Market Commentary

Market Commentary: Higher Inflation Expected in Coming Years, S&P Sees More Gains

The Federal Reserve announced a major policy revision last week. The revised strategy indicates rates will stay low for a long period of time and will increase slower than in past rate cycles. The report and a subsequent speech by Fed Chair Jay Powell indicate the Fed will allow inflation to move above its 2% target to make up for periods when inflation has been less than 2%.

Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary: The S&P Sets Recovery Records, Housing Market Showing Gains

The S&P 500 continued to march higher, rising 0.8% last week. Excluding dividends, the index of large-cap U.S. stocks reached a new record. Some investors prefer this measure for determining when bear markets end. By almost any measure, the S&P 500 is no longer in a bear market.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: Economic Recovery May Slow After Sharp Early Rebound

U.S. economic data last week supported the view the U.S. is entering a period of slower economic growth after a sharp recovery in May and June. Mandatory and voluntary social distancing efforts limit how quickly the economy can recover when certain segments, such as restaurants, are still struggling.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: Employment Numbers Beat Expectations as S&P 500 Nears February High

The U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs in July as hiring momentum in the service sector allowed many workers to reclaim lost jobs or get new ones. The pace of hiring slowed compared to gains of 2.7 million and 4.8 million in May and June. The slowing growth reflects consumer caution as new virus cases surge and the slowing pace of economic reopening.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: GDP Substantially Lower than Last Year, S&P Rallies in July

U.S. GDP fell 32.9% last quarter on an annualized basis. It wasn’t as bad as it looks. Annualizing the data magnifies the decline by assuming the trend will continue for a full year. A better assessment can be gained by comparing GDP to the same quarter last year.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: S&P 500 Earnings are Strong, but Initial Unemployment Claims Increase

The increased number of COVID-19 cases appears to be pressuring employment in the U.S. Last week, the number of initial unemployment claims rose from 1.3 million to 1.4 million. (See Figure 1.) After slowly declining for weeks, the uptick shows signs of a weakening job market.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: S&P 500 Positive for the Year as Retail Sales Rise

Evidence for a sharp, although possibly brief, economic recovery continues to mount. As shown in Figure 1, retail sales rebounded another 7.5% in June and are now 1.1% higher than a year ago. Signs of economic reopening showed up throughout the data released last week.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: S&P Climbs Despite Surge in COVID-19 Cases

Stocks continued to climb in the face of an increasing number of new COVID-19 cases and evidence the surge is stifling the economy’s ability to recover. Initial unemployment claims dipped to 1.3 million, but they have remained above 1 million for 16 consecutive weeks.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: Markets See Huge Boost as Optimism Outweighs Slowed Reopening

The S&P 500 wrapped up its best quarter since 1998, gaining 20.5%, amid a strong employment report and continued concerns as the United States and the world posted a record number of coronavirus cases.

Market Commentary

Market Commentary: S&P 500 Dips as COVID-19 Cases Surge

The daily total for new virus cases topped 40,000 as a resurgence in the South and Southwest pushed new cases to an all-time-record high. Some states are reporting record hospitalizations and pausing or reversing reopenings. Initial unemployment claims, as shown in Figure 1, remain close to 1.5 million.