Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: April 2-8 Employment numbers are a mixed bag The first week of the new quarter was a short one for investors, as markets were closed on Good Friday. The closure meant traders weren’t around to react to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) nonfarm payrolls report for March,…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 26 – April 1 2023 is 25% done Goodbye, Q1 and hello, Q2. After dropping in early March, markets ended the month — and the first quarter — on an upward swing. Boosting the market’s mood: A key gauge of U.S. inflation rose last month but by…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 19 – March 25 Fed bumps rates another 25 basis points while banks continue to make markets nervous The Federal Reserve raised interest rates at last week’s meeting by another 25 basis points (0.25%), bringing the federal funds rate to 4.75%-5.0%. This was the ninth increase since…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 12 – March 18 Are there cracks in the banking system’s foundation? To say lots has been happening in the U.S. banking system over the past two weeks is quite the understatement. First Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were closed by regulators. Then fissures appeared over…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 5 – 11 Powell disappoints markets – again “More work to do” and be prepared to sit on higher rates, is what Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell effectively told Congress last week. The Fed will likely raise interest rates more than expected to combat high inflation at…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Feb. 26 – March 4 March picks up where January left off Remember the phrase, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb?” As we closed out a turbulent February, where we gave back almost half of our sparkling January returns, March started much…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Feb. 19 – Feb. 25  Market grapples with higher rate expectations Despite one less trading day last week, we managed to pack in a lot of activity. The markets had another rough week with angst over what the Federal Reserve will — or will not — do at…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Feb. 12 – Feb. 18 Markets shrug off hot inflation data — then get nervous again Markets were pretty stoic when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January came in higher than expected last week. Although CPI declined, it only dropped from 6.5% in December to 6.4% in…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Feb. 5 – Feb. 11 Jobs number makes markets nervous The surprisingly high January jobs number sent waves of anxiety through U.S. markets last week, before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave a speech reinforcing the widely held view that the Fed will stop or pause rate hikes…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Jan. 29 – Feb. 4 Fed — and the economy — may be slowing, but jobs are still strong The Federal Reserve met last week and raised rates by 25 basis points (0.25%), bringing the fed funds rate to 4.5-4.75%. In less than a year, we’ve gone from…