News & Commentary
2019 2nd Quarter Update
It is hard to avoid seeing signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy. Although still showing a slight expansion, key indicators for both manufacturing and services have declined. Looking at the global economy as a whole, there is now a slight contraction in manufacturing. The numbers excluding the US are even more dour, pushed lower by the impact of [...]
2019 1st Quarter Update
The first quarter was almost the exact opposite of the preceding quarter in terms of stock market returns. While the fourth quarter was one of the worst of the last ten years, the first quarter was one of the best. After hitting a low point on Christmas Eve, stocks have hardly hesitated and now sit just a few points below [...]
Market Perspective: Thoughts on the Recent Market Volatility
I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays. Ideally, this has been a time for focusing on friends and family, not the recent market volatility. We know, however, that it may be difficult to completely ignore the financial headlines. With that in mind, I thought I would send out our thoughts on the past few weeks’ volatility and how we [...]
2018 4th Quarter Update
The final quarter of the year was a roller coaster in the stock market. After hitting record high levels in the first couple days of October, stocks sold off about 10%, then rallied, sold off, rallied again, and then had the worst December since The Great Depression. Of course, the ride continues as stocks have rallied about 11% off the [...]
Market Perspective: Bernanke Speech Summary
Last week I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Ben Bernanke speak. As you likely know, he was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve during 2006-2014, and notably during the financial crisis ten years ago. I thought you might be interested in a summary of what he discussed. First on the economy: The expansion is 10 years old and will [...]
2018 3rd Quarter Update
Happy Halloween! Right in time for the season of spooks and specters came another October stock market selloff. October has a history of market selloffs, the most famous of which occurred in 1929 of course. October 19th was the 31st anniversary of Black Monday, the biggest one-day selloff in stock market history, in terms of percentage. And this month is [...]