Market Update

The June data on housing starts and permits was disappointing due to a decline in the multi-family data. Housing starts have bounced around while single-family permits have steadily trended higher over the past few years, highlighting that demand for individual homes is increasing. One way to gauge momentum in the housing market is to look […]

The S&P 500 kicked off 2Q 2013 earnings season last week, with 3.3 percent of the S&P’s market cap reporting. Analyst consensus estimates expect S&P 500 earnings per share to increase 4.1 percent year-over-year, pushing earnings to a record level for the second consecutive quarter. While estimates could vary greatly as the season progresses, the […]

The release of the June employment report late last week confirmed that the steady improvement in the labor market persisted through the first half of 2013, an encouraging sign after a few years of touch-and-go job gains. The employment reports of the last few months are finally beginning to resemble that of a cyclically improving […]

Despite little change to the FOMC’s statement last week, the press conference with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that followed proved to be more eventful than many anticipated. The Chairman provided more clarity on the Fed’s thinking by enunciating expectations on when it would begin to phase out quantitative easing. Specifically, assuming incoming data are consistent […]

Over the last few weeks, markets have become squarely focused on the shift in tone coming from the Federal Reserve, and this week, that focus will probably intensify as the FOMC has its June meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, concluding with a press conference with Chairman Bernanke. Although the policy tool of choice will likely […]

    May 13, 2013 As we come into the middle part of the fifth month in the year, the timeless advice to “sell in May and go away” seems like an impending topic of discussion. Looking at returns for the S&P 500 shows mixed results on this topic. In 2001, 2002, 2008 & 2011, […]