Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, discusses the market reaction to November’s election upset. Everyone thought markets would sell off after a Trump victory, and they did for a few hours before rallying strongly. Although the reaction around the world has been less favorable, U.S. fundamentals are sound, and with the uncertainty of the election behind us, the economy and markets are free to do even better. Nothing’s guaranteed, but as headwinds turn to tailwinds, we may see even more acceleration. Follow Brad at blog.commonwealth.com/independent-market-observer.
With U.S. stocks surging to new highs and trouble brewing elsewhere in the world (the failed Italian referendum and resignation of Matteo Renzi, not to mention the continued decline in the Chinese currency), I’ve been getting questions about whether investors should just stay here in the USA.
Over the past couple of weeks, everyone’s been wondering how long the stock market's “Trump bounce” will last.
With everyone out shopping today, we'll soon be seeing the usual slew of Black Friday data (and the instant economic analysis that goes along with it).
Since the election, much of the financial commentary has centered on the stock market's surprising surge.
Although many were predicting a significant pullback on Mr. Trump’s election, we, in fact, got a fairly significant advance. What’s up with that? I suspect there are several reasons.
Throughout the campaign, much of the media coverage on both sides has verged on the apocalyptic, and, indeed, there may be substantial challenges as a new administration comes into power. But the reality is that the sun will continue to come up each day, and the country will move on.
After significant bouncebacks in the major indicators over the past couple of months, we saw a bit of a pullback in several components of the data in October.
Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, discusses October tricks and treats for financial markets and the economy. As expected, it was a tough month for markets, as uncertainty surrounding the upcoming election and the future of interest rates continued to rattle investors. Still, fundamentals remain solid, and we were treated to rising business and consumer confidence, as well as strong economic growth. Is it possible that the trickiest part of the quarter is behind us? Stay tuned to find out. Follow Brad at blog.commonwealth.com/independent-market-observer.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on what the election means for investors’ portfolios. Longer term, the answer was not much. Shorter term, there’s potential for market volatility...
It’s been a while since I wrote about inflation, the general increase in prices that makes everything cost more. Inflation has been so low recently that it hasn’t really been a priority.
Amazingly enough, after the concern about another Black Monday, the 1987 drop's anniversary today hasn’t generated much media attention. It’s almost like it never happened.
In the past couple of days, three different people have forwarded me an opinion piece that attempts to draw some parallels between the way the market acted in October 1987 and the way it’s acting now.
There’s no escaping coverage of the presidential election—what it means, whom to vote for, whom not to vote for. Many of us are deeply engaged in the process and passionately committed to one of the candidates.
Tomorrow, the Labor Department releases the jobs report—probably the most important economic report of them all. After all, jobs drive everything.
Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, discusses the markets and economy for September. It was a volatile month, with markets dropping only to bounce back at month-end. Large companies in the S&P 500 were down slightly, while smaller companies and those outside of the U.S. did well. There was also a larger-than-expected pullback in the service sector, yet consumer confidence reached a nine-year high. Given such mixed news, should we be concerned about where the economy is going? Stay tuned to find out. Follow Brad at blog.commonwealth.com/independent-market-observer.
I woke up early this morning to check the results of the British referendum on leaving the European Union. Against expectations, the Leave vote won a convincing victory, defying the polls and the prediction markets. There’s no doubt the world has changed, significantly. There is considerable doubt about what that actually means and—more immediately—what to do about it.
