@theMarket: September Into October Could Be Bumpy for StocksBy Bill Schmick,
03:36PM / Friday, August 30, 2024 | |
We enter September with the three major averages close to or above yearly highs. Momentum is still on the side of the bulls. As such, in the next week or so, markets could attempt to scale those heights and possibly better them.
It is what happens next that concerns me. The next two months are seasonally the worst period for the stock market. However, investors also expect the Federal Reserve Bank to cut interest rates at their meeting on Sept. 17-18. That is normally a bullish development for stocks. We won't know if the Fed will cut rates, but the markets are betting heavily on that outcome.
The macroeconomic data this week certainly reinforced those 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Stocks Battle Back to EvenBy Bill Schmick,
02:09PM / Friday, August 16, 2024 | |
It was a good week in the equity market. The bounce back from the 8 percent sell-off at the beginning of the month is but a distant memory. Does that mean we are in the clear for further gains?
Maybe. So far, the financial markets have seen a "V" shaped recovery from the lows of Monday a week past. Technically, that is a rare occurrence after a downdraft of that magnitude. And yet, that is exactly what has happened thus far.
The gains have been helped by a spate of good corporate earnings, with 80 percent of S&P 500 companies beating estimates. A few benign macroeconomic readings suggested continued economic growth, a lessening of inflation, 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Has the Fed Waited Too Long?By Bill Schmick,
12:31PM / Saturday, August 03, 2024 | |
"Be careful what you wish for" is an often-used quote. In the case of the financial markets, all year long, traders and the Fed wished for a slower economy, less employment, and therefore a decline in inflation. Now that we have it, the markets don't like it.
Earlier in the week, the bulls could not have asked for a more dovish Federal Open Market Committee meeting. While the central bank maintained its higher-for-longer stance, it hinted that September could see the first of several interest rate cuts. Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, said it will depend on economic data over the next several weeks. "If that test is met, a 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Markets Midsummer Slide Wallops Technologyby Bill Schmick,
03:52PM / Friday, July 26, 2024 | |
July, as promised, has turned out to be a month where financial markets have been buffeted by fireworks on various fronts. A gambit of data from inflation to economic growth combined with a new American brand of populism has led to some unexpected market consequences.
The good news first. In the second quarter, gross domestic product grew well above economists' expectations at an annualized pace of 2.8 percent, compared to forecasts of 2 percent growth. The "core" Personal Consumption Expenditures Index (PCE), which excludes food and energy, grew by 2.9 percent in the second quarter. That was above estimates of 2.7 percent but significantly lower than the 3.7 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Politics Take Center Stage in Equity MarketsBy Bill Schmick,
03:05PM / Friday, July 19, 2024 | |
As temperatures climb to record highs throughout the nation, the financial markets feel their brand of heat as election fever takes hold with a vengeance.
Suddenly, value stocks, which have taken a back seat to the FANG/AI equity gang for months, are coming back into vogue. Semiconductor stocks, which have led the tech market higher for years had their deepest sell-off since 2022. Even Nvidia is suffering a bout of profit-taking.
Some are calling it the 'Great Rotation' where traders are taking profits on the concentration trade consisting of a handful of large-cap mega stocks and diving into financials, industrials, materials, and even regional 0 Comments
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