Printable Version   It was an interesting rotation week. Investors and traders basically sold the winners and bought the losers. For example, small-caps have lagged all year but gained +1.2% this week. However, the hot NASDAQ closed down -0.6%. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google were down between 2% and almost 5% on the week. Along the same lines, emerging equities were hit hard (-3.9%). Chinese equities led the way. But overall the broad indexes in…
Continue reading >>

Printable Version   The equity markets basically waxed and waned depending on the tone of the last tax related headline. This week the Senate introduced their own bill that differed markedly from the House plan, and investors started to question both the timing of passage and even passage itself. For the week the S&P dipped a fraction while small-cap stocks lost -1.3%. The international markets were similarly soft, but none of the declines were too…
Continue reading >>

Printable Version Despite a strong rally on Friday global equities closed flat for the week. The S&P picked up +0.2% while the Russell 2000 was off -0.1%. Only the NASDAQ stands out with a +1.1% weekly gain after some major names blew past earnings estimates on Thursday. The international markets were soft for a second week in a row, due in large part to a strong dollar. Japan bucked the trend with a +2.6% gain…
Continue reading >>

Printable Version   It has been an interesting couple of weeks in the markets with a significant rotation among asset classes starting around the Fed meeting on September 20th. As we touch on below, the Fed basically reaffirmed that they want to raise interest rates in December, countering those who thought they might wait given the tame inflation data. The broad equity market in the US has taken the news in stride, helped in part…
Continue reading >>

Printable Version   A solid week for the equity markets around the world. U.S. stocks advanced between +1.6% and +2.3% while the overseas markets were generally higher. Japan added +3.3% while both Germany and France were up 1.8%. Mainland Chinese stocks bucked the trend losing -0.4%, but Hong Kong added +1.3%.   Inflation ticked up in August (more below) and bond yields popped higher.  The yield on the 10-year Treasury increased from 2.06% last Friday…
Continue reading >>

Printable Version     A lot has been thrown at the markets the last couple weeks. North Korea, hurricanes, the debt ceiling are at the top of a pretty long list. All in all stocks have held up pretty well while bond yields have fallen. This week domestic equities dipped with the S&P down -0.6% and small-cap stocks -1.1%. For U.S. investors overseas developed stocks did well largely because of dollar weakness/euro and yen strength….
Continue reading >>

Printable Version   It was mixed week in the global equity markets. U.S. stocks were broadly lower with the S&P 500 dipping -0.7% while small-cap stocks were off over -1%. The international markets, however, were higher. The developed EAFE index advanced +0.4% while emerging equities were up +1.7%. China, Germany, and France were all up over +1% while Brazil was up +2.0%.   It is always tough to pin a catalyst on market moves, but…
Continue reading >>

Printable Version   It was a quiet week in the markets with modest changes in both stocks and bonds. For the week, the S&P 500 was up fractionally (+0.2%) while the NASDAQ dipped -0.4%. Small-caps underperformed with a -1.2% loss while international stocks outperformed. The EAFE was up +1.0% while EM equities were up +0.5%. Hong Kong and Brazilian equities stand out with over +2% returns on the week.   Bond yields were little changed…
Continue reading >>