Author: kadon

The last Friday of 2019 saw the S&P 500 settle 0.58% higher for the week and up 28.59% year to date and over 30% considering dividends. This is a far cry from the expectations of many market watchers last year when the index was down 19% for the quarter to date on Christmas Eve and […]

Lee Anne Thompson, E.R.P.A, Q.P.A., and Assistant Vice President & Employee Benefit Officer at The Trust Company of Kansas provided the 2020 retirement plan limits earlier this month. “The IRA contribution limit stays at $6,000 if the individual is younger than age 50 in 2019, and $7,000 if he or she attains age 50 or […]

Just kidding. But the fog does seem to have lifted slightly. The U.S. economy has been an island of persistent if uneven expansion in a world of sputtering growth. A pickup in international trade would help all and we picked up a few positive signs last week. Ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would […]

After a rocky start to the week which we were told was due to the waning likelihood of a phase one agreement in the trade talks with China, the markets rebounded to finish higher. The economic news was flat to negative early in the week, but the Department of Labor’s jobs report surprised everyone Friday […]

Stocks, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, continued to show strength last week, moving to another new high and closing the week up another 0.99%. Treasury yields were little changed with the 10-Year finishing the week at 1.78%. Versus one year ago, the S&P 500 is up 13.8% and the 10-Year Treasury yield is […]

After six straight weeks of gains, which saw the S&P 500 Index rise over 7.25% to a new all-time high of 3,122.03, the equity markets stabilized last week, finishing a fraction lower for the week at 3,110.29. Interest rates have remained stable with the 2-Year Treasury yielding 1.62% and the 10-Year Treasury at 1.77%. The […]

The S&P 500 Index moved higher for the sixth straight week closing at a new milestone high of 3,120.46. The NASDAQ Index and Dow Jones Industrial averages also moved to new all-time highs. The mood has been positive as signals of a phase one, U.S.-China trade agreement is likely before December 15th when barring an […]

The S&P 500 closed at 3,066.91, the second consecutive weekly new high and a gain of 11.92% from the year-ago level. Treasury yields were lower with the 2-year finishing the week at 1.55%, down 7 basis points. The 10-year yield dipped a similar amount and closed with a yield of 1.73%. The backdrop has been […]

We are having a better October than last year when the S&P 500 was beginning its fourth quarter correction. With four trading days to go, this October finds the index up 1.50% compared to the 7.0% decline we experienced in October 2018. Corporate earnings have been mixed but are in no way signaling the beginning […]

From the bad news sells category comes the questionable headline of the week: There’s a more than 25% risk of a US recession in the next year. I have little argument with the facts behind the headline above. I do disagree with the way those facts were announced, considering the same information could have been […]