The Markets Leaping over the wall of worry. The “wall of worry” is an obstacle – or set of obstacles – that investors face. This year, the wall reached a considerable height as inflation, the War in Ukraine, United States-China tensions, slower earnings growth, the high cost of residential real estate, low demand for commercial… Read more »
Author: Christina Michalczak
Market Commentary June 5, 2023
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Weekly Market Commentary.
The Markets As Gomer Pyle used to say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” Gomer Pyle USMC was a popular American sitcom in the 1960s. It focused on a naïve, do-gooding auto mechanic from Mayberry RFD who joined the military. Gomer Pyle, the much-loved main character, was known for catchphrases such as shazam, golly, and surprise, surprise, surprise.… Read more »
Market Commentary May 31, 2023
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Uncategorized.
The Markets It’s a three-ring circus! For centuries people have embraced the circus. Enjoying the sticky fluff of cotton candy while elephants, clowns and trapeze artists perform in the spotlights. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the experience as wild, confusing, engrossing and entertaining. Some aspects of that description apply to recent financial market activity. Last week,… Read more »
Weekly Market Commentary May 22, 2023
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Weekly Market Commentary.
The Markets Investors aren’t happy, but stocks are up. If you ever participated in a fantasy football league, you may have experienced a run on a position during your draft. One person picks a kicker or defense mid-round and, suddenly, almost everyone rushes to follow suit. A similar occurrence may be happening in the United… Read more »
Weekly Market Commentary May 15, 2023
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Weekly Market Commentary.
The Markets Brace yourself! The debt ceiling standoff continues. Consumers aren’t optimistic. The Consumer Sentiment Index fell to a six-month low in May, dropping 9.1 percent month-to-month. Participants in the University of Michigan survey were: Less concerned about current economic conditions (down 5.4 percent, month-to-month), and More concerned about future economic conditions (down 11.7 percent,… Read more »
Weekly Market Commentary March 7, 2023
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Uncategorized.
The Markets Sibling discord. Stocks and bonds are two of the better-known asset classes in the family of potential investments. Last week, they were in opposition. Bond yields have been moving higher in anticipation of the Federal Reserve raising rates again. For a while last week, every maturity of Treasury – from the 1-month Treasury… Read more »
Weekly Market Commentary February 13, 2023
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Weekly Market Commentary.
The Markets This time may be different…or it may not be. There has been a lot of speculation about how the Federal Reserve’s policies will affect the United States economy. Economists have differing opinions about whether the country is headed for: A recession, which occurs when the economy stops growing and begins to contract; or… Read more »
Weekly Market Commentary August 29, 2022
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Weekly Market Commentary.
The Markets Markets were tuned to the signals coming from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. During World War II, United States armed forces often relied on high-powered radio sets to communicate. When determining whether transmissions were garbled by static or obscured by the sounds of battle, the sender would ask, “Do you read me?” If communications were… Read more »
Weekly Market Commentary August 24, 2021
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Weekly Market Commentary.
The Markets Markets were shaken last week by a potent cocktail of central bank tapering and economic growth concerns mixed with coronavirus and a splash of the new Chinese privacy law. On Wednesday, the minutes of the United States Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee Meeting were released. They confirmed the Fed could begin tapering –… Read more »
Weekly Market Commentary August 18, 2021
Posted by Christina Michalczak & filed under Weekly Market Commentary.
The Markets What is the most important driver of economic growth in the United States? The most common way to measure economic output is Gross Domestic Product or GDP. It’s the value of all goods and services produced in our country over a specific period of time. GDP is a combination of the following: Government… Read more »