January 6, 2021
As December came to a close, the global equity markets added several percentage points to their 2020 gains. The overall U.S. stock market gained over 4% for the month, with small cap companies delivering double the return of their large cap counterparts. …Read More
December 2, 2020
Another Peak in the “Mountain” The stock market’s performance in November created another peak in the “mountain” contour traced by the market over the last three months. After a brief respite in late October, stocks rallied before, …Read More
November 4, 2020
A Mountain-Shaped Month for Stocks After a 5.7% rise in the U.S. stock market during the first half of October, markets turned around and headed lower, closing the month at a loss of -1.9%. This “mountain” pattern looks similar to what happened in …Read More
October 2, 2020
Sector Imbalances & Investor Sentiment The beginning and the end of September rescued the stock market from what would have been an even worse month. As September began, an initial rally during the U.S. stock market’s first two trading days gave …Read More
September 2, 2020
An Uneven Recovery for Stocks The month of August was largely a continuation of July’s positive trend. Equity investors logged another positive month, with various broad categories of stocks returning between 2% and 7% for the month. Once again, large …Read More
August 4, 2020
Global Markets in July As July came to a close, the major categories of equities generated some degree of gain. While still negative for the year, emerging markets, international developed-markets, and U.S small-cap stocks showed growth. The standout …Read More
July 2, 2020
After surging over 6% in the first week of June on the back of a positive unemployment report, the market reversed its course. Record-setting spikes in COVID-19 infections gave investors pause and reduced June’s gains to a modest 2%. Investments …Read More
June 3, 2020
May Market Commentary In May, optimism related to the gradual reopening of the US economy persisted. After some initial weakness in equity prices, the US stock market changed course and closed out the month with a gain of about 5%. As represented by the …Read More
May 8, 2020
Stock Markets Assess the Future For investors, April could not have been more different than March. As measured by the Russell 3000, the US stock market rose by 13% for the month of April and has increased 31% from the March 23rd bottom. While US stocks …Read More
April 6, 2020
Investing is Always Dynamic The number of novel coronavirus infections and related deaths surged around the world in March. As reports of doctors and nurses working to exhaustion in overwhelmed hospitals reached the headlines, equity prices declined …Read More
March 4, 2020
COVID-19 and February’s Market After an initial rise and pullback in January due to Coronavirus fears, U.S. stocks followed a similar but more exaggerated path during February. First surging almost 5% to new all-time highs, U.S. stocks fell …Read More
February 5, 2020
The New Year Rally After a strong 2019, U.S. stocks initially rang in the New Year by gaining three percent in the first few weeks of January, possibly due to continued optimism of the U.S.-China phase one trade deal. But this rally ended with most major …Read More
January 3, 2020
This Month and a Look Back on the Decade Now that 2019 has come to a close, it’s appropriate to consider what we can be grateful for. This month, the market responded well to an early December employment report that showed 266,000 jobs were added to …Read More
December 4, 2019
Market Resilience With less than 30 days until the new year begins, investors who stayed the course have been rewarded for their perseverance. From government bonds to emerging market stocks, virtually all major categories of investments have delivered …Read More
November 4, 2019
Investors Rewarded This year continues to reward stock and bond investors. After starting the month with a decline, the overall U.S. stock market closed with a gain of 2.15% as measured by the Russell 3000 Index, a broad benchmark that includes …Read More
October 4, 2019
The Stock and Bond Markets This year continues to be a rewarding one for stock and bond investors alike. Despite the uncertainty introduced by an unresolved trade war, large-cap U.S. stocks closed the month slightly positive. Other types of equities …Read More
September 4, 2019
The Five Pillars of U.S. Economic Strength In last month’s client letter, Forrest Bell, CFP® wrote about Fed Chairman Powell’s five favorable U.S. economic conditions: strong job growth, increasing wages, low interest rates, low inflation, and …Read More
August 2, 2019
After beginning its interest rate tightening cycle in December 2015, on July 31st the Federal Reserve voted to reduce its policy interest rate by 0.25% to a range of 2-2.25%. This is the first time the Fed has cut the policy rate since late 2008. While a …Read More
As December came to a close, the global equity markets added several percentage points to their …Read More
Originally Posted March 15, 2011 Back in 2011, the world was in a different form of crisis. The …Read More