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…
Q1 – 2019: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
What a difference a quarter makes! After one of the most disappointing quarters in recent history, the first quarter of 2019 ended up being one of the best. Most analysts say a main driver was the Federal Reserve, who went from “zero to hero” by adjusting their stance on the future of interest rates. In…
Q4 – 2018: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
In case you turned off the news and/or were hiding under a rock for the past couple months, you may not have noticed that the final quarter of 2018 was not the best for equity markets around the world. December specifically made headlines for being one of the worst performing months in recent history. The…
Q3 – 2018: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
U.S. Equity Markets continued a nice run from July-September and finished higher by most measures. The graph above (courtesy of Yardeni research) tells the story of what has been happening around the globe: US (top line in purple) has been faring better in 2018 than most major markets. A mixture of all indexes is measured…
Q2 – 2018: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
Q2 – 2018: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary Markets improved in Q2 and finished modestly higher by most measures. This volatility in 2018 has ticked higher and we’ve heard rumblings such as “trade war”, “rising interest rates”, and “North Korea nuclear situation”. Since we appear to be in the alter stages of a long bull market, it’s…
Q1 – 2018: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
Well, it was bound to happen: a negative quarter. We’ve all been told that markets just don’t go up, up, up! And after January roared higher, markets pulled back in February/March and most indexes finished flat to slightly lower by end of the quarter. The end results weren’t necessarily bad, but it never feels good to experience a…
Q4 – 2017: Brandon’s Quarterly Market Commentary
As 2017 wrapped up, December showed continued gains in the US markets and finished higher for the quarter as well as for the year. Much of the headlines in Q4 were dominated by the new tax legislation (which ultimately passed), President Trump’s political strife, and the booming interest in cryptocurrencies. Most important to our business,…