Monthly Market Updates

July has historically been a good month for stocks and this year was no exception. We thought the gains for the month might be diminished this year by the best first half for the market in 22 years, but the rally continued into July.  The two primary themes remained the same, a more accommodative interest rate policy from the Fed and the hopes for some type of China trade deal.  This month… Read More ›

Concerns about China trade sent the market 6.6% lower in May, its worst May performance in 9 years, but conciliatory comments from China sent the Dow more than 500 points higher in early June and we were on our way to a new all-time high for the widely followed S&P 500.  An increasing probability the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, perhaps as soon as July, added to the buying enthusiasm.  June… Read More ›

The S&P 500 hit an all-time intraday high on the first day of the month but then the index moved steadily lower for the remainder of the month.  As the month began economic numbers and corporate earnings were good and most believed Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, who said the China trade deal was in its final lap.  A trade deal with China is seen as a boost to economic activity so, when the… Read More ›

Coming off the December meltdown, the S&P 500 had gained more than 18% in just 44 trading days ending 2/28. With a strong upward move like that one could expect some “backing and filling” as those gains are digested, and that is much of what we saw in March.  One of the biggest moves during the month was interest rates, as the yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped 10% to the lowest… Read More ›

Coming off the best January performance for the market in 32 years, we thought February might be a month of digesting those gains.  However, during the month we saw a continuation of the solid earnings from January and continued to get encouraging news on interest rates and the China trade deal.  By the end of the last full week of February the Dow Industrial average had moved higher for the first 8… Read More ›