Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: May 5-11, 2024 Calm before the storm? Last week was quieter after the Federal Reserve meeting and the most recent jobs report. Markets resumed their upward march as the narrative of two to three rate cuts in 2024 was resuscitated. After a soft first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP)…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: April 28 – May 4, 2024 Fed stays put Expectations for a rate cut going into last week’s Federal Reserve meeting were practically zero. Markets were anxious to see what Chairman Jerome Powell’s post-meeting tone would be in light of continuingly stubborn and sticky inflation numbers. We are…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: April 21-27, 2024 April showers continue After a strong start to the week, markets took another tumble as first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) decelerated much more steeply than anticipated on Thursday. The Dow was down over 700 points at one point and the S&P 500 was down over…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: April 14-20, 2024 It was a bad month last week The market’s pain continued last week, as Federal Reserve speakers doused hopes of coming rate cuts in the face of persistent inflation and continued strength for the economy and jobs. Adding to market misery was the anticipation of…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: April 7-13, 2024 Inflation accelerates, jobs stay strong and rate cut expectations implode Markets had a rough week as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) readings didn’t show signs of slowing inflation. Instead, inflation has crept slowly back up after dropping to 3.0% in…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 31 – April 6, 2024 Markets pull back slightly from record highs After hitting record highs in late March, markets pulled back a bit last week. Stocks moved lower after the March Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing reading came in higher than expected and indicated slight…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 24-30, 2024 Best quarter in five years for U.S. stocks The first quarter of 2024 will go down as the best quarter for U.S. stocks since 2019. When the smoke cleared, the S&P 500 was up over 10%, the Nasdaq gained 9% and the Dow was up…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 17-23, 2024 When 6 equals 3 Markets can bend and twist reality in very strange ways when they have decided on a direction. Spoiler alert: The direction right now is upward. Remember when we started the year, and markets were expecting six or seven rate cuts in…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 10-16, 2024 Clouds gather for the Fed Inflation data did not cooperate with the market’s expectations last week. People keep spending, energy costs are rising and prices keep going up. After a hotter-than-expected jobs report the previous week, markets regained their composure early in the week, choosing…

Weekly Market Commentary THE WEEK IN REVIEW: March 3-9, 2024 Unemployment at a 2-Year High While the stock markets are mostly rallying, the labor market appears to be cooling down. According to the latest findings from the Labor Department, the U.S. jobless rate reached a two-year high in February after an unexpected climb from 3.7%…