by Mark Chandik | Jan 6, 2025
In late 2022, a new bull market emerged from the ashes of a nine-month bear market, leading to 2023’s impressive rise of over 26% for the closely followed S&P 500 Index, according to S&P Global (including dividends reinvested). Cautious sentiment that...
by Mark Chandik | Dec 23, 2024
In a speech given nearly 70 years ago, then-Federal Reserve Chairman William McChesney Martin Jr. made a now-famous analogy when he said that during an expanding economy, the Fed should “remove the punch bowl” before the party gets out of hand. First things first, on...
by Mark Chandik | Dec 16, 2024
The monthly numbers are out, and while the rate of inflation is well off the 2022 peak, price hikes remain uncomfortably high. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, both rose...
by Mark Chandik | Dec 9, 2024
On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 227,000 in November, which came in just above the consensus forecast of 214,000 (CNBC). The unemployment rate, measured by a different BLS survey, ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%....
by Mark Chandik | Dec 2, 2024
Our discussions have included Fed policy, the economy, and the surge in inflation since the pandemic. Why? In large part, they are all a part of the stock market pricing equation. Yet, so are corporate profits, and profits for the largest U.S.-based companies are...
