Market Commentary
Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – December 9, 2019
A powerful jobs report in the U.S. produced continued evidence the U.S. economy is performing well and the risk of recession is lower. As discussed in greater depth below, the economy produced 266,000 jobs in November, and jobs numbers for the previous two months were revised higher. The risk of a recession continues to decline in the U.S.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – December 2, 2019
Trade negotiators remained primarily responsible for the market yo-yoing up and down in a tight range. Last week, the U.S. and China both shared positive comments about the status of negotiations toward a “Phase One” deal. Asian economies are more tightly tied to trade than other regions, and economic data from the region remains weak.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – November 25, 2019
Happy Thanksgiving! After a few weeks where growing hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal propelled markets higher, the opposite occurred last week. Trade negotiations took a small step backward, and global stocks followed. Other global economic news was generally positive.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – November 18, 2019
The S&P 500 continued to edge higher and closed Friday at another all-time high. News that U.S.-China trade negotiations continued to progress kept markets moving higher. U.S. economic news was mixed. Retail sales missed expectations but have still grown more than 3% over the last 12 months.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – November 11, 2019
Last week was quieter following the multiple major data releases and Fed meeting the previous week. England and Australia left interest rates unchanged. U.S. and Chinese trade data showed both economies continue to struggle with the effects of a trade war.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – November 4, 2019
Last week was the business economic data week of the year. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the third consecutive meeting. Third-quarter GDP grew 1.9%, beating expectations of 1.6% while still falling short of 2% because of weakness in trade and business investment.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – October 28, 2019
Economic data reinforced the view that trade disputes are pressuring economic growth and creating an uncertain environment for businesses to invest. Whether it was the weekly Brexit roller coaster, the U.S. durable goods report,
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – October 21, 2019
Great Britain’s prime minister and the European Union reached an agreement for Britain to exit the European Union on October 31, 2019, pending the approval of the British Parliament. Efforts to secure Parliament’s approval over the weekend were postponed to this week as Brexit opponents seek to shift enough votes to thwart the deal.
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – October 14, 2019
Chinese and U.S. negotiators reached a tentative agreement to step back from policies designed to inflict damage on each other’s economies as they seek to negotiate a more permanent trade deal. The Chinese agreed to accelerate purchases of U.S. agricultural products,
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Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary – October 7, 2019
The monthly U.S. employment report created some very positive headlines but also indicated slowing business investment is spilling over to the jobs market. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, the lowest level in 50 years. As shown on the accompanying chart, payrolls increased by 136,000 jobs last month, roughly in line with expectations.
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