Best January since 1987. Stocks and bonds saw broad-based gains this week. The Dow rising 1.3%, the Nasdaq adding 1.4%, and the Russell 2000 up 1.3%. Energy, real estate, staples, utilities industrials, and healthcare all gained more than 2%. The US bond aggregate gained 0.52% while higher grade corporates gained…

A Three Week Reprieve from the Shutdown  Volatility fell as markets had a mixed week with the S&P500 pulling back slightly. Sectors were also mixed as energy, staples, and healthcare all fell more than 1% while tech and real estate both climbed by more than 1%.  Domestic markets underperformed as EM gained 1.4%…

Can a Gov’t Shutdown help the Economy? Short Answer: No –  A continued gov’t shutdown will be a negative input for GDP and may carry ripple effects in the economy. If the Gov’t shutdown lasts till Monday, it will be the longest ever at 24 days. This week hundreds of…

2018 Volatility Returns -A year that produced new all-time-highs as wells as historic drawdowns. Drawdown 1- 1/26/2018 – 2/6/2018 SPX 2930 – 2581 Drawdown – 10.01% Drawdown 2- 9/20/2018 – 12/24/2018 SPX 2930 – 2351 Drawdown -19.76% Low to High 2/11/2016- 9/20/2018 SPX – 1829 – 2930 Gain – 60.1%…

Tariff Man would like to sack the Fed Chair after losing his Secretary of Defense during a Gov’t Shutdown. The fourth quarter has been extremely hard on equity investors. Less than three months ago (October 3rd) the S&P 500 was up 10% for the year, headed for its 10th consecutive…