Weekly Commentary

  The next couple of weeks will be seminal moments for the technology war waged by President Trump as the looming deadline for TikTok – the Chinese-owned social media app – to partner with an American company in order to continue U.S. operations comes on September 20th. This morning, it was reported that Oracle had […]

  With the NASDAQ down about 10% from the highs and other indexes off their respective highs it’s finally time to take a breath and reset. [i] From a macroeconomic perspective, we are still on the recovery path. Just consider the following indicators: Jobs continue to recover, with another 1 million plus jobs added in […]

I’m sure most didn’t look at Chairman Jerome Powell’s statement as it relates to the Federal Reserve’s modification to their long-standing inflation target policy last week. He was addressing the dual mandate Congress gave the Fed to create price stability and full employment. Before I get to the salient points, it is critical to know […]

  When we’ve talked about a return to normal, one of the last things we would think of is a return to all-time highs on the S&P 500. But, that is exactly what occurred last week, 148 days after bottoming, the S&P 500 broke above its all-time high on August 18th! [i] This has most […]

  Critical COVID-19 legislation is on hold as both sides of the aisle bicker over who gets what in the next round of stimulus, with the two sides far apart on the critical question of state funding. [i] Democrats want over $1 trillion in the next round of COVID-19 stimulus for states while Republicans want […]

The “V” shaped economic recovery most were predicting has hit a pocket of turbulent air. It might have even stalled. The July employment report suggested that the jobs recovery moderated from the blistering pace seen in May and June. [i] The jobs recovery, albeit muted from prior months, reflects the continued reopening of our economy. […]

The overwhelming consensus from the clients and investors I speak to on a daily basis is a fear of what the election will bring. Actually, it is a fear of the market’s reaction to the election. It is impossible to predict what will happen—and almost anything could. Four years ago, when then-candidate Trump was in […]

  I am certain most readers of this weekly commentary have heard of the new stock trading app Robinhood which allows individual investors to buy small quantities of stock in their favorite companies. It’s been all the rage with younger, less experienced investors. Some conjecture? It’s because they are “COVID bored” and, perhaps, because there […]

  Dr. Arthur Laffer, a 2020 Medal of Freedom recipient, is best known as a member of Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board and creator of the Laffer Curve (full bio) Watch our CEO Tim Phillips interview Dr. Art Laffer Topics covered included: Inflation, Interest Rates, & GDPLaffer calls for low interest rates, limited inflation, and […]

  Second quarter earnings season commences this week and it will be ugly. S&P 500 companies are expected to report earnings declines in excess of 44% for Q2 according to FactSet. [i] No sector or industry was safe from the pandemic-driven shutdown of our economy. Energy was the most impacted, with an expected year-over-year earnings […]