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 […]
AMJ Financial Wealth Management Weekly Market Commentary November 17, 2014 “Is all this stock market optimism a red flag?” Contrarians – investors who bet against prevailing market trends – were probably nodding along as they read that headline in The Wall Street Journal back on January 18, 2013. The Journal cited the American Association of Individual Investor’s […]
AMJ Financial Wealth Management Weekly Market Commentary November 10, 2014 You’re familiar with the word melt. Ice cream melts. Snow melts. You may have seen someone melt down (or have done it yourself). Right now, markets may be experiencing a melt-up, according to Barron’s. Melt-up is a counterintuitive term which describes a sharp, emotion-driven improvement in market performance. […]
AMJ Financial Wealth Management Weekly Market Commentary November 3, 2014 The Markets Are central banks throwing a progressive party? You know, the kind of party where folks travel from house to house feasting and drinking and enjoying the proffered hospitality. For years pundits have speculated about what will happen to the U.S. stock market party […]