CJ Newsletters

Navigating Through the Fog of Election Uncertainty This week, earnings season kicks off in earnest as more than 400 companies report third quarter results. As expected, many of the best-performing companies were those whose stocks are among this year’s market leaders. Results have been generally positive and this has imparted a mildly bullish bent to the averages amidst the ongoing rotation into Cyclical issues and the building uncertainty surrounding the future of US fiscal policy. In the background, the noise…

The Market Pendulum Swings With the Headlines This week was light on economic data and all about a second stimulus package, or lack of one. At the start of the week the market moved higher on speculation that a compromise would be reached. It reversed course Tuesday on news of negotiations breaking down. Bad news, right? Apparently not bad enough to keep stocks from rallying ferociously higher on Wednesday even as doomsayers and aggrieved business owners paraded their outrage on…

A Busy Week Foretells of an Eventful Quarter Ahead This week was newsworthy in that we saw the release of some critical economic data, the close of the third quarter, and two grumpy old men shouted at each other on television. First, the data: The final number for Q2 GDP came in at -31.4%. That came as no surprise, and therefore was seemingly not a concern for investors who instead focused on a rosy forecast of 30%+ GDP growth in…

Our latest Investment Outlook noted the prevailing forecast for the end of recession at the close of the third quarter and what that might mean for stocks. While we anticipate the return of expansion to the economy, we don’t view that as a reason to increase exposure to the market at this time. We’d reiterate our view that a smaller, slower economy will be emerging from this recession. To what level the economy recovers remains uncertain due to several factors,…

Not a Market Bubble….Yet Last week we highlighted the Fed’s shift in policy allowing for a period of higher inflation beyond the 2% target threshold where previously it would begin to normalize (raise) key interest rates. We noted that allowing the economy to inflate was more acceptable and easier to remedy than the alternative: deflation leading to a depression. History has shown that the massive injection of liquidity such as we’re seeing can have a side effect. Investors tend to…

Is the Fed Inflating the Economy or a Market Bubble? That’s what investors are asking this week following a statement from the Fed that threw new light on how it would implement monetary policy in pursuit of its mandate. You know, the mandate that characterizes stable prices as a rate of 2% inflation? That rate, in the past, has sounded the starting gun for the Fed board of governors to beginning normalizing interest rates. In the parlance of investing, that…

A Week for Setting Records Last week we got a quick peek at what the much-talked-about market rotation might look like. Following a massive reversal of a broad-based rally in the Cyclicals that occurred a week ago Tuesday, the S&P 500 embarked on a slow march upward that culminated in that index posting a new record high this past Monday. That put an end to any further speculation about a failed bear market rally and marked its advance from the…

A Brief Glimpse of the Rotation Ahead This week we got a quick peek at what the much-talked-about market rotation might look like. Monday brought a significant divergence among the benchmark averages with the DOW up 1.3%, the S&P 500 up .28%, and the NASDAQ down .39%. That is a reversal of the trend that we’ve seen in the past couple of months as the NASDAQ roared to a new record bull market high while the other benchmarks languished within…

Stocks Surge Along with the Virus This week we saw the NASDAQ extend its lead in performance over the other major averages as it breached the 11000 level. That leaves it as the sole bull market among the major averages while the “market”, defined as the S&P 500, is closing in on its record high of February. So, why are the indexes advancing against bearish sentiment surrounding the virus? The construct of these indexes could distort the connection of the…