Weekly Market Commentary

-Darren Leavitt, CFA It was a turbulent week on Wall Street as investors assessed the Federal Reserve’s decision on monetary policy while economic data and corporate earnings offered mixed results.   Tensions in the Middle East escalated as the US hit Iranian proxy...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 1/26/2024 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equities inked another set of weekly gains on the back of mixed 4th quarter earnings results and encouraging economic data.  The S&P 500 and Dow set new all-time highs. Dutch Semiconductor Company...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 1/19/2024 -Darren Leavitt, CFA The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record highs on Friday despite a reset of monetary policy rate cut expectations.  Mega-cap technology issues outperformed with a jump start from the...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 1/12/2024 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US Markets gained ground in the second week of 2024, attributed to mega-cap issues in the Information Technology and Communication Services sectors.  The Equal-weight S&P 500 was up 0.2%, while the...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 1/5/2024 -Darren Leavitt, CFA After nine weeks of gains, the market fell in the first week of trading in 2024.  Interestingly, the losses incurred this week largely came from areas of the market that outperformed last year, namely...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 12/22/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets inked an 8th consecutive week of gains as investors continued to foster the soft landing narrative.  Trading volumes lightened as the week progressed and corporate news was relatively...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 12/15/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA The Bull market continued its rally streak to seven consecutive weeks, something not seen since 2017.  Wall Street threw a “pivot party” as the US Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meeting ended...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 12/8/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA The S&P 500 gained ground for the sixth consecutive week as US economic data continued to support the soft landing narrative.  Mega-cap issues provided leadership, while small-caps continued to...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 12/1/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA A mélange of factors pushed US equity markets to a sneeze away from record highs.  US Treasuries continued to rally, sending yields lower across the curve.  The soft landing narrative continued as...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 11/24/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets inked a 4th straight week of gains despite the market appearing to be overbought.  The holiday-shortened week featured light trading volumes and broad participation.  Earnings results...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 11/17/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA The S&P 500 closed above 4500 after inking its third consecutive weekly gain.  Temperate economic data released over the last few months has elevated the idea of an economic soft landing and the idea...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 11/10/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Markets were mixed this week as investors digested additional earnings announcements, a plethora of Fed rhetoric, and a large dose of US Treasury issuance.  The divergence of mega-cap stocks widened...

Weekly Market Commentary

-Darren Leavitt, CFA Global financial markets rallied big time last week on dovish tones from central bankers and on the notion that this interest rate hike cycle may be over.  The Bank of Japan kicked the week off with a vague move that sets their 10-year Japanese...

Weekly Market Commentary

-Darren Leavitt, CFA Equity markets faced another wave of selling as the S&P 500 went into correction territory, down 10.13% from the end of July.  Investors saw some relief from the bond market, but trade in Sovereign debt continued to lack a safe-haven bid...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 10/20/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA This week, the debt market resumed its sell-off and wreaked havoc on the equity markets.  The US 10-year bond yield hit 5% for the first time since 2007, while longer-tenured issues felt the brunt of the...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 10/13/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets finished the week with mixed results as investors digested the first tranche of third-quarter earnings results. JP Morgan, Citi Bank, Wells Fargo, and United Healthcare had...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 10/6/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Investors were treated to another mixed bag of market action as the yield curve steepened on the notion of higher rates for longer.  There were several central bank officials that echoed the need to...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 9/29/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Markets finished a difficult month of September with mixed results.  The prospect of a government shutdown, along with no real progress in the UAW negotiations and a recalibration of interest rate...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 9/22/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets sold off in tandem with the US Treasury market as the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meeting concluded with no change to its policy rate.  The Fed’s Summary of Economic...

Weekly Market Commentary

Weekly Market Commentary – 9/15/2023 -Darren Leavitt, CFA It was a roller coaster ride on Wall Street this week, with early-week gains met with a late-week sell-off.  Investors cheered the largest IPO of the year that saw Arm Holdings come to market 10x...