Lauren Madera

The Pause that Refreshes

August 13, 2023

Coca Cola’s old slogan — “the pause that refreshes” — reminds us of the US stock market in August.

U.S. Credit Rating Downgrade Spooks Markets

August 6, 2023

The big news last week was that Fitch downgraded the US Treasury’s credit rating to AA+ from AAA. After all, we have been running continuous budget deficits since the Clinton administration in 2001!

S&P 500 hits new 52-week high

July 30, 2023

Second quarter earnings season is in full swing posting solid +3% year-over-year growth and propelling the major US stock market indices to another positive week and a new 52-week high for the S&P 500. Approximately 80% of reported earnings have been better than expected.

Dow Jones hot streak persists

July 23, 2023

The Dow Jones is on a hot streak with ten straight positive trading days while the other two major US stock market indices came in mixed for the week (i.e., DJIA: +2.28%, S&P 500: +0.69%, Nasdaq: -0.57%). Although you shouldn’t wish your life away, many investors wouldn’t mind closing the book on 2023 right now with year-to-date returns of +6.28%, +18.15% and +34.07%, respectively!

Multiple factors push market upward

July 16, 2023

All three major US stock market indices produced nice gains for the week. Which factors are driving this market upward? Inflation and unemployment are two of them.

Fireworks Fizzled in the Markets This Week

July 9, 2023

The five-day workweek reverted to four days with the July 4th holiday. The US stock market indices certainly didn’t launch any fireworks with all three posting losses.

Mega Tech Breaks Stock Market Streak

June 25, 2023

After five straight weeks of gains for the S&P 500 and eight for the Nasdaq, all three major US stock market indices lost ground this past week. Those seven high-flying tech stocks—AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN, NVDA, TSLA, and META—were the main culprits.

Markets Sustain Upward Momentum as Fed Pauses

June 18, 2023

The Federal Reserve’s rising interest rate policy may have paused this week, but stock market momentum continued its upward ascent! All three major US stock market indices posted gains for the week with the S&P 500 having its 5th consecutive weekly gain.

By a Whisker

June 11, 2023

All three major US stock market indices posted gains by a whisker last week. The US stock market seems sanguine now that the debt ceiling issue has been resolved. What should we worry about next?

Good News, Bad News

June 4, 2023

As is the case in much of life, there is good news, and there is bad news. On the positive front, the debt ceiling deal, employment data, and inflation data supported the markets this week. But we’re still far from the Fed’s 2% inflation target, which may lead to some policy action. The market impact is to be determined.