Newsletter for September 11, 2017
Weekly Report September 11, 2017 The Markets Last week, the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and potency of Hurricane Irma dominated hearts and minds, but there were some diversions and some welcome news, too. The NFL kicked off its 2017 season with the Chiefs’ win over the Patriots. The men’s U.S. soccer team tied Honduras to […]
Newsletter for September 5, 2017
Weekly Report September 5, 2017 The Markets When it comes to economic growth, the government doesn’t measure twice. It measures three times. Last week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis revised its initial estimate that the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the value of all goods and services produced by a country or region, grew […]
Newsletter for October 28, 2017
Weekly Report August 28, 2017 The Markets Hope floats. Optimism about possible pro-growth economic policies, including tax reform and deregulation, helped U.S. stock indices finish higher last week, reported Barron’s. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. Stocks bobbed up and down as investors’ optimism was weighted by concerns about a possible debt-ceiling battle and government […]
Newsletter for August 22, 2017
Weekly Report August 22, 2017 The Markets Here, there, and everywhere… Markets around the world appear to be benefitting from global economic recovery. After pointing out the United States’ economy is the heart of the global financial system, Barron’s reported: “The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has tirelessly amassed 30 record closes this year, but […]
Newsletter for August 14, 2017
Weekly Report August 14, 2017 The Markets North Korea may be a little country, but it can churn up big trouble. The possibility that verbal hostilities between the United States and North Korea could trigger geopolitical conflict had investors on the run last week. In the United States, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell […]
Newsletter for August 8, 2017
Weekly Report August 7, 2017 The Markets Who’s been buying shares of company stock? Since the start of the bull market in 2009, U.S. companies have been buying their own stock. Stock buybacks peaked during the first three quarters of 2016 and have dropped off sharply since then, reports Financial Times citing a report from […]
Newsletter for July 31, 2017
Weekly Report July 31, 2017 The Markets There was some good news and some bad news last week. First, the good news: Thanks to consumer spending and an upturn in federal government spending, the U.S. economy grew faster from April through June this year. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.6 percent during the period, […]
Newsletter for July 24, 2017
Weekly Report July 24, 2017 The Markets Do we have central banks to thank? Low interest rates, accommodative monetary policy, and improving economic growth have helped stock markets around the world reach record highs, reports Barron’s: “…a look around the globe shows the surge of the U.S. market to new peaks to be anything but […]
Newsletter for July 10, 2017
Weekly Report July 10, 2017 The Markets Things you may want to know… Last Friday, Financial Times (FT) published, ‘Five markets charts that matter for investors.’ Among the issues addressed in the charts were: The bond market bear watch. The yield on 10-year German Bunds (Germany’s government bonds) reached an 18-month high of 0.58 percent […]
Newsletter for July 3, 2017
Weekly Report July 3, 2017 The Markets This is the way the quarter ends – with a central bank scare. Central bankers are stodgy. They speak carefully. For many, reading the words ‘Federal Reserve’ is enough to cause boredom to set in and web surfing to ensue. Last week, though, the European Central Bank and […]