Equities started the week hitting key milestones — the S&P 500 turned positive for the year, and the Nasdaq Composite rose above 10,000 for the first time — but all this succumbed to profit taking that handed it its worst week since March. The S&P 500 fell 4.8%, the Nasdaq…

Equities continued their three-week rally with the S&P 5% higher, mid-caps 8% higher, and the small-cap S&P 600 jumping 12% this week. While the Nasdaq closed at a new all-time high on Friday it was a relative laagered on the week, as were tech, staples, utilities and health care. Energy,…

Equity markets gained for the second week in a row leaving May with a 4.53% return. Continued optimism about an economic recovery and a fear of missing out on further gains appear to be the main causes. Although all 11 sectors were positive for the week, there was a noticeable…

Equity markets closed lower this week, as valuation concerns and U.S.-China tensions weighed on stocks. Mid and Small-caps underperformed with steep declines (5.7% and 7.5%), followed by more modest losses in the Dow (-2.7%), S&P500 (-2.3%), and Nasdaq (-1.2%). The weakest sectors were energy (-7.1%), real estate (-8.1%), industrials (-5.8%),…

At its high earlier this week (2954), the S&P 500 had risen 35% from its March 23 low. Viewed slightly differently, that equates to a little over one percentage point for every million jobs reported as lost over the last six weeks. In other words, the economic picture isn’t nearly…

Post COVID-19 economic data is starting to roll in, as expected it’s not good. This week another 4.4 million people filed for initial unemployment benefits, bringing the five-week total to 26.5 million. March existing home sales were down -8.5% while new home sales were off -15.4%. While the broad stock…

The Coronavirus pandemic has led to the sharpest economic downturn since the Great Depression. This week, the Department of Labor reported that 5.2 million people filed for unemployment insurance. That brings the four-week count to just over 22 million new claims. The numbers are staggering: pre-Covid the US total nonfarm employment was…

Equity markets rebounded this week, most up 10% or more. Two macro forces have driven markets, both equity and fixed income, into disarray. Offered yields on ultrashort Treasury bills are current negative, the first time since WWII. Unemployment claims jumped from around 200k last week to 3.28 million this week,…

17 Trading Days from All-Time Highs to Panic Lows  The turning point is happening. We are moving our self into a recession, intentionally, to prevent a worse outcome. That’s what happening right now. As I type this, schools in Pennsylvania and 18 other states are shut down for at least…

Monday saw the biggest point gain ever on the Dow, climbing 1293 points and 5.09%. It wasn’t to last though as equity markets only inched back after last week’s carnage. The Dow finishing the week up 455 points or 1.79%. Most of the market moves are a result of the…