What’s in an employment report? Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Situation Summary was full of encouraging data. Employment numbers for last November and December were revised higher which made 2014 the strongest year for job growth since 1999. However, 2015 isn’t off to a shabby start. The economy added just over […]
It’s true. January did not turn out to be the best month for U.S. stock markets. At the end of the month, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) was down about 3.1 percent. Before you start listening to pithy observations – the saying ‘as goes January, so goes the year’ has been making […]
There may be potential for a reality television program starring central bankers and the making of economic policy. It could be called, ‘The Real Central Bankers of the European Economic Community.’ Just imagine the last two weeks’ episodes. Two weeks ago, the Swiss National Bank shocked markets by unpegging its currency and sending the value […]
Central banks have been full of surprises lately, but not too many people saw this one coming. For aficionados of the board game Clue, here’s the gist of it: Thomas Jordan did it in Switzerland with monetary policy. Last week, Swiss National Bank (SNB) Chairman Thomas Jordan told the world the SNB would no longer […]
You may be enjoying the economic benefits of gas prices around two dollars a gallon, but last week investors were skeptical about the effect of low, low oil prices on companies’ performance during 2015. For the first time since the financial crisis, the price of crude oil dropped under $50 a barrel last week. That’s […]
“…bubbling crude; oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.” The decline in oil prices accelerated during the fourth quarter of 2014. The main culprit was a supply and demand imbalance. Increased production in the United States, which is currently the biggest oil producer in the world, means there is an ample supply of oil. However, […]
AMJ Financial Wealth Management Weekly Market Commentary December 15, 2014 It was no fun to be an investor last week. The week prior, a commentary in The Wall Street Journal’s blog, MoneyBeat, offered this insight: “Falling oil prices are thought to be good for stocks because they stimulate consumer spending and hold down inflation. The lower costs […]
AMJ Financial Wealth Management Weekly Market Commentary December 8, 2014 In the United States, it was more of the same ole, same ole... The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor’s 500 closed at record highs for the exceeded expectations. For the 10th That’s the longest string of improvements since 1994, according to Reuters. Not only did […]
AMJ Financial Wealth Management Weekly Market Commentary November 24, 2014 Pioneer. Trendsetter. Trailblazer. Whatever term you decide to use, there’s no debate about the fact central banks around the world are taking a page or two from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s playbook. The Fed may have ended quantitative easing (QE) – its program of buying government bonds to […]