Daily State of the Markets

Wait, BlackRock Is Saying What?

With no fewer than three potential big, bad events (and a fourth - the FOMC meeting - on tap for next week), traders appear to be in wait-and-see mode at the present time. And since I do not believe in making predictions about what the news will be - or more importantly how Ms. Market is …

The Fed's On A Mission - Will It Be Different This Time?

To be sure, there are those that remain concerned about the state of the U.S. economy. The glass-is-at-least-half-empty crowd used last week's weaker-than expected Nonfarm Payrolls report as Exhibit A in their argument. And while the more upbeat economic crowd cites the timing of data col…

Remember: Fundamentals "Trump" Politics

Don't you just love this game? One minute the stock market is rallying to new heights on the back of Trump's big plans (and the related odds of said plans being implemented). The next thing you know, "repeal and replace" is dead on arrival, tax reform is looking less and less likely in 20…

Bulls In Charge, But Where's The Beef?

Good Monday morning and welcome back. A third terror attack in London in as many months, Wednesday's general election in the U.K., this week's meeting of the ECB, the isolation of Qatar (and the corresponding impact on oil), next week's Fed meeting, and this week's testimony of former FBI…

Quick Take: Jobs Disappoint, Bulls Need To Hold The Line

Stocks broke to fresh all-time highs yesterday as the bears were once again unable to get anything going with the overbought condition and concerns over politics in Washington. The onus is now on the bulls to make the move stick and to avoid the dreaded "breakout fake out." Until …

How Bad Will The Big, Bad, Bond Bear Get?

In yesterday's meandering morning market missive, we talked about the possibility of the bond market entering a big, bad bear cycle and how a great many analysts expect things to get ugly in the coming years for bond investors. The thinking is actually quite logical. The economy i…

Are You Prepared For The Big, Bad Bond Bear? (Should You Be?)

Most market analysts will concur that interest rates bottomed out in the summer of 2016. More specifically, after trending lower for approximately 35 years, the yield on the U.S. Gov't 10-year Treasury Note hit an all-time low of 1.367% on July 5, 2016. And most every bond guru on the pla…

Positive - But Just Barely

Good Monday - err, Tuesday morning and welcome back. Since it's the start of a new week, let's get right to our objective review the key market models and indicators. The primary goal of this exercise is to remove any subjective notions and ensure that we stay in line with what "is" happe…

My Song Remains The Same

Good Monday morning and welcome back. Since it's Monday, let's get right to our objective review the key market models and indicators. The primary goal of this exercise is to remove any subjective notions about the markets and ensure that we stay in line with what "is" happening in the ma…

Time To Celebrate?

Having been the proprietor of various financial websites for many years, I will admit that headlines about boring, sideways market action doesn't sell a lot of ads on the internet. However, the thinking is that big, bold, declarative headlines about new all-time highs for the stock market…