March 9, 2025 The S&P 500 experienced its worst weekly decline in six months, falling 3.1%. The Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index fell 0.6%, while gold rose 1.9% and Bitcoin rallied 3.2%. The ISM Manufacturing PMI report ticked down to 50 in February. The Prices Paid Index jumped sharply, indicating rising cost pressure in the supply chain. The ISM Services PMI...
March 2, 2025 The S&P 500 declined 1.0% this week. The Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index gained 1.3%, gold fell 2.8%, and Bitcoin got clobbered by -11.2%. Consumer confidence declined in February and the Future Expectations Index fell 9 points. New homes sales dropped 10% in January, while the median home price continued to rise. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price...
Feb 22, 2025 The S&P 500 declined 1.6% this week. The Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index gained 0.4%, gold rose 1.7%, and Bitcoin fell 2.6%. Investors became skittish on Friday after a South China Morning Post report said a research team in China has identified a new bat coronavirus that could risk animal-to-human transmission. In other news, the Citi Economic Surprise...
Feb 15, 2025 The S&P 500 rose 1.5% this week. Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index gained 0.2%, gold rose 0.9%, and Bitcoin rallied 1.6%. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January came in hotter than expected at 3.0%. The shelter index increased 0.4%. Inflation has surged a lot recently in certain commodities. For example, egg prices rose 15% last...
Feb 8, 2025 The S&P 500 closed down 0.2% this week. The Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index gained 0.4%, Gold rallied 1.1%, and Bitcoin fell 5.6%. The ISM Manufacturing survey rebounded back above 50 for the first time since October 2022, indicating the manufacturing sector is once again expanding. The Prices Paid Index rose for the fourth consecutive month, so inflation...
Feb 1, 2025 After a volatile week, the S&P 500 closed down 1.0%. The Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index gained 0.4%, Gold rallied 1.1%, and Bitcoin fell 3.3%. The headline Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Index rose to 2.6% in December, an increase from 2.4% in the previous month. The Core PCE, which the Federal Reserve favors as an inflation measure, stayed...
January 25, 2025 The S&P 500 gained 1.8% this week. The Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index gained 0.09%. Gold jumped 2.6% and Bitcoin rose 0.13%. The housing market experienced a challenging year in 2024, with existing home sales hitting a multi-decade low. According to the National Association of Realtors, sales totaled just 4.06 million, the lowest since 1995. There was a...
January 18, 2025 The S&P 500 gained 2.9% this week as investors rejoiced over a tame CPI report. The US Aggregate Bond Index rose 1.0%, gold rallied 0.4%, and Bitcoin surged 11%. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December rose 2.9%, matching forecasts. This marked a rate of change acceleration from 2.7% the previous month. The Producer Price Index (PPI)...
January 11, 2025 The S&P 500 declined 1.9% this week. Investors were spooked by a better than expected jobs report, which reduces the odds of more Fed rate cuts. The Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index fell 0.9% as interest rates rose. Meanwhile, gold rallied 1.9% and Bitcoin fell 3.8%. The BLS reported that 256,000 new jobs were created in December, reducing...
January 4, 2025 The S&P 500 closed down 0.5% in a holiday-shortened week. Meanwhile, the US Aggregate Bond Index rose 0.2%, gold rose 0.9%, and Bitcoin won the week rallying 4.3%. The ISM Manufacturing survey came in at 49.3%, indicating a slight contraction. The Employment Index weakened while the Prices Paid Index rose, which may crimp future profit margins. Pending...
In today's stock market, the best stories win. Nowhere is that more evident than in Tesla shares. The bull thesis for Tesla is mostly predicated on a simple story: Elon Musk's cozy relationship with President-elect Trump will be very good for Tesla. Investors are buying that story big time. Musk reportedly spent $277 million to support Trump and other Republican...
December 21, 2024 The S&P 500 fell 2.0% this week. Traders unwound positions quickly on Wednesday after the Fed made a hawkish pivot in tone. Another thing that weighed on investor sentiment was the latest standoff in Washington over a potential government shutdown. Congress played yet another game of chicken on the debt ceiling. But guess what? They passed a...