Quick Recap of the Week Stocks fell last week as Greece and its creditors couldn't come to an agreement. All of the damage occurred on Monday. For the rest of the week, stocks made a light and unconvincing recovery. As for the TSP, the I Fund fell 2.21%. The S Fund declined by 1.81%, while [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Stocks fell last week. Financial news was mixed. Consumer spending, home sales and consumer sentiment were better than expected. Durable goods and indexes for services and manufacturing came in lower than their forecasts. Concerns about Greece weighed heavily on the market late in the week. As a result, stocks gave up the gains they made on [...]

Quick Recap of the Week The stock market moved up last week. Economic data was mixed. Building permits, homebuilder sentiment and the Philadelphia fed index were better than expected. Consumer prices rose, however, while capacity utilization was lower than its forecast. The biggest news item was the Federal Reserve's policy statement. As expected the Fed [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Choppy, indecisive trading continued last week as the markets entered the "summer doldrums." The major stock market indices had very small gains. Economic data was mostly positive. Consumer sentiment, retail sales, job openings and Japanese gross domestic product were better-than-expected. As for the TSP, the I Fund led the way with a [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Stocks had mixed results last week. Small-caps performed well, large-caps had modest losses and the Nasdaq remained flat. Economic data was positive overall. Job growth, wages and the ISM manufacturing index were better-than-expected. The ISM services index fell and came in below its estimate. Bonds fell sharply, hinting that the [...]

Quick Recap of the Week The stock market fell last week. For the first time in several months, most economic data releases were better-than-expected. This was trumped by two factors, however. The first was the Fed. Last week, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said she expects to raise interest rates sometime this year if the economy [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Stocks had mixed results last week. There wasn't much market-related news or significant economic data. The main driver for the week was the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes. The minutes indicated that a June interest rate hike was unlikely. The S Fund had the biggest gain of 0.68%. The C Fund [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Stocks rose modestly last week, even though most economic data releases were worse-than-expected. A falling U.S. Dollar enabled the I Fund to have the biggest gain of 1.46%. The S Fund rose 0.79%, while the C Fund increased by 0.39%. The F Fund had a tiny gain of 0.03%. YTD [...]

The Markets Stocks moved up last week. After falling several days, stocks had a strong rally on Friday. This was mostly due to employment data, which came in near expectations. Traders were happy the data was reasonably good, but not too strong. If employment numbers are too favorable, it could prompt a near-term rate hike [...]

Quick Recap of the Week Stocks fell last week. After reaching new highs recently, traders became cautious. Worse-than-expected reports for Consumer Confidence, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and ISM Manufacturing didn't help. The S Fund had the biggest loss, falling 2.19%. The I Fund declined by 0.88% while the C Fund lost 0.42%. It was a [...]