Archive for August 2023

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Aug. 20-26, 2023 Mixed signals lead to mixed returns Markets didn’t know which direction to go last week as they tried to decide which had more weight: the good news or the not-so-good news. On the good side, the labor market appears strong, as the weekly jobless claims…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: August 13-19, 2023 Fed hike remains on the horizon The minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting were released last week. They showed some Fed members were in favor of pausing rate hikes, but most were on the side of continuing to raise rates. The 10-year Treasury zoomed…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: August 6-12, 2023 Sticky inflation Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), came in at 3.2% year over year for July, up 0.2% from June’s reading of 3.0%. The producer price index (PPI) was also elevated from the June reading, yet the year-over-year rate remained at…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: July 30 – Aug. 5, 2023 Consequences Fitch Ratings downgraded the United States’ long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating from AAA to AA+ last Tuesday, removing the “negative” rating watch and assigning a “stable outlook” label instead. (It’s like saying we were a shaky No. 1 but now a…