Market Updates

Despite weaker than expected employment growth since the recession, the labor market continues to steadily heal. Sure enough, payrolls have averaged 190K per month in the past year, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.8 percent to 7.4 percent as of July, notably within 1 percent of the Federal Reserve’s 6.5 percent level where they may […]

Data released last week showed that economic growth in the Euro area turned positive in the first three months of the year, signaling the end of a nearly two year long recession brought on by the region’s sovereign debt crisis. Getting the economy moving in the right direction is a critical step toward resolving both […]

In a recent survey, U.S. investors of various backgrounds were asked for their top choice for a long-term investment. Over 25 percent of respondents chose cash and cash-related investments, ahead of other assets such as real estate, equities, and bonds. This may seem surprising given that cash currently yields nothing and has been one of […]

On Wednesday of this week the BEA will release their advanced estimate of 2Q13 GDP along with a series of comprehensive revisions to historical GDP data in an effort to better account for intangible assets. While the revisions will no doubt grab some headline attention and provide some new color on the recession and current […]

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 […]