Unlike the Lexus car commercial with the slogan, “A December to Remember”, the fourth quarter of 2018 was one we would all like to forget. The first quarter went a long way in helping that effort, as U.S. equities experienced the largest quarterly gain since...
After several years of strong market growth, global equities came under pressure in the fourth quarter due to a host of factors. Equity markets found reasons to worry, as markets struggled with elevated trade tensions surrounding US-China tariffs and their associated economic impact. Fears of...
“We always live in an uncertain world. What is certain is that the United States will go forward over time.” ~ Warren Buffett, CEO Berkshire Hathaway, CNBC on 9/22/2010. On August 22nd, the current bull market became the longest on record since World War II. While...
The main theme in the second quarter could best be described by the three T’s: trade, tariffs, and tweets. Although not as severe as the first quarter, volatility was present in equity markets as tweets about increased tariffs on China, our European allies, and their...
It was a tumultuous start to the year, as volatility increased from the historically low levels experienced in 2016 and 2017. Stocks started out strong with the S&P 500 increasing almost 6%, its strongest start since 1987. The themes of synchronized global growth, strong earnings...
What a year 2017 ended up being for investors. In the past week several investment strategists have stated 2017 might go down in history as being a “perfect” year for global equity markets. Markets were “perfect” in the sense that investors experienced an incredibly smooth...
“October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The other are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.” ~ Mark Twain Markets in the third quarter continued their upward momentum as solid earnings and macroeconomic data...
The second quarter of the year continued the first quarter’s impressive run, with the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq reaching all-time highs. Despite growth-oriented names like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Netflix receiving most of the headlines, the story this quarter was the continued market-leading...
The first quarter of the year continued the momentum the equity markets experienced toward the end of 2016 following the presidential election. The continued worldwide recovery in industrial activity, trade, and commodity industries bolstered the most synchronized global expansion in the past several years, overshadowing...
What a difference an election can make. Following an especially contentious election cycle, US equity markets rose on the promise of pro-business rhetoric relating to the three “R’s”: repatriate (of corporate cash held overseas), reform (tax reform in specific), and repeal (Obamacare). The best performers...