. After...
Quick Takes Investors celebrated last week following Tuesday’s release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October showed lower consumer inflation than Wall Street expected. Wholesale inflation was also softer than expected, and Retail Sales fell for the first time...
