Investment Commentary
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October 2020 Investment Commentary
The Markets (as of market close October 30, 2020) Stocks fell for the second consecutive month in October as rising COVID-19 cases and related deaths shunted signs of an economic rebound. The month began on an upswing with both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 posting their best weekly gains since July, and the Dow finally pushed ahead of its 2019 year-end value. Unfortunately, reported virus cases began to soar by…
Q3 2020 Investment Commentary
Investment Market Report (October 5, 2020) The investment results in September were certainly nothing to brag about, but overall the markets have done something interesting: large cap indices are up while small and midcap stocks have posted modest losses. Given the persistent decline in the U.S. economy and the uncertainties around the resurgent pandemic, the investment situation could have been a lot worse. Is it possible that in the midst…
August 2020 Investment Commentary
The Markets (as of market close August 31, 2020) The positive run for stocks continued in August as the major market indexes regularly reached all-time highs. While investors remained bullish toward equities, it wasn’t always clear why. Although the economy is gradually picking up steam, it has a ways to go to reach its pre-pandemic level. Gross domestic product for the second quarter showed that the economy receded at an…
July 2020 Investment Commentary
The Markets (as of market close July 31, 2020) Stocks posted gains in July in spite of gloomy news on the economic and pandemic fronts. Investors continued to trust equities despite the gross domestic product falling nearly 33.0% in the second quarter, mixed quarterly corporate earnings results, emerging pandemic hot spots, growing unemployment claims, and ongoing turmoil between the United States and China. On the positive side, 4.8 million new…
Q2 2020 Investment Commentary
Investment Market Report ( July 2, 2020) This year, investors have been treated to a rare real-world lesson in the mathematics of investing—namely, the fact that after a market decline, it takes a greater market recovery to get back to even. The first quarter saw a frightening downturn that delivered 20% losses across the U.S. and developed foreign markets. Then we experienced a breathtaking 20% gain in the second quarter,…
May 2020 Investment Commentary
The Markets (as of market close May 29, 2020) May saw several states and foreign countries ease restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As economies slowly picked up momentum, investors grew more confident in stocks, driving values higher. However, investor optimism was kept in check by sobering economic reports and growing tensions between the United States and China. The unemployment rate reached its highest level since…
April 2020 Investment Commentary
The Markets (as of market close April 30, 2020) April began on a sour note for stocks as each of the indexes listed here lost value. Economic reports reflected the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were more than 700,000 jobs lost in March while total claims for unemployment insurance benefits soared to nearly 18 million. A cut in production didn’t prevent crude oil prices from hitting negative numbers…
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