And that’s a wrap on the second decade of the 2000s, and welcome to the “roaring 20s!”  Year-end is a great time to review the good, the bad, and where you want to go into the future.  We like to work on our balance sheets at this time of year, …

November has been a good month for the most part for the S&P 5001.  For the first part of the month, there were several factors backing the move upwards (which we believe started in the middle of October).  However, since Nov 8th, those same factors appear to be deteriorating.  Yet, …

  This month started with the S&P 5001 falling off a steep cliff, just over -4% in the first few days of October.  It eventually got back to even and finally made new highs on the year (more on that later).  But if previous highs this year are any indication, …

Depending on where the market closes on Monday, the S&P 5001 could end up flat on the month and the quarter.  It hasn’t been without its ups and downs, at one point having a peak-to-trough draw-down of a little over 6% in August (FastTrack data).  Smaller cycles like these can …

And just like that, the environment changed.  The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 0.25% since our last market commentary.  That was a change from their original plan of raising interest rates not once, but twice before year-end 2019.  So now we have a falling rate environment instead of a …

The Federal Reserve has a big announcement to make this week.  Will they change course and begin cutting interest rates?  By the time our newsletter is released, we’ll know one way or another.  While most recent market news has been moderately positive (low unemployment, consumer confidence, pending home sales, etc.), …

We are now half-way through 2019, and still the S&P 5001 can’t break out of a range that began in late 2017.  Yes, we’ve touched new record highs, but they haven’t lasted more than a few days.  And while that sounds generally positive, it’s been limited to that index.  Others …

Just when everything is looking good in the markets and the economy, something has to show up and throw a wrench in the works.  When the S&P 5001 hit an all-time high on May 1st, the tweeting began.  And just like that, the US is flirting with a trade war …

After an impressively and unexpectedly bad Q4 of 2018, the stock market rebound (specifically the S&P 5001) is finally getting close to where it stopped and rolled over in late September.  However, not all areas are participating.  Small Cap stocks (Russell 2000) still have a while to go before getting …

The first quarter of 2019 was a nice change from what we saw in Q4 of last year.  And while it was one of the strongest first quarters since 1998 (cnbc.com), the S&P 5001 still hasn’t recovered the all-time highs it reached in September 2018.  It ’s also been interesting …