The 3rd quarter of 2024 was a positive one for most areas of the US stock market. The Dow and the S&P both hit new highs.  The Magnificent 7 stocks took a breather while the broader market participated in the upward market move.  The 3rd quarter saw the Federal Reserve pivot from rate hikes to.. read more →

The second quarter stock market performance was another cycle of rinse and repeat.  The market made its way through the quarter as it has since the fall of 2022, riding on the back of the tech stocks known collectively as the Magnificent Seven. The top ten stocks accounted for about 62% of the S&P total.. read more →

The first quarter of 2024 was one for the record books.  New record highs were recorded for the Dow, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500.  The Magnificent 7 stocks which led the market up beginning with the October 2022 continued to be the driving force.  Facebook and Meta alone generated a third of the.. read more →

Happy New Year! And that ends the positive aspect of this commentary.  Be sure to like and share. The bull market that kicked off in October of 2022 continued almost to the last day of 2023.  Most of that rally was on the back of the so called Magnificent 7 stocks, basically a group of.. read more →

3rd Quarter Commentary 2023 The U.S. stock market fought an uphill battle during the 3rd quarter.  The Dow was down 2.2% for the quarter.  The S&P was down 3.1% and the Nasdaq was down 3.6%.  It was the end of the bear market rally which began last October when the so-called Magnificent 7 tech stocks.. read more →

The US stock market continued its bullish trend through the 2nd quarter.  Primarily on the backs of seven tech stocks which heavily outperformed the broader market.  Without the returns of those seven stocks the S&P performance for the year would be near zero.  The Federal Reserve’s efforts to fight inflation by raising interest rates took.. read more →

The Federal Reserve continued to be the driver in the stock market for the first quarter.  The market appeared to have bottomed in October of last year.  The bad news is the uptick was on the back of just ten stocks while the broader market continued to underperform.  That is not a good indication of.. read more →

Hopefully, you had the safety bar firmly in place for 2022.  The DOW was down 8.8%, the S&P 500 down 19.4%, the Nasdaq down 33.1% and the Russel was down 21.6%.  The only sector to exit the year in the positive was energy. Movement in the stock market was less about fundamentals and more about.. read more →

The DOW ended the 3rd quarter down 5.3%, down 25% YTD. The Nasdaq down 30%. The drop in the market is the result of the Federal Reserve’s decision to bring inflation in the US down from 8.6% to 2%.  The FED has a tough fight on its hands.  Inflation is the result of too much.. read more →

The first 6 months of 2022 was the worst start of the year for the S&P since 1970.  US stocks are in a bear market. Every recession in the US has started with a big jump in oil and food prices.  We are probably in a recession.  The Federal Reserve is acting to curtail inflation.. read more →