News & Commentary

Welcome to 2017!  Looking back at 2016 it really was the year of surprises.  Of course the biggest in this country was the results of the Presidential election (fitting I am writing this on Inauguration Day).  However, there were many other surprises along the way.  The biggest global shock was the result of the Brexit vote, the decision by the [...]

As the second quarter came to a close, the third quarter was shaping up to be a volatile one.  However, after enduring the volatility of the Brexit vote right at the end of June, the continued speculation concerning the next Fed action, and the drama surrounding the National Conventions, the market was relatively quiet during the third quarter.  While there [...]

Stocks continued their resilient march upward in the 2nd quarter despite heightened volatility surrounding the Brexit vote.  The UK referendum on whether to exit the European Union caught the markets leaning the wrong way (a rare occurrence) and gave global markets a good shake.  Nevertheless, after two days of selling, the markets started a rally that continues at the time [...]

The S&P 500 recovered sharply to close the quarter up 1.35%, despite falling over 10% through mid-February.  The V-shaped recovery in the stock market underscored the heightened volatility seen during the first quarter.  Things got off to a rocky start as the S&P 500 and the Dow posted their worst ever year-opening weeks as the markets continued to digest the [...]

After suffering its worst quarterly decline in four years last quarter, the S&P 500 bounced back with a 7% gain in the fourth quarter to close the year up 1.38% on a total return basis.  There were significant disparities in returns across asset classes, highlighted by the 10.5% drop in the Bloomberg Commodity Index.  The energy sector again led the [...]