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…
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…
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…