Quick Recap of the Week Stocks moved up for a second straight week. The market digested a slew of data releases and corporate earnings reports. In addition, the Federal Reserve released their latest statement. The Fed said four interest rate hikes may still be on the table this year. The Bank of Japan, on the other [...]

Quick Recap of the Week After a terrible start to 2016, stocks finally had a turnaround. Sellers remained in control until late Wednesday morning, when oil and stocks began to rally. All of the major stock indexes finished positive for the week. Economic Data Existing home sales and manufacturing PMI moved up on a month-over-month [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Stocks fell again last week. As a result, the S&P 500 had its worst-ever 2-week start in January. The only bright side is that stocks are extremely oversold. Economic Data Job openings and consumer sentiment were better than expected. Coming in below expectations were the the Empire State Manufacturing survey, [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Stocks fell sharply last week. The main cause was a large drop in the Chinese stock market. Falling oil prices added to the fear. While these are concerns, they aren't new. The Chinese stock market drop started 6 months ago. In the long term, it's part of a much bigger [...]

Quick Recap of the Week It was another holiday-shortened week for stocks. Trading volume remained low. A mild "Santa Rally" continued through Tuesday. Stocks then fell during the last two trading days of 2015. Economic Data There wasn't much in the way of market-related news or economic data. Consumer confidence was better-than-expected. However, pending home sales [...]

Quick Recap of the Week The markets finally got a taste of the Santa Rally. Trading volume was light and markets closed early for the week on Christmas Eve. Despite this, the major stock indices all gained between 2.4% to 3.0%. Economic Data Very little economic data was released in the holiday-shortened week. Final gross [...]

Quick Recap of the Week As expected, it was a wild week for stocks. After 7 years of zero interest rates, the Federal Funds rate was finally raised. The stock market rallied when the news was released on Wednesday. Stocks fell later in the week, however. The major U.S. stock indices ended the week with [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Stocks fell sharply last week. Oil prices at 7-year lows and uncertainty about interest rates caused a strong selling spree. All of the major indexes all fell between 3% and 5%. Economic Data On the negative side, Consumer Sentiment fell while jobless claims rose. However, core retail sales were better-than-expected. [...]

Quick Recap of the Week It was a volatile week for stocks. After a roller coaster ride, the major indices settled for very small gains. Small-cap stocks fell, however. Economic Data Quite a few economic data releases were better-than-expected. These included nonfarm payroll (employment), PMI manufacturing index, construction spending and factory orders. Coming in below [...]

Quick Recap of the Week The holiday-shortened week was mostly uneventful for stocks. As usual, the stock exchanges were closed on Thanksgiving and stopped trading early on Friday. Small-cap stocks had a large gain, along with a few other sectors like retail and biotechnology. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq traded quietly. Each had small [...]