Sell in May and Go Away? Buckle up, as the trigger points for one of the most well-known investment axioms, “sell in May and go away,” is nearly here. This gets a ton of play in the media, as the six months starting in May are indeed the worst six consecutive months on the calendar …
Investors were reminded stock investing comes with volatility as the S&P 500 dropped 3.5% on Thursday and declined 2.3% for the week. The downside pressure was felt most directly by stocks that had performed best. Figure 1 shows the best performing stocks this year (furthest to the righ …
The Federal Reserve announced a major policy revision last week. The revised strategy indicates rates will stay low for a long period of time and will increase slower than in past rate cycles. The report and a subsequent speech by Fed Chair Jay Powell indicate the Fed will allow inflation t …
The S&P 500 continued to march higher, rising 0.8% last week. Excluding dividends, the index of large-cap U.S. stocks reached a new record. Some investors prefer this measure for determining when bear markets end. By almost any measure, the S&P 500 is no longer in a bear market.
U.S. economic data last week supported the view the U.S. is entering a period of slower economic growth after a sharp recovery in May and June. Mandatory and voluntary social distancing efforts limit how quickly the economy can recover when certain segments, such as restaurants, are still s …
The U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs in July as hiring momentum in the service sector allowed many workers to reclaim lost jobs or get new ones. The pace of hiring slowed compared to gains of 2.7 million and 4.8 million in May and June. The slowing growth reflects consumer caution as new …
U.S. GDP fell 32.9% last quarter on an annualized basis. It wasn’t as bad as it looks. Annualizing the data magnifies the decline by assuming the trend will continue for a full year. A better assessment can be gained by comparing GDP to the same quarter last year.
