by James

Markets remained choppy last week. The turn of the month always brings increased volatility, and particularly so when first glance GDP data come out, as they did last week, only to be closely followed (this week) by non-farm payrolls. As is well known by now, the GDP data surprised to the upside, but failed to [...]

by James

An uneasy calm held over markets for most of the past week, allowing a widespread mild positive move. Debt, equities and commodities all gained ground. In part, the calm may reflect an early start to the summer doldrums, but the US 2Q GDP number – which came out on Friday – and the fact that [...]

by James

Sell in May go away! We hear it every year, but surely, there has rarely been a more tempting case than this year? Against a barrage of negative data, equities put in a storming performance last month, with the S&P 500 rising 9.4%. Slower rates of economic decline are a good thing, apparently. Given the [...]

by James

So, equities managed an end of year smile after all. The S&P 500 has risen in five of the last six sessions. On Jan 2, it closed up 6.8% over the week, oil followed suit, rising an impressive 22.9%, ostensibly on the conflict in Gaza. For its part, the dollar took back some of its [...]

by James

Thanksgiving shortened the trading week, but there was no shortage of major events. From the bail-out of Citigroup, to the further expansion of the Fed’s balance sheet and the shocking attacks on India’s financial center, there is a palpable sense that the world has reached a turning point. The markets reacted interestingly, with equities finally [...]

by James

Financial markets remained in a state of heightened volatility throughout the last week of October, but showed reassuring improvement from earlier weeks. During the month, the S&P 500 lost 16.9% and oil lost 32.6%, while the dollar gained 6.8% against the broad basket. Financial actions to prop up banks and restore liquidity – both within [...]

by James

There’s a danger of monotony if this Monday again starts with comments about market stress and volatility. But, how to avoid it? The Vix last week peaked at 48.4, while the S&P 500 lost 9.4%. Oil slumped 12.2% and the dollar rose 5.5%. Just what is going on? And what can we expect this week? [...]

by James

The last week of August remained relatively calm, with low volumes. To be certain, there were shadows of concern, but for the most part, the market managed to avoid overreacting to them. The S&P 500 closed down less than 0.7%, oil rose by the 0.7% and the dollar weakened by 1.1%.   With the essentially [...]