The fourth quarter was the polar opposite of 2018’s fourth quarter as the global equity markets rallied. The FOMC added liquidity to address problems in the repurchase market. There appeared to be progress in the US/China trade war. The global fixed income markets however, paused their rally as the total amount of negative […]
After suffering steep declines in the fourth quarter of 2018, US equity markets closed the first half and second quarter of 2019 at or near all-time highs. The global rally in fixed income markets continued as well. For the quarter ended June, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.21%, the Standard & […]
For most people, summer is the best time of the year. For investors, it may have been particularly a pleasant one as markets roared ahead. The vibrant health of the overall market and economy during the quarter may have gotten lost due to the news headlines during the last week of September […]
For much of the second quarter, the markets could not decide whether it was time to panic and retreat or not. Despite many negative headlines, it was a challenge to clearly and emphatically determine a risk factor that justified a general move to safety in the markets. On the flip side, with […]
The title of the first quarterly letter for 2018 ponders the obvious question about the financial markets. Indeed, the long lasting “honeymoon” between President Trump and the U.S. equity markets seems to be over, with the Dow Jones Index down roughly 12% between the high on January 26th and the recent low on […]
With the first year of the Trump Administration now history, we take a step back to assess the state of the markets and discuss the outlook for 2018. Markets roared ahead for the year ending December 31st, 2017: the S&P 500 delivered a total return of 21.83%; the Dow Jones was up 28.11%; the […]
As the second half of the year kicked in, markets continued to show resiliency and moved higher despite plenty of negative news — the confluence of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and wildfires, a brewing international confrontation, terrorist incidents in London, Marseilles and Barcelona, just to name a few. Markets seemed particularly vulnerable to the […]
First half of the year down, second half to go! The second quarter was a relatively quiet period for the markets with U.S. stocks appearing to move up and hit new highs frequently. The same narrative we wrote of in our first quarter note remained in full play throughout this quarter as well. The […]
With a new U.S. Administration having taken office in January, the financial markets seem to keep their optimism despite some foreseeable changes in economic policies. The Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 6.0%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 5.2%, the iShares iBoxx High Grade Corporate Bond Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) was up […]
