Weekly Market Recap – August 3rd, 2018 In the Markets Interest rates remained unchanged following the Fed\\\’s Wednesday meeting, although the central bank did change its description of the economy from solid to strong, possibly pointing to two additional rate hikes this year. The USD strengthened on the news, climbing 0.53% up to 94.961 on

Weekly Market Recap – July 27th, 2018 In the Markets The U.S. GDP posted a 4.1% growth in the second quarter, the strongest performance since 2014. While this increase could be attributed to foreign companies buying U.S. goods before potential tariffs are put in place, domestic contributors to GDP also posted gains; consumer spending rose

Weekly Market Recap – July 20th, 2018 In the Markets Grains rebounded from last week’s steep drop off, as soybeans recovered 3.66%, corn climbed 4.02%, and wheat rose 3.82%. Oil fell again, with WTI futures down 1.83%, and Brent Crude futures falling 2.81%. Precious metals fell this week, with gold down 0.81% and silver down

Weekly Market Recap – July 13th, 2018 In the Markets Last week NATO leaders met in Brussels, focusing on member nations’ commitments to increased military spending. Tensions were high going into the summit, as President Trump had questioned the usefulness of the alliance, but that sentiment shifted following the summit, with President Trump maintaining belief

Weekly Market Recap – July 6th, 2018 In the Markets On July 6th, the Trump administration’s first round of tariffs against China went into effect. These tariffs, effecting around $50 billion worth of Chinese exports, were issued to combat China’s allegedly unfair trade practices, including forced transfer of American technology and intellectual property. The tariffs

Weekly Market Recap – June 29th, 2018 In the Markets The Trump Administration announced plans to levy powerful sanctions against companies who do not entirely cut Iranian Crude Oil imports by November. This considerably shortened the previous timetable, which required companies to cut 20% of their imports every 180 days. Now these companies must cut

Weekly Market Recap – July 22nd, 2018 In the Markets This week, leaders from OPEC member nations met in Vienna, Austria to discuss increasing oil production. On May 22nd, when oil prices were on a strong bullish rally, with WTI futures reaching $72.9/bbl and Brent futures eclipsing $80/bbl, Saudi Arabia and Russia leaned towards raising

Weekly Market Recap – June 15th, 2018 In the Markets The week ended with a substantial development in the U.S. China trade conflict, as the long rumored tariff skirmish materialized into reality with the Trump administration announcing a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports. China was quick to respond, stating that they

Weekly Market Recap – June 8th, 2018 In the Markets Last week ended with the Charlevoix G7 summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, as Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and the U.S. joined Canada for the 2 day conference. The summit ended with a 28 point joint communique covering a wide range of issues including trade, North

Weekly Market Recap – June 1st, 2018 In the Markets The highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States in 18 years touched down in Washington, D.C. last week. Kim Yong Chol, regarded as Kim Jong-un’s right-hand man, met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday before delivering a letter from Kim Jong