By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Many stock market media outlets have recently described how the S&P 500 Index (SPX) narrowly missed entering a bear market at its low last week. Those claims are based on the misguided notion that, until prices...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President A single word sums up the markets last week – wild. The busiest week of the 2nd quarter earnings season, several headline worthy employment figures released, and a Federal Reserve...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President I recently flew to California for a company event. Fortunately, I was able to get a non-stop flight. Unfortunately, that meant four hours with my only sustenance being a little bag of chips and a small cup of soda. As...
By Jack Kraft, CFA, Advisor Directed Portfolio Analyst U.S. stocks tumbled lower in a volatile week of trading as investors digested key economic updates, earnings reports, and commentary from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 began the week on a...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Through much of March, the stock market seemed to have come to grips with the prospect of higher interest rates. Many of the big-name tech stocks enjoyed big rallies out of oversold conditions even as interest rates...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President The first quarter of 2022 came to an end last week and stocks saw their worst performance since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. For the quarter, the S&P 500 (SPX) was...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Last week, the major averages were angling to add to their recent gains to demonstrate that the prior week’s wahoo rally was no fluke. Although the gains for the week were relatively bleak, in light of the potential...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Markets got back on track last week (following two weeks of negative returns), with stocks recording their best weekly performance since November of 2020. The S&P 500 (SPX)...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Both our stock market and our bond market misfired again last week. The worsening geopolitical situation put the caliber of our markets to the test. The blowback began early in the week as the price of a barrel of...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Since Russia moved to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24, reports have emerged that Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian military leadership expected to take full control of the...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Investing is a long-term journey. We all hope for fair weather and smooth roads, but we know that occasionally things can get a little stormy and the path can get a little bumpy. Two years ago, the Covid pandemic...
By Jack Kraft, CFA, Advisor Directed Portfolio Analyst Last week, the U.S. equity markets finished lower as investor sentiment was dampened by geopolitical uncertainty in Eastern Europe. Choppy trading ensued for the week with the path of least resistance...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Stocks finished lower once again last week with a strong wave of selling commencing on Friday afternoon. The White House continues to raise concerns about a potential invasion of...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President After a rough start to 2022, stocks were able to find their footing last week with each of the major U.S. indices notching gains. The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 1.57% last week while...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President In the week following the Martin Luther King holiday, the stock market suffered body blows in each of the four sessions. The market was punch-drunk, and stocks were on the ropes when last week began. As the market...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Stocks had their worst week since the beginning of the Covid pandemic last week. The S&P 500 (SPX) finished the week down 5.67% and notched its third straight week of losses....
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President If there was a message in the first day of trading last week, it was that the market is not too concerned about the rising omicron numbers. The New Year began with a new high for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Two weeks ago, I wondered whether the emerging omicron variant would have any effect on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy plans. Similarly, investors have spent the last few...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Following a couple of very lean weeks, the market woke up and chowed down last week. On Monday and Tuesday, the averages gobbled up points voraciously. The lessening of the Omicron variant as a threat spurred the...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Investors channeled their best Dorothy from The Wizard of OZ last week and they dealt with uncertainty stemming from the emerging Omicron variant of COVID-19. When Dorothy arrives...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President As the holiday season begins, with it comes the eager anticipation of many traditional seasonal events. From mundane tasks like hauling out the holiday decorations and napping through NFL games to more anxiety-filled...
By Ben Norris, CFA, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Stocks finished mildly lower last week, dragged down by weak performance in the Consumer Discretionary, Energy, and Communication Services sectors. Stocks in the Materials and...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Since the take-off from their lows in early-October, the market averages have been gaining altitude at a dizzying rate. Last week, the rate of climb steepened even further. A peek at the altimeter indicates that all...
By Jack Kraft, Advisor Directed Portfolio Analyst Halloween season did very little to spook an ounce of fear into investors this October. Last week was filled with a flurry of corporate earnings reports, important economic data, and negotiations on...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Over the past couple months, you’ve probably heard a sprinkling of sage market analysts describing the seasonal tendency for the U.S. stock market to exhibit weakness in September and October followed by a rally into...
By Ben Norris, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Third-quarter earnings season kicked off last week accompanied by a slew of economic and market data releases. Third-quarter earnings is off to a strong start relative to consensus...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Yep, that’s the title of the new, just-released James Bond movie. It seemed appropriate for a stock market recap on a week in which the market was shaken, not stirred. Perhaps an even more appropriate title would have...
By Ben Norris, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President September has been an historically rough month for stock market performance, and September 2021 kept that trend alive. After seeing positive performance in each of the seven months...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President The stock market’s northerly route over the past several months has been occasionally interrupted by brief jogs to the south. Those sudden veers, which were severe enough to induce panicked cries from the back-seat...
By Ben Norris, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President There are countless adages for financial markets – a rising tide lifts all boats, sell in May and go away, buy the rumor sell the news, everybody is a genius in a bull market, don’t...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President The stock market’s skies darkened a bit last week. The sunny economic conditions in recent months, along with a pleasing tailwind of strong corporate earnings, have created an environment in which the major averages...
By Ben Norris, Securities Research Analyst, Associate Vice President Last week featured a consequential update from the Federal Reserve. The central bank has been the center of attention for investors (even more than normal) for most of 2021 as they wait...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President Don’t let this week’s market headlines strike panic. If you consider percentages vs. points, the SARS virus and 9/11 triggered 12-13% corrections in the market and that is roughly the percentage pullback we’ve had to...
By Pete Biebel, Senior Vice President The stock market has enjoyed an incredible rally in the final months of 2019. It was pretty much the exact opposite of the way stocks performed in late-2018. A year ago, stocks were finishing a rough December, and...