Weekly Market Recap – October 15, 2021 Weekly initial jobless claims were 293,000, the lowest number of claims since the beginning of the pandemic. The prior week’s figure was 329,000. Monthly economic statistics, compared with previous levels, were as follows: retail sales 0.7% vs. 0.9%, business inventories 0.6% vs. 0.5%, and the consumer sentiment index

Weekly Market Recap – October 8, 2021 The news that shaped Wall Street’s mood for the week was that Senate minority leader McConnell, on Wednesday, without making any demands, offered Democrats an emergency short-term extension to the Federal debt ceiling into December. The transition to the closing months of 2021 is marked by higher gas

Weekly Market Recap – October 1, 2021 Economic statistics reported during the week, compared with prior released data, were as follows: durable goods orders +1.8% vs. +0.5%, core capital goods +0.5% vs. +0.3%, consumer confidence index 109.3 vs. 114.2, personal income +0.2% vs. +1.1%, consumer spending +0.8% vs. -0.1%, construction spending 0.0% vs. +0.3%, consumer

Weekly Market Recap – September 24, 2021 Monday saw the biggest drop in the stock market since May. The waves of selling were in response to reports from rating agencies that “default appears probable” for Chinese property giant Evergrande, which is saddled with $300 billion in debt. Another source of pressure on the markets was

Weekly Market Recap – September 17, 2021 The annual data released Tuesday by the U.S Census Bureau underscored the economic impact of the pandemic last year. The median inflation-adjusted household income for 2020 fell 2.9% to $67,521, according to the bureau. The official poverty rate rose one percentage point to 11.4%, however, the report included

Weekly Market Recap – September 10, 2021 The current Fed “Beige Book” report focuses on the economic pullback in July and August, attributing it to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, persistent supply chain problems, and companies struggling to fill positions. According to the Fed’s comments, the most impacted expenditures have been for eating out, travel

Weekly Market Recap – September 3, 2021 After pummeling Louisiana and leaving a million customers without electric power, the remnants of Hurricane Ida moved into the northeast causing historic rainfall and flooding, along with at least 50 deaths. Because Ida’s aftermath has severely impacted the energy infrastructure, with 80% of Gulf oil production offline, the

Weekly Market Recap – August 27, 2021   According to a CDC report on Friday, 1,200 coronavirus deaths occurred in the U.S. in a 24-hour period, a fatality rate not seen since early March. At our press time for this end-of-week report, Hurricane Ida, the ninth named storm of 2021 was on track to make

Weekly Market Recap – August 20, 2021   News headlines this week covered familiar topics. In Afghanistan, the Taliban took control of the country. The U.S. evacuation mission continues, and the EU is bracing for waves of Afghani refugees in the months to come. On the weather front, hurricane season is now ramping up. On

Weekly Market Recap – August 13, 2021   The Senate passed the $3.5 trillion blueprint of President Biden’s infrastructure plan. The U.S. began staging troop deployment for an evacuation mission in response to the Taliban insurgency against the Afghan government. Eight U.S. states now account for 51% of the nation’s coronavirus hospitalizations: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,