Category: Weekly Investment Update

Despite the ongoing battle against the coronavirus, stocks reached record highs last week. Solid economic data, strong retail sales, and favorable corporate earnings reports helped quell investors’ fears that the spread of the dreaded coronavirus would impact global economies. Each of the benchmark indexes listed here posted weekly gains, led by the Nasdaq, which advanced […]

Stocks rebounded and long-term bond yields rose last week amid reports of China’s plans to cut tariffs on some American imports. The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq reached all-time highs during the week, and global stocks soared. Also helping push stocks higher was a round of favorable fourth-quarter corporate earnings figures and a strong labor […]

Investors continue to be rattled by the growing concern over the spread of the coronavirus, pulling money from stocks for the second week in a row. Each of the benchmark indexes listed here fell, led by the small caps of the Russell 2000, which lost close to 3.0% for the week. The Dow closed the […]

Last week proved to be a tough one for the market as each of the benchmark indexes listed here lost value. Concern over the possible spread of the coronavirus from China apparently provided the impetus for investors to pull away from stocks. Long-term bond prices soared, pushing yields 15 basis points lower. The price of […]

Each of the benchmark indexes listed here enjoyed strong gains last week, led by the Russell 2000, which climbed 2.53% to push its year-to-date gains to nearly 2.0%. The Dow has posted weekly gains for five of the last six weeks, the S&P 500 advanced for the second consecutive week, and the Nasdaq has risen […]

Last Friday’s jobs report was a mixed bag of information. While 145,000 new jobs were added and the unemployment rate remained at 3.5%, wage growth was tepid in December to cap off a year of only moderate wage growth. This information, coupled with news that the Senate would receive the articles of impeachment this week, […]

On a day to day basis, perceptions, expectations and the anxiety these produce determine the direction of stock prices. These daily emotional swings are ultimately supplanted by the underlying valuations of businesses. The underlying valuations of businesses are based on revenue and earnings. Bloomberg recently released the 2020 and 2021 consensus growth rate projections for […]

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 […]