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They say wisdom and age go hand in hand.  I don’t know if that is true or not, but I can say that as I’ve aged, I have become a bit wiser.  One morsel of wisdom I have acquired recently is the realization that there is a lot a freedom and power in one simple three word sentence.  That sentence is:  I don’t know.  Within that admission is the acceptance of our human condition, we are not o

The market continued its march higher this week, with the S&P 500 gaining another 1.5%.  Since December 3^rd the S&P 500 has now risen over 6%.  The move in the large cap index is reminiscent of the rally from December 2017-January 2018.  That move two years ago saw the S&P 500 rally over 9% in just about a month and a half, before the floor fell out and the market d

We are into the 2020’s, it is exciting to ponder the next decade, how will history characterize it?  Each decade has an identity.  Weren’t we supposed to be on Mars by now? Flying cars…no, ok.   Anyways, Happy New Year!

Now that we’ve turned the calendar to 2020, we can look ahead to what the coming year may bring.  Any attempt to forecast the future in highly volatile processes like financial markets is fraught with attendant skepticism.  Events occur that effect the market and by nature all of the events which move markets are unexpected, that’s what moves markets.  President Trump orders a military st

At this point it seems as though a continued rally in the S&P 500 this week was a foregone conclusion. The market has strong momentum and due to the strong rally this year investors are unlikely to sell equities before year end and incur a tax liability on their gains.

At times the stock market can be a pretty good barometer of American sentiment.  And if Nancy Pelosi wanted her Democratic colleagues to present a solemn façade as they voted for impeachment this week, the message was received in the financial markets as well.  With all of the surprises of a funeral, the House of Representatives voted Wednesday night to impeach President Donald Trump.  The stock market reaction?  A yawn.

This week it seems as if there is beginning to be some light at the end of a long tunnel of uncertainty.  Two items that have been hanging over, not just the market, but the entire geo-political system, appear closer to resolution.  Not only can this portend to be a good, short-term lift for the stock market, but almost more importantly, we can finally stop hearing about it on the news. 

Market Commentary for Week Ended 12/06/2019

Economic Data Recap

With a couple weeks left in the year it seems pretty safe to say that this year will mark a complete reverse from last year.  Last year, if you recall, was a year in which nearly every single asset class in the world was down.  Diversified portfolio allocation provided no protection from loss, as every alternative investment option proved to be a dead end—with some assets being “less” bad than others.  This year, the opposite appears to be true.  To

This week marked the first weekly decline for the S&P 500 in six weeks and it was only down 0.25%.  Continued trade optimism, narrative the Federal Reserve will support any market declines and seasonality has led to low levels of volatility in the past few weeks.  This week was no exception.  The market did sell off almost 1% on Wednesday on news that progress on a phase 1 deal wasn’t