Weekly Market Commentary for August 31, 2020

Weekly Market Commentary for August 31, 2020

The Markets The stock market rallies like it’s 1986. August has been a good month for stock investors. At the end of last week, the S&P 500 Index was up 6.8 percent for the month. The Index is poised to deliver its best returns for the month since 1986, when it...
Weekly Market Commentary for August 24, 2020

Weekly Market Commentary for August 24, 2020

The Markets The shortest bear market in history is over. The Nasdaq Composite and Standard & Poor’s 500 Indices finished at new highs last week. The stock market is considered to be a leading economic indicator, so strong stock market performance suggests...
Weekly Market Commentary for August 17th, 2020

Weekly Market Commentary for August 17th, 2020

The Markets The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index finished the week within a whisker of its February high, reported Randall Forsyth of Barron’s. It’s a remarkable feat. The stock market has recovered in just 175 days. Historically, comparable recoveries...
Weekly Market Commentary for August 10, 2020

Weekly Market Commentary for August 10, 2020

The Markets There was good news and bad news in last week’s employment report. The good news was the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered better-than-expected data about employment. In July, the U.S. economy added about 1.8 million new jobs. That’s about 300,000...
Weekly Market Commentary for August 3, 2020

Weekly Market Commentary for August 3, 2020

The Markets Last week delivered a mixed bag of financial and economic news. As many expected, the U.S. economy did not fare well during the second quarter. COVID-19 lockdowns and business closings caused productivity to fall by one-third. Real gross domestic product,...