Investment Commentary – November 12, 2014 Dow – 17,614.90 (11/11/14 close) (all-time high) S&P 500 – 2,039.68 (11/11/14 close) (all-time high) 10-year Treasury – 2.36% (11/11/14 close) After a strong September jobs report, the October report further confirmed that the summer weakness was probably a blip. The board of labor statistics (BLS) reported that nonfarm [...]
Investment Commentary – November 5, 2014 Dow – 17,383.84 (11/4/14 close) S&P 500 – 2,012.10 (11/4/14 close) 10-year Treasury – 2.34% (11/4/14 close) Republicans captured majority control of the Senate Tuesday, gaining at least 7 seats as Democrats faced strong political headwinds in midterm elections where discontent with President Obama was a decisive theme. In [...]
Investment Commentary – October 29, 2014 Dow – 17,005.75 (10/28/14 close) S&P 500 – 1,985.05 (10/28/14 close) 10-year Treasury – 2.28% (10/28/14 close) The Federal Reserve ended is QE (Quantitative easing) program today, ceasing the final $15 billion of bond purchases it had made in an effort to keep the economic recovery going. Though it [...]
Investment Commentary – October 22, 2014 Dow – 16,614.81 (10/21/14 close) S&P 500 -1,941.28 (10/21/14 close) 10-year Treasury – 2.21% (10/21/14 close) Stocks recouped some of their losses since last Friday after the recent market selloff. Volatility as measured by the VIX index traded at its highest level since December 2011 and equity markets experienced [...]
Investment Commentary – October 14, 2014 Dow – 16,315.19 (10/14/14 close) S&P 500 – 1,877.70 (10/14/14 close) 10-year Treasury – 2.21% (10/14/14 close) · The S&P 500 index has lost 6.6% since its September 18th record closing high and is now up just 1.6% for the year, while the Dow is down 1.6% since December [...]
Investment Commentary – October 7, 2014 Dow – 16,719.39 (10/7/14 close) S&P 500 – 1,935.10 (10/7/14) 10-year Treasury – 2.35% (10/7/14 close) · After August’s disappointing employment numbers, the September employment report was a sigh of relief for the market, showing that the weakness was probably a blip. The September unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% [...]
Investment Commentary – October 1, 2014 Dow – 16,804.71 (10/1/14 close) S&P 500 – 1946.16 (10/1/14 close) 10-year Treasury – 2.40% (10/1/14 close) Last week stocks suffered their worst pullback since the summer. Analysts do not believe the pullback reflects a fundamental shift in market conditions, but it does point to 3 important lessons to [...]
Investment Commentary – September 24, 2014 Dow – 17,089.88 (9/23/14 close) (+3.09% as of 9/23/14) S&P 500 – 1,982.77 (9/23/14 close) (+7.25% as of 9/23/14) 10-year Treasury – 2.54% (9/23/14 close) August new home sales surged, rising more than 18% to the highest level in more than 6 years, the Census Bureau reported [...]
Investment Commentary – September 17, 2014 Dow – 17,156.92 (9/17 close) S&P 500 – 2,001.57 (9/17 close) 10-year Treasury – 2.60% (9/17 close) · Stocks jumped higher today and the Dow hit a new record high after the Fed reaffirmed that a key short-term interest rate will stay near zero for a “considerable time” after [...]
Investment Commentary – September 10, 2014 Dow – 17,068.71 (9/10/14 close) S&P 500 – 1995.69 (9/10/14) 10-year Treasury – 2.53% (9/10/14) In August, the U.S. economy created 142,000 net new jobs, well below what economists and analysts expected and the weakest number this year. However, analysts believe the modest report was mostly a reflection of [...]