Market News – July 15, 2019

Market News

NEW HEIGHTS:  The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 27,000 for the first time this past week, and it kept climbing, closing the week at 27,332.  The S&P 500 closed above 3,000 for the first time ever on Friday.  Fears of recession appear to have abated, helped by the Fed which has been indicating since early…

July 15, 2019

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Market News – July 8, 2019

Market News

JUNE JOBS JUMP:  For the month of June, the U.S. economy added 224,000 new jobs.  The unemployment rate increased from 3.6% to 3.7% due largely to about 300,000 more people joining the job market.  Wages had a six cent per hour gain, and currently wages are about 3.1% higher than a year ago.    …

July 8, 2019

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Market News – July 1, 2019

Market News

STOCKS ENJOY ROBUST FIRST HALF GROWTH:  The S&P 500 just registered its best first half of a year in 22 years.  Although U.S. stocks were slightly down this week, they ended the first half of the year solidly recovering from the very poor fourth quarter of 2018.  This bounce was largely influenced by the U.S.…

July 1, 2019

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Market News – June 24, 2019

Market News

THE FED IS NO LONGER “PATIENT”:  In recent statements by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Chairman Powell has used the word “patient” when discussing how the Fed is looking at data with regard to whether it will entertain any rate cuts.  The word “patient” was not included in last week’s statement by the Fed, and…

June 24, 2019

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Market News – June 17, 2019

Market News

BOUNCING MARKETS END THE WEEK POSITIVE:  This week, gains in shares of energy companies and some soaring initial public offerings helped increase stock prices overall.  Rising tensions in the Middle East and tepid economic data kept things in check, and the week ended barely positive.  After a difficult May, in which prices dropped approximately 6%,…

June 17, 2019

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Market News – June 10, 2019

Market News

ONLY 75,000 NEW JOBS:  For the month of May, only 75,000 new jobs were added to the economy, a record 104th straight month of gains.  This was well below general expectations.  The unemployment rate remained the same at 3.6%.  So far, the economy has added 820,000 new jobs through May of 2019.  At this time…

June 10, 2019

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Market News – June 3, 2019

Market News

TRADE TENSIONS CONTINUE TO DO DAMAGE TO THE MARKETS:  Late Thursday, President Trump threatened to impose escalating tariffs on Mexico beginning June 10, and markets responded by moving down 1% on Friday.  This has exacerbated the trade tensions that already exist with China and which have been causing falling stock prices all month.  For the…

June 3, 2019

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Market News – March 28, 2019

Market News

TENSION CAUSES STOCK SETBACK, REPRISE:  Trade tension between the world’s two largest economies, China and the U.S. continued to weigh on stock markets.  The S&P 500 had another negative week, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its fifth consecutive week of losses, the longest such streak since 2011.  Growing rhetoric by politicians about the…

May 28, 2019

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Market News – May 13, 2019

Market News

INFLATION STILL TAME:  The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank has set its inflation target at 2%.  It works hard to keep the U.S. far away from deflation, and it does not want runaway inflation.  To the Fed, Goldilocks territory is 2%.  The Consumer Price Index (CPI) gained 0.3% in April.  If you take out the more…

May 13, 2019

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Market News – May 6, 2019

Market News

U.S. LABOR MARKET KEEPS HUMMING:  In April, the U.S. economy added 263,000 new jobs.  That is the 103rd consecutive month of positive job creation in the U.S. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.6%, the lowest it has been since December 1969.  The drop in the unemployment rate was caused by the large increase in jobs…

May 6, 2019

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