Negative Rates. It’s Not Just for the Rest of the World Anymore.
It used to be taught in finance class that nominal interest rates can’t go lower than zero, at least theoretically, because people can always just hold cash. However, in recent history, several economies around the world have seen the rates on their government...
Showing Signs of Life
OVERVIEW After a tumultuous few weeks of trading, stocks around the globe switched to rally mode last week. The MSCI All Country World Index, a measure of global stocks, rose 9.94 percent. The S&P 500 Index, which tracks the 500 largest companies in the United...
Fall From Grace
This week the energy sector of the S&P 500 stock index reached price levels last seen 20 years ago. These are not little companies, but big, blue chip, household names that have fallen, in some cases, 90% from their peaks! They are a cautionary tale that...
Crazy Markets Do Crazy Things
OVERVIEW Well, that was quite the Monday. Some are even calling it Black Monday (the 2020 edition). Pretty much all financial assets were down, some down a lot, after a failed meeting between the oil-producing giants Saudi Arabia and Russia resulted in the biggest...
Then the Bond Market Said, “Hold My Beer…”
OVERVIEW Things continued to happen in financial markets this week after stocks ended the previous week with one of the largest weekly declines on record. Not to be outdone, bonds took center stage this week as U.S. 10-year and 30-year Treasuries had incredible drops...
When Stocks are Stretched too Thin
OVERVIEW U.S. stocks hit another rough patch last week, as the S&P 500 index fell 1.25 percent. The declines were fairly broad-based, but they were mostly centered around large-cap and growth stocks, which have been outperforming recently. Emerging market stocks...
Economic Green Shoots
OVERVIEW The U.S. stock market had another good week, with all the major indices ending in the green. The S&P 500 index, which represents the 500 largest companies in the U.S. by market capitalization, rose 1.58 percent. The more tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite did...
The Most Important Prong
OVERVIEW The U.S. stock market rallied last week as the major indices posted gains of more than three percent. Volatility, as measured by the VIX Index, is up relative to the start of the year, but it did pull back a bit last week as the stock market bounced off its...
Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be
OVERVIEW U.S. stocks hit a rough patch last week, as the S&P 500 fell a little over one percent. The most severe declines were centered around small-cap and value stocks, which fell about 2.24 and 1.31 percent, respectfully. Emerging market stocks brought up the...
A Little too Quiet?
OVERVIEW U.S. stocks rose yet again last week, with the S&P 500 rising 1.97 percent. This gain was roughly on par with the Dow, which rose 1.82 percent. The Nasdaq, however, outpaced both indices, rising 2.29 percent. International stocks lagged behind the U.S....
