Weekly Market Recap

Weekly Market Recap – September 23, 2022

Concerns about a global recession were sparked by the move by central banks around the world to raise interest rates and intervene in foreign exchange markets, putting pressure on stock investors to sell heavily. President Vladimir Putin accelerated his efforts in Ukraine, calling up 300,000 more Russian citizens for active military duty. …

Weekly Market Recap – September 16, 2022

The prospect of an imminent railway strike captured the financial news headlines early in the week until Thursday when a solution brokered by the White House gave investors one less thing to worry about. Also this week, a significant milestone was reached in U.S. mortgage rates: the 30-year fixed rate mortgage surpassed …

Weekly Market Recap – September 9, 2022

Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at the age of 96. She was Britain’s longest-serving monarch, having reigned since 1952. Prince Charles ascended to the throne as King Charles III. Earlier in the week, Liz Truss started working as the United Kingdom’s fourth prime minister since the Brexit vote in 2016. On …

Weekly Market Recap – September 2, 2022

On Friday, the G7 agreed to place a price cap on Russian oil, in line with the West’s concerted efforts to use economic sanctioning to pressure President Putin. Hours after the G7 finance ministers announced this plan, Gazprom, the Russian-owned energy giant, stated that mechanical problems were forcing a postponement to the …

Weekly Market Recap – August 26, 2022

On Wednesday, the six-month mark since Russia invaded Ukraine; President Putin ordered the Russian military to increase its forces by 137,000 new troops (+10%). In an unprecedented move to reduce carbon emissions, California announced plans to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. The Biden administration announced it would forgive …

Weekly Market Recap – August 19, 2022

China’s economic slowdown has contributed to the drop in global oil demand; crude oil prices have slumped back to where they were when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Russia-Ukraine tensions are heightening over threats regarding Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power station. Inflation hit 10.1 % in Britain, propelled by surging energy and …

Weekly Market Recap – August 12, 2022

The Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act. This legislation includes a 15% minimum tax on large companies. It also extends subsidies for private healthcare plans, and creates tax credits for electric vehicles and incentives to make homes more energy efficient. In Crimea, explosions at a base in Russian-occupied territory leveled dozens of …

Weekly Market Recap – August 5, 2022

The Senate passed a bill to expand medical care and other benefits to 3.5 million veterans who may have been exposed to toxins from burning trash pits on U.S. military bases. As we approached press time on Sunday, the Senate passed a $430 billion bill to forward President Biden’s economic package to …

Weekly Market Recap – July 29, 2022

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) struck a deal with fellow Democrats on a climate and tax package. The Senate passed a bill to provide $52 billion in subsidies to American companies that manufacture chips and related products in a move to counter China’s huge exports of semiconductors to the U.S. After two …

Weekly Market Recap – July 22, 2022

The European Central Bank raised its three interest rates by half a percentage point. Mario Draghi resigned from his position as Italy’s prime minister. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, met with Vladimir Putin and issued a proclamation of support for Russia’s war on Ukraine. On Thursday, the White House announced that …

Weekly Market Recap – July 15, 2022

Inflation topped the headlines this week as soaring U.S. consumer prices hit levels not seen in 40 years, thus prompting more concerns about the anticipated rise of interest rates.
COVID-19 is creeping back to the forefront in national news as cases are now multiplying in more than half the counties across the …

Weekly Market Recap – July 8, 2022

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, was assassinated while giving a public speech on Friday. On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he would step down after a wave of resignations by cabinet officials and members of Parliament. Elon Musk indicated he would withdraw his offer to buy Twitter. In addition, …

Weekly Market Recap – July 1, 2022

The U.S. Supreme court ruled to limit the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions from power plants. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Congress had not clearly given the agency such authority. Turkey dropped its objection to allowing Sweden and Finland into NATO, which led the alliance to …

Weekly Market Recap – June 24, 2022

The Russian ruble, which had collapsed to 139-per-U.S.-dollar after Putin invaded Ukraine, was the strongest major currency during the week. On Tuesday, the ruble traded at 54 per dollar, its best level since June 2015. On Wednesday, President Biden urged Congress to suspend the Federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel for …

Weekly Market Recap – June 17, 2022

Aiming to stem inflation, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday; 1994 was the last time the central bank made a move of that magnitude. The Bank of England raised rates one-quarter point, pursuing a policy more cautious than the Fed. The average rate for …

Weekly Market Recap – June 10, 2022

In a move to mitigate soaring inflation, the European Central bank will raise interest rates in July. The quarter-percentage-point increase will be ECB’s first rate increase since 2011. The U.S. is ending COVID-19 testing requirements for air travelers entering the country, starting on Sunday.
The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the …

Weekly Market Recap – June 3, 2022

An OPEC Plus announcement on Thursday that the organization will increase crude oil production delivered a surprise: the volume of the increase was more than analysts had anticipated. Starting in July, the net rise in output by member countries will be 648,000 barrels per day. The additional barrels amount to 50% more …

Weekly Market Recap – May 27, 2022

Tuesday was the three-month mark since Russia invaded Ukraine. As the week came to a close, the White House reported that Russia is expected to default on its debt. The due date for Moscow’s $100 million bond payment was Friday.
All eyes were on the inflation indicators on Friday morning as the …

Weekly Market Recap – May 20, 2022

The U.S. is now seeing more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases per day for the first time in months; cases are up 52% and hospitalizations are up 31% in the past two weeks. On Wednesday, President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to expedite the production of baby formula and approved the use …

Weekly Market Recap – May 13, 2022

On Thursday, Finland pledged to join NATO, a move prompted by Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine. In a 368 to 57 vote, the House passed a bill to provide Ukraine an additional $40 billion in military and humanitarian aid; it now awaits a vote in the Senate. Bitcoin plunged to its lowest …

Weekly Market Recap – May 6, 2022

The Fed announced a 0.5% interest rate increase, the largest increase in the federal-funds benchmark since 2000, as the central bank continues efforts to combat inflation. The water level in Lake Mead, which provides water to the states of Arizona, California, and Nevada, has dropped to its lowest point in the man-made …

Weekly Market Recap – April 29, 2022

President Biden asked Congress to authorize $33 billion for weapons as well as economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. According to the U.N., more than 5.4 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the fighting began. The CDC reported that COVID-19 has caused more than 990,000 deaths in the U.S.
The S&P Case-Shiller …

Weekly Market Recap – April 22, 2022

Russia has proclaimed the fall of Mariupol; the Pentagon is sending Ukraine an additional $800 million in military aid for the second time in two weeks. As of Friday, the outcome of France’s election runoff between incumbent president Emmanuel Macron and challenger Marine Le Pen was too close to call; however, as …

Weekly Market Recap – April 14, 2022

Vladimir Putin called the peace talks a “dead end” as his military heightened its focus on Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Russia’s flagship cruiser, the Moskva, sank in the Black Sea; Ukraine claimed that its missiles had struck the vessel, while Russia alleged it was an accidental ammunition fire. The U.S. began sending …