New Information image

New Information

Last week, we looked at three key issues that the stock market seemed to be struggling with: (1) The possibility of the Fed "tapering" their bond-buying program earlier than expected, (2) the potential for inflation to become ingrained (aka non-transitory), and (3) the unavoidable slowdow…
Three Issues Markets Are Working Through image

Three Issues Markets Are Working Through

The DJIA and S&P 500 have been moving sideways for much of the past month, while the consolidation action in small-caps and the NASDAQ 100 has been going on even longer. Concerns over inflation, and in turn, the Fed's response - as in how soon Powell & Co would begin "tapering" th…
A Chart That Makes Me Say, Wow! image

A Chart That Makes Me Say, Wow!

While almost everyone is still talking about Friday's jobs report and whether or not inflation is here to stay, I'd like to use my pixels to talk about something else on this cold and rainy/snowy Monday morning in Colorado. You see, when doing my review of news, charts, and models, over t…
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What Could Go Wrong?

My friend/colleague Mr. Jeff Pietsch, CFA, and I were asked last week to offer our thoughts on the reasons why the U.S. stock market could experience a correction in the coming weeks/months ahead. It was a good exercise as it is a really good idea to look at the game from both t…
Is Sideways The New Down? image

Is Sideways The New Down?

The State of the Market Stocks moved largely sideways last week in response to what appears to be conflicting narratives. But then again, given the overbought nature of the market and the overexuberant levels of sentiment, sideways beats the alternative. T…
Drivers and Models Remain Constructive image

Drivers and Models Remain Constructive

The State of the Market I'm on the road, so I'll be keeping my thoughts on the market brief for the next two weeks. From my seat, the key drivers to the current upward trend in the stock market include the expectations for the economy to "boom" in the coming quart…

A Goldilocks Moment?

The State of the Market Jamie Dimon attracted a lot of attention last week with his summary of the current economic/market environment. In his highly anticipated annual shareholder letter, the JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO wrote that we are looking at a "Goldilocks mom…

All Good News, But...

The State of the Market Although the exchanges were shut on Friday, yet another important economic indicator came in well above expectations. In case you were otherwise occupied, it is worth noting that nonfarm payrolls accelerated in March by 916,000, which was w…

The Rate Trade Remains In Play

The State of the Market I'm traveling for the next week, so the plan is to keep my oftentimes meandering market missive brief and to the point. So... From my seat, the key driver to the current market is the action in the bond market. In short, it appears that the…
Backdrop Remains Constructive For Bulls image

Backdrop Remains Constructive For Bulls

The State of the Market Long-time readers know that the primary purpose of my oftentimes meandering market missive is to identify the drivers of the current market environment. And since I spent a fair part of the weekend dodging blizzards on our way to Palm Deser…