The Impact of Federal Reserve Policy and Valuation The second quarter was marked by a strong rebound in equity and fixed income markets, which helped bring major indexes back significantly from their lows, yet still down for the year. Concerns over a worst-case scenario for Coronavirus diminished, as global financial markets were encouraged by the…
For most of us, the first quarter of 2020 was unlike anything we have ever seen before, on both a personal level, and in the financial markets. By mid-January the world was made aware of the Coronavirus issue in China, with echoes of prior global health crises such as SARS, Ebola, Mad Cow disease, and…
After a 12-year bull market (the longest in history), the U.S. equity market has entered a bear market losing 30% from peak to trough. As we’ve discussed in the past, the markets hate uncertainty, and this is exactly why the markets are reacting so dramatically to the COVID-19 Coronavirus. We will discuss some of the…
It has been 10 weeks since China reported the outbreak of the Coronavirus. We have experienced significant volatility in the financial markets, and it is still uncertain as to the short-term and long-term impacts to the US economy. The financial markets were already struggling with the Coronavirus uncertainty, and today, we were hit with the…
The Coronavirus has taken center stage in the news and in the markets. While it has been on our radar for a bit of time now, the latest reports out of Italy and South Korea have escalated levels of concern, and there has been a corresponding reaction in the financial markets. In the past two…
Global Economic Stabilization and Diminishing Trade Headwinds As we wrap up 2019 and move into 2020, both the economic and trade outlooks appear more positive than when the year started. As 2019 began, the global economy had been weakening for more than six months, which continued to gain momentum and grow deeper. Trade tensions with…
The Economy, Impeachment, and Windows of Opportunity There have been a number of interesting developments within the financial markets over the past few months, and despite an uptick in news events that have generally caused uncertainty to grow, U.S. stocks and bonds both saw modest gains despite a choppy 3rd quarter, while foreign markets were…
The Global Economy Continues to Weaken, and The Federal Reserve Gets Ready to Cut Interest Rates As we hit the midpoint of the year, there has been no significant change in the two important trends building through most of the year: In this commentary we will look at the recent developments with these two trends…
Is the Global Economic Slowdown in the Past? The financial markets over the past six months, with the general increase in volatility, have led investors to feel like they are riding a rollercoaster. We had persistent declines in the fourth quarter of 2018, and then a strong rebound in stock prices during the first quarter…