Interest rates and the housing market: Interest rates have moderated somewhat as the markets interpret the Federal Reserve’s recent comments on the prospect of rate cuts later this year. The Fed is still expected to cut interest rates three times in 2024. How will the Fed’s interest rate decisions impact the housing market? Here is a Read More

Earnings wrap-up: Fourth quarter earnings reports are almost all out and the results have been quite resilient. “With 90% of S&P 500 companies having reported fourth quarter results, the results have impressed investors. So far, 78% of companies beat profit estimates by a median of 7%, while 65% of companies beat revenue estimates by a Read More

Earnings: The expected earnings growth in 2024 is still dominated by a small number of mega-cap companies. Here is a comprehensive preview of the Q4 earnings season that is currently underway. “It is interesting to note that four of these six companies are also projected to be the top four contributors to earnings growth for the S&P Read More

Santa Claus rally in effect. It’s that time again, when we all wait to see if Santa Claus will give a boost to our investment portfolios. The Santa Claus rally, which falls within the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the New Year, has been a pretty reliable bright Read More

Good market vibes. Positive earnings, lower inflation and the cooling job market combine to adjust the market’s forecast of further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. As the root of recent market turbulence was based in the bond market’s expectations of further tightening and/or an extended period of these higher rates, this shift in market perspective matters Read More

Bond market mayhem. The bond market had a year to forget in 2022. 2023 is shaping up to be more of the same. Strong economic data and ballooning U.S. debt are the two most credited reasons why rates have continued to rise and bond values decline. Good economic data is usually a positive for investment Read More

Rising interest rates. The current position of the Federal Reserve on interest rates? Higher-for-longer, which has led to a significant adjustment in investor and market expectations regarding when, and by how much, the Fed would be cutting rates. The Fed’s commentary adjustment to a more restrictive policy has translated into market expectations of additional headwinds for companies in 2024. Corporate Read More

China slowdown. The headline that China, the world’s second largest economy, is slowing down may initially create some heartburn for investors. A deeper dive shows that there may be some silver linings derived from the weakness. A few reasons why: (1) The U.S. economy does not seem to have significant exposure to the Chinese markets Read More

Corporate Earnings. Q2 corporate earnings have begun to come out in earnest. While expectations have been lowered heading in, it seems that the markets are already looking to the future rather than worrying about this earnings crop. Remember that the markets are a forecasting mechanism, focusing more on the future than the present or past. Read More

Economic strength and consumer resilience. The latest economic data is continuing to underscore the strength of the U.S. economy, which may come as a surprise to many naysayers. Plenty of folks in the media have been talking about why it is too good to last, with the next economic doom fast approaching. Commentators and prognosticators are stymied by the Read More