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Monthly Market Update (September 2024): 3 Things You Need to Know

Global stocks and bond indices finished the month close to record levels as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a half percentage point – its first reduction since 2020. Here are 3 things you need to know: The S&P 500 has now posted its strongest year-to-date performance of the 21st century so far (+20.8%), after rising 5.36% for the third quarter. Chinese equity markets rocketed...

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Monthly Market Update (March 2024): 3 Things You Need to Know

The U.S. economy continues to show resiliency and disinflation progresses as the February CPI report showed that inflation is still gradually receding. The first quarter’s rally became a “everything rally” as global stocks and bonds posted positive gains with many indices hitting record highs. Here are 3 things you need to know: This year’s first quarter gain for the S&P 500 is the 12th...

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Monthly Market Update (February 2024): 3 Things You Need to Know

Several all-time highs were achieved by the major equity indices in price during February. That included an all-time high for the Nikkei, surpassing its previous record from 1989, and the S&P 500 also broke through the 5,000 mark. Here are 3 things you need to know: The Magnificent 7 (+12.1%) powered the U.S. equity gains, posting their best performance in 9 months and now +14.1% YTD....

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Monthly Market Update (December 2023): 3 Things You Need to Know

The excitement about potential cuts to interest rates continued in the markets and investors had much to cheer as the year closed out with the S&P 500 index approaching its all-time high (4797 level). Here are 3 things you need to know: Gains in the broader market were largely driven by the “Magnificent 7” (Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft). They accounted for...

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Monthly Market Update (October 2023): 3 Things You Need to Know

Heightened volatility, robust economic data, and concerns about the sustainability of government finances appear to be driving the recent movement in intermediate to long-term Treasury yields with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note topping 5% for the first time since 2007. For now, the stock market is taking its cues from the bond market. Here are 3 things you need to know: The Bloomberg...

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Monthly Market Update (August 2023): 3 Things You Need to Know

Most global assets were down on the month. The general weakness in the month came from a few different angles. Here are 3 things you need to know: 10-yr. U.S. Treasury yields hit their highest level (4.36%) since 2007 driven partially by a larger-than-expected Treasury supply announcement. Fitch downgraded U.S. government debt from AAA to AA+. China's property crisis is rippling through its...

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Monthly Market Update (February 2023): 3 Things You Need to Know

There was a big repricing of inflation expectations over February, as the January Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed an uptick in inflation and the January Jobs report was much stronger than expected. Here are 3 things you need to know: 2yr U.S. inflation breakevens were up +85 basis points (bps) to 3.18%, having ended January at just 2.33%. This was the second largest monthly move higher since...

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Monthly Market Update (August): 3 Things You Need to Know

The S&P 500 index experienced its worst August in seven years as traders weighed the prospect of more aggressive action from the Federal Reserve (the Fed) on interest rates to rein in inflation — even if that means some pain for households and businesses.  Here are 3 things you need to know: The unemployment rate in August backed up to 3.7% (from 3.5%) driven by a huge increase in the...

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Is Our Democracy in Trouble?

By:  Michael Allbee, CFP®, Senior Portfolio Manager “What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach.” – Captain (Strother Martin) from the movie “Cool Hand Luke” Barron’s recently interviewed hedge fund giant Ray Dalio, who manages Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund with around $150 billion in assets. During the interview, he discussed how social...

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Monthly Market Update (November): 3 Things You Need to Know

November returns would have looked very different had the month ended at Thanksgiving, but the last three days turned global markets on a head. Here are 3 things you need to know: The gradual removal of pandemic-era monetary policy accommodation in the United States has begun with the Federal Reserve’s announcement on November 3 that it would start to scale back its bond-buying program.President...

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August Monthly Economic Summary

Last month was an interesting month for the markets and below is the economic summary for August.  As always, if you have any questions or want to discuss more in-depth do not hesitate to give us a call! Sources: Sources: J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Economic Update; Bureau of Economic Analysis (www.bea.gov); Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov); Federal Open Market...

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