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2020 Year-End Review & Outlook
2020 Year-End Review & Outlook ■ Market Review Equities [The pandemic] put the U.S. economy and markets on the biggest bust-to-boom roller coaster we’ve seen.— Jim Paulsen, Chief Investment Strategist for the Leuthold...
Read More2020 Third Quarter Review & Outlook
2020 Third Quarter Review & Outlook ■ Market Review Equities The U.S. stock market recorded its second consecutive quarter of dramatic gains, continuing the historic recovery from thedepths of the March collapse caused by the Covid-19...
Read More2020 Second Quarter Review & Outlook
2020 Second Quarter Review & Outlook ■ Market Review Equities Following the first quarter's market plunge from all-time highs, the U.S. stock market rebounded in the second quarter on the hopes of a return to normalcy from an economic...
Read More2020 First Quarter Review & Outlook
2020 First Quarter Review & Outlook Market Review Good riddance. It was the worst quarter for the S&P 500 Index since the financial crisis and the worst first quarter ever since 1938 … it was the worst quarter for crude oil...
Read MoreContinued Descent of the Stock Market - March 2020
The Latest Update Since last month’s Market and Portfolio Update on the Coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic as the virus spreads further around the globe. Investor fear also spread...
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Market and Portfolio Update - February 2020
The Coronavirus Affecting the Stock Market Investors have been fearful of a wider spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and are concerned about a potential pandemic if the virus is not contained. COVID-19 has already caused slowing...
Read More2019 Year-End Review & Outlook
Equities Investors cheered the end of 2019 as their accounts recorded substantial profits over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, those who sold most or all of their stock positions during 2018 fourth quarter’s equity meltdown and...
Read More2019 Third Quarter Review & Outlook
Equities The S&P 500 Index eked out a modest increase in the third quarter, helping stocks hold on to their biggest year-to-date gain in more than two decades and prolonging the longest bull market on record. The broad stock market...
Read More2019 First Quarter Review & Outlook
Equities Stock investors have been on a wild ride over the past six months. The S&P 500 Index has gone from a record high in September of last year, to the cusp of a bear market at year-end, to being back within striking distance of...
Read More2018 Year-End Review & Outlook
Equities After nearly two years of impressive gains stocks took a 180 degree turn for the worst in the last three months of 2018, highlighted with year-end nerve wracking daily market swings. The typical “Santa Clause...
Read MoreMarket and Portfolio Update – December 2018
Equities I think we are between the mid and late phases of the business cycle, a time when the performance of different types of investments has been historically mixed. I think that means it's not the time to abandon stocks, but it's...
Read More2018 Third Quarter Review & Outlook
Equities After a slow a sometime turbulent first half of the year, the S&P 500 Index of large U.S. stocks surged 7.7% in the third quarter; its biggest three-month gain in nearly five years and ending near an all time high. Analysts...
Read More2018 Second Quarter Review & Outlook
Equities So far this year market instability has been the overriding theme and has grounded stock returns. U.S. stocks struggled in the past three months over investors’ concerns about trade tensions, political uncertainty in the...
Read More2018 First Quarter Review & Outlook
Equities After one of the strongest-performing Januarys in over two decades, equities began sliding in February with the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffering its first 10% correction since early 2016. The sudden fall was driven by...
Read MoreMarket and Portfolio Update - February 7, 2018
The Long Awaited Market Correction The recent sudden and significant drop in global stock markets has many investors on edge. With memories fresh of continuous equity highs, retail “mom & pop” investors as well as...
Read More2017 Year-End Review & Outlook
Equities The stock market climbed significantly in 2017, posting its biggest annual gain in four years and extending a bull market that began in 2009—now the second-longest in history. Powering the market's double-digit rise was...
Read More2017 Third Quarter Review & Outlook
Equities The U.S. stock market posted solid third-quarter gains as upbeat news on the global economy overshadowed a steady stream of negative news ranging from catastrophic hurricanes to cyber hacks and war chatter between the Trump...
Read More2017 First Half Review & Outlook
Equities Global stock markets collectively had their best opening half in years. All but four of the 30 major indexes representing the world’s biggest stock markets rose—a first six-month performance unmatched since 2009...
Read More2017 First Quarter Review & Outlook
EquitiesThe U.S. stock market posted its biggest quarterly gain since the last quarter of 2015—extending the fourth quarter post-election rally—lifted by a brightening economic outlook and rising confidence among businesses...
Read More2016 Year-End Review & Outlook
EquitiesU.S. stocks shook off a poor start for the year to log its best performance since 2013. Stocks weathered several shocks in 2016, including a possible global recession scare during the first quarter, Britain’s surprising...
Read MoreMarket and Portfolio Update November 2016
U.S. stock indexes this Wednesday after the election were trading higher, paring steep pre-market stock futures losses, after an early-morning astonishing victory by Republican candidate Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton. This...
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