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Sunday, May 24, 2020

The economic struggles in our country are among the worst we’ve ever seen. In April, a record 20 million people lost their jobs, and 36 million people have filed for unemployment since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in mid-March....

 

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Investors like labels for the economy and financial markets—many of them with the word “great” in them. The Great Depression. The Great Recession. The Great Lockdown. Well, we’ve moved into what we might call...

 

Monday, April 27, 2020

22 million people have filed for unemployment in the past four weeks, nearly wiping out all the jobs created during the record 10-year economic expansion. Historic drops in consumer confidence, retail sales, industrial production, oil...

 

Sunday, April 12, 2020

These are challenging times, and this week may be the toughest as we wait for COVID-19 to reach its peak in the United States. As the war against COVID-19 wages on, we continue to be inspired by the tremendous bravery shown by...

 

Thursday, April 2, 2020

The world continues its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, which now has likely impacted, either directly or indirectly, nearly every person on Earth. This is far more than just a health crisis—this is a human crisis. It is...

 

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

Our everyday lives have changed dramatically over the last few weeks as we work together to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know these efforts are necessary, but they also have come at a cost. Global economic growth...

 

Monday, March 16, 2020

Fears over the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) have gripped the country and sent stocks in the US and around the world into bear markets. What makes pandemics so much more personal than other crises is how they are felt by everyone,...

 

Monday, March 9, 2020

In your investing lifetime, you may only see a situation like the recent novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a few times. The truth is that we can’t yet gauge the full economic impact, and by the time we can, the volatility may have...

 

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Every virus outbreak is different, but looking back at other major global outbreaks over the last three decades (SARS, bird flu, swine flu, Zika, etc.), we can see that the impact to the U.S. and global economies has tended to be...

 

Saturday, February 8, 2020

The start of 2020 has brought increased stock market volatility. The uncharacteristically calm market environment we experienced for much of the past four months was bound to end but identifying the catalyst for a potential sell-off...

 

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Happy New Year! What a difference a year makes. In December 2018, dropping stocks were suggesting an increased risk that a recession, or market crisis, might be on the horizon. Confidence in investing fundamentals coupled with...

 

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

As we look forward to the year 2020 and a new decade, some key trends and market signals will be important to watch. These include progress on U.S.-China trade discussions, slowing global growth, an encouraging outlook from corporate...

 

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The S&P 500 Index reached a fresh new high October 28, eclipsing the previous high of 3,025 set July 26, 2019. Recent gains have been impressive amid heightened economic and geopolitical uncertainty, and we believe fundamentals are...

 

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Summer has turned to fall, and there’s already a little chill in the air. Three-quarters of the year is behind us now, and both stock and bond markets have had a strong year so far, although we expect to see regular—but...

 

Thursday, September 19, 2019

After reaching new record highs in late July, the S&P 500 Index dropped approximately 1.8% in August as trade concerns pressured investor sentiment around the world. Impacts of U.S.–China trade tensions reverberated throughout...

 

Monday, August 5, 2019

In a normal economic environment, stocks, bonds and gold typically do not experience simultaneous growth. But, these are not normal times: Domestic economic growth is steady, global demand is weakening, trade uncertainty prevails, and...

 

Thursday, May 2, 2019

If it seems like the financial markets have been off to an unusually strong start to the year—you are correct. The S&P 500 Index has risen for four consecutive months, resulting in the strongest start to a year in more than 30...

 

Saturday, April 20, 2019

April brings showers, baseball, and historically, the best month of the year for the S&P 500 Index (for the last 20 years). On top of that, the S&P 500 had its best first quarter since 1998, and in March we celebrated the 10-year...

 

Thursday, February 8, 2018

After more than 18 months of nearly uninterrupted advances, the U.S. equity markets started declining last week, followed by even more extreme selling on Monday. Although it is always difficult to endure declines when they’re...

 

Friday, December 29, 2017

This time of year often presents an opportunity for some additional rest and relaxation, but there is always the possibility for activity in the markets—or as was the case last week, the government. Last Friday, December 22, 2017...

 

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Traditional business cycle drivers are expected to take a larger role in spurring further economic and market growth in 2018, as we have experienced a fundamental shift in the forces behind this continued economic expansion. For the...

 

Monday, October 30, 2017

This time of year can seem quiet with summer vacations behind us but the buzz of the holiday season still a few weeks away. Although this sense of calm may be a welcomed break, there is plenty of activity in the U.S. and around the...

 

Saturday, September 30, 2017

During the past several weeks, we’ve seen news headlines dominated by everything from extreme weather to heightened geopolitical risks, with speculation on policy changes in the U.S. an ongoing hot topic.

 

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

As summer winds down, vacations come to a close, and kids head back to school, the calendar is relatively quiet in terms of major market events. And while expectations are high for a strong back-to-school shopping season, there has...

 

Sunday, July 30, 2017

The hottest part of the summer has arrived across the U.S., with many feeling the effects of heat and humidity with temperatures well into the 90s in many places. At the same time, the stock market has put together a pretty impressive...

 

Friday, June 30, 2017

It’s still early in the year, but a lot has been happening both in markets and the economy. The Dow’s first close ever above the 20,000 level drew a lot of attention to the granddaddy of the three major indexes, but the...

 

Friday, December 30, 2016

At this time last year, the market had finally recovered from an August swoon that left the S&P 500 more than 10% off its all-time highs, the first 10% correction in more than four years, with the worst still ahead in January and...