Markets were relatively stable during the final full trading week of Q3 2024. There were a few notable events this week. Let’s take a quick look back and then turn our attention to the final three months of 2024. Chinese Stimulus It’s no secret that China, the world’s second-largest economy, has been a laggard in […]

For the first time in over four years, the Federal Reserve lowered the Fed Funds interest rate during its meeting on Wednesday of this week. The reduction in rates (known in financial circles as a “cut”) was 50 basis points (0.50%), making the new target range of the Fed Funds rate 4.75-5% The size of […]

September is typically a tough months for markets. This year is fulfilling on that promise of weakness & volatility as equity markets have been reminiscent of a popular ice cream flavor the past two weeks- Rocky Road! As we noted last week, there are quite a few major events happening in September and once they […]

Yikes. This shortened trading week felt rather long, don’t you agree. As kids headed back to school, the market headed back to its wild trading ways (not seen all that often in 2024). Weeks like this can be unsettling. Let’s be honest – there are very few people (other than short sellers) that enjoy seeing […]

The biggest market event this past week was the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium last Friday, August 20th, 2024. At that meeting, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke and provided the first definitive commentary that clearly signaled interest rate cuts are imminent. Powell made note of the consistent summer of slowing inflation (after some bumpier readings […]

I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year by Jason Zweig. In it, he discussed a strategy to help investors remain grounded in uncertain times. The strategy was based on the work of Hal Hershfield, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. Hal advocates that envisioning how you […]

If you’ve been a loyal reader of the Friday Five, you will be all too able to name the “star of the show” when it has come to economic data over the past several years. You guessed it – inflation! Yet after this week’s two inflation prints (discussed in more detail below), I think it’s […]

During each Federal Reserve rate decision meetings of 2024, I have been immediately transported back to my childhood. In these flashbacks, I am sitting in the backset of a station wagon, wedged between my sister, our cocker spaniel Clover, and some luggage, asking (repeatedly) “are we there yet?” And regardless of if we were within […]

The year is half-over. It’s a perfect time to schedule a time to complete a mid-year financial review. Here are five things you may wish to add to your agenda! 1.) Spending and savings plan – If you took my advice at the outset of the year, you have a rough plan in place in […]

If you have read any of my posts over the past two years, you are familiar with at least one part of the Federal Reserve Bank’s dual mandate – price stability (said another way, combat inflation). We have spent many a Fridays dissecting the latest inflation data and debating when (or if) prices would start […]