3 min readInvestors grew increasingly concerned about the risk of recession in late June. Stock markets were particularly volatile on Thursday with the S&P giving up 0.9% on the day and 21% over the first half of the year, marking the worst performance since the 1970s. The DJIA declined 0.8% and the Nasdaq retreated by 1.3% as…
2 min readThe minutes from the FOMC’s January meeting were released yesterday, revealing that the Fed believes that keeping interest rates low and continuing asset purchases are necessary to support the economic recovery. The Fed indicated that December’s $900B stimulus package, the prospect of a new round of stimulus and the continued distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines…
2 min readAfter experiencing the most tumultuous year on record, the major stock indices finished 2020 in a strong manner. On the last day of December, the S&P 500 logged its 14th record close of 2020 while the Nasdaq just missed its 56th record close by approximately 10 points. For the year, the DJIA rose 7.2%, the…
2 min readVaccine Progress Earlier this month, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their COVID-19 vaccine proved to be more than 90% effective in early trial results, while Moderna reported that its version is 95% effective in protecting patients from the virus. Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and European Central Bank…
2 min readInflation & Employment Readings on consumer inflation this week remained tame overall with wide variance around the average for certain components. CPI for September was up just 1.4% year-over-year and Core CPI was up 1.7% year-over-year. Weekly Initial Jobless Claims remain high at nearly 900,000 in the week ended October 10. Surging COVID-19 infection rates…
2 min readFed officials are committed to the current level of rates until inflation exceeds 2% Several Fed officials spoke in late September on the timing of future interest rate hikes in relation to the inflation target of 2%. Chicago Fed President Evans reversed his earlier position that the Fed could start raising rates before inflation reaches…
2 min readFOMC Minutes Released The minutes from the FOMC’s July 28-29 meeting were released today. In the committee’s discussion about how to continue to support the flow of credit to consumers, they deemed “it would be appropriate over coming months for the Federal Reserve to increase its holdings of Treasury securities and agency residential mortgage-backed securities…
1 min readCOVID-19 infection rates have fallen dramatically in most industrialized nations, but new cases in the U.S. and in developing countries have surged to record levels in the last few weeks. Despite the serious setbacks, lawmakers in the U.S. continue to grapple with how to most appropriately implement mask requirements to slow the spread of the…
2 min readStates across the U.S. set multiple single day records for new COVID-19 cases this past week. On June 27th, Florida reported 9,500 new cases, breaking its own record for daily new cases, which it set just a day earlier. Driven primarily by Southern and Southwestern states, the surge has forced legislatures to act. Florida has…
2 min readApril Unemployment Report Shows Record Job Losses The April unemployment report released on May 1st reflected a loss of over 20 million jobs, and an unemployment rate over 14%. The number of newly unemployed in April wiped out the last decade of job gains, and the unemployment rate easily beat the previous 10.8% high recorded…