Weekly Market Commentary – 11/17/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA The S&P 500 closed above 4500 after inking its third consecutive weekly gain. Temperate economic data released over the last few months has elevated the idea of an economic soft landing and the idea...
Weekly Market Commentary – 11/10/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Markets were mixed this week as investors digested additional earnings announcements, a plethora of Fed rhetoric, and a large dose of US Treasury issuance. The divergence of mega-cap stocks widened...
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Global financial markets rallied big time last week on dovish tones from central bankers and on the notion that this interest rate hike cycle may be over. The Bank of Japan kicked the week off with a vague move that sets their 10-year Japanese...
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Equity markets faced another wave of selling as the S&P 500 went into correction territory, down 10.13% from the end of July. Investors saw some relief from the bond market, but trade in Sovereign debt continued to lack a safe-haven bid...
Weekly Market Commentary – 10/20/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA This week, the debt market resumed its sell-off and wreaked havoc on the equity markets. The US 10-year bond yield hit 5% for the first time since 2007, while longer-tenured issues felt the brunt of the...
Weekly Market Commentary – 10/13/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets finished the week with mixed results as investors digested the first tranche of third-quarter earnings results. JP Morgan, Citi Bank, Wells Fargo, and United Healthcare had...
Weekly Market Commentary – 9/22/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets sold off in tandem with the US Treasury market as the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meeting concluded with no change to its policy rate. The Fed’s Summary of Economic...
-Darren Leavitt, CFA The holiday-shortened week ended with losses for both US equities and Treasuries. Apple shares tumbled on the news that the Chinese government would ban the use of the iPhone at government agencies at all levels of government. The news comes in...
Weekly Market Commentary – 8/25/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Financial markets were all over the place last week and ended with mixed results. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% and closed above 4400, a critical psychological level, but fell short of regaining the 50-day...
Weekly Market Commentary – 8/18/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets fell for the third consecutive week. The S&P 500 broke its 50-day moving average and then sank below 4400. The sell-off has been on low volume, and the market may have been due to...
-Darren Leavitt, CFA US Financial markets had another week of consolidation. Equities and US Treasuries sold off in tandem on light volume. An early week debt downgrade of 10 small to midsized banks and a notice that other downgrades may follow by Moody’s dampened...
Weekly Market Commentary – 8/4/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Global equity markets fell last week as investors digested a full dose of Q2 earnings reports, a packed economic calendar, more central bank policy decisions, and Fitch’s surprise downgrade of US...
Weekly Market Commentary – 6/30/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Markets ended the month of June in strong form. Better-than-expected economic data for the week showed a resilient economy and inflation moderating. Investors were dismissive of hawkish commentary from...
Weekly Market Commentary – 6/9/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA The S&P 500 entered a new bull market, increasing 20% off the October lows. The move came with broader participation outside the mega-cap technology issues, responsible for most of the market’s...
Weekly Market Commentary – 6/2/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Investors enjoyed an excellent week of gains in US equity markets. Washington finally got a debt ceiling deal through Congress and onto President Biden’s desk. On the margin, it appears that the...
Weekly Market Commentary – 5/5/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Investors were treated with an extremely busy start to May. Central bank decisions on monetary policies and more first-quarter earnings were front and center, while there was a full slate of economic data...
Weekly Market Commentary – 4/28/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Markets ended the month of April with slight gains for the large-cap indices and small losses for the small-caps. Q1 earnings continued to be in focus as some of the most influential companies posted...
Weekly Market Commentary – 4/7/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA The holiday-shortened week saw low volumes in trading, where countercyclical sectors and US Treasuries were favored. The week started with the announcement that OPEC + would cut oil production by 1.16...
Weekly Market Commentary – 3/31/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Global equity markets ended the first quarter with impressive gains as concerns surrounding the banking system eased. A two-day congressional hearing on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank catalyzed the...
Weekly Market Commentary – 3/24/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Global markets sighed in relief with the announcement that the Swiss National Bank had brokered a deal, combining Credit Suisse with UBS. Investors had been worried that troubles within Credit Suisse...
