Wall Street wrapped up the second quarter last week. It was one for the record books. The recovery from the “Coronavirus Contraction” has been substantial, but in many ways is still incomplete. April was a particularly strong month, and the entire quarter went down as one of the best in over 20 years. Lockdowns have…
The New Normal
It’s been months since most of us, myself included, have shuttered the office and started working from home. Like many, I’m feeling the strain of upended life. How about you? Are you ready to venture out again? In this post, I thought I’d provide a rundown of some of the latest economic projections as well…
Q1 – 2020: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
Well, that was quick. Feeling good after a strong finish to 2019, we’ve seen some dramatic changes happen in a very short period of time. Let’s call it the “Coronavirus Contraction”. It came swiftly, and it came with force. And while the economy was on a roll to start the year, in a matter of weeks, we were…
Q4 – 2019: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
The US economy went ROARING into the 20s as we closed the chapter on Q4 as well as the decade. Global markets were solidly higher for the quarter, as well as for 2019. The US consumer remained resilient due to a favorable labor environment, and spending and earnings have held up well. And the longest-running…
Q3 – 2019: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
Looking back at the past quarter, the summer months (July/August) were slow followed by a more bullish September. The Federal Reserve (Fed), citing a slowdown in growth, cut interest rates in July and September in attempts to prolong the economic expansion. The European Central Bank took similar measures. Overall, the global markets were generally mixed…
Q2 – 2019: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
Whether you are a stock investor or a bond investor, the first half of 2019 was outstanding for financial markets. This has been a huge about-face from December when markets pulled back and sentiment was grim. The S&P 500 had it’s best June month in over 60 years. Not that we’re getting overly excited about…
Market Correction – Now What? Some Rules For Life, Advisor Background Check
In no particular order, here’s a few interesting things I heard and read recently that I wanted to share: The stock market is officially in a correction… here’s what usually happens next (CNBC, by Evelyn Cheng) Recently we have seen a decent uptick in stock market volatility, and you may hear we are in “correction”…
How Markets Performed in 2017, Tax Planning with the New Law, and Credit Card Debt trends
In no particular order, here’s a few interesting things I heard and read recently that I wanted to share: U.S. stocks mount milestone-shattering run in 2017 (The Philadelphia Tribune, by Alex Viega) Since the final stock market trading day took place this past Friday, we can now discuss how the markets fared for the year….
Q3 – 2017: Commentary and thoughts…
We wrapped up September on a high note, and had positive gains for the month as well as quarter. Year-to-date is also solidly higher. Much of the headlines were dominated by Trump, “Rocketman”, and hurricanes…but the markets shrugged off any negative news and were driven from strong corporate earnings. Interest rates (as measured by the 10-year treasury)…