This past week's advance report on retail sales for June shows sales increased at a .6% rate versus May and a 18% increase on a year over year basis. Total…
The first quarter of last year seems a distant memory, fading since the pandemic swoon. The equity markets continue to climb the proverbial “wall of worry.”…
The challenges around hiring employees was a common theme in June's NFIB Small Business Optimism report among those firms that responded to the survey. The…
Higher Inflation Contributing To Higher Equity Risk Premium
The recent focus of investors and strategists has centered on the higher level of inflation seen in the economy driven in part by higher home prices, higher…
Today's Department of Labor report on jobless claims (PDF) came in higher than expectations at 373,000 which is a 2,000 increase from the prior week's revised…
Job Openings Climb In Industries Satisfying Pent-up Demand
May's Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey released this morning showed job openings of 9.2 million were little changed from April's report. Although the…
Yesterday The Conference Board reported their Consumer Confidence Index for June rose 7.3 points to 127.3. The June measure is approaching the Index's pre…
Investors Remain Cautious Based On Sentiment And Fund Flows
On a price only basis the S&P 500 Index is up over 91% since the March 23, 2020 low. Nearly halfway through 2021 and the S&P 500 Index is up a strong 14%. One…
Stock Buybacks In Vogue And Those Companies' Stocks Are Outperforming
As the economy has recovered from the pandemic induced recession, S&P 500 companies' as reported earnings hit a record $389.01 billion for the first quarter…
Does Fed's Hawkish Posture Create A 'Buy The Dip' Moment?
The Fed's hawkish comments coming out of the FOMC meeting last week unsettled markets. The comments moved up the potential for the start of interest rate…
Many states have reopened their economies and consumers have responded by increasing spending in an effort to satisfy pent-up demand. The sharp recovery in…
More states and countries are experiencing much reduced Covid-19 cases and are reopening their economies. The below chart shows the number of new Covid cases…
