Stock Markets and the Economy
Found 234 Articles.
Get access to our full article archive by subscribing to Retirement Watch and Retirement Watch Spotlight Series.
Have we Reached Peak Earnings for This Cycle?
Most companies now have reported their first-quarter earnings, and the overall results are outstanding. Almost 70% of companies exceeded the earnings estimates for the quarter, and more than 72% exceeded revenue estimates. The percentage of companies exceeding earnings estimates was the highest since 2006 and among the highest since 1999. A large percentage of companies […]
Dollar Surge Surprises Analysts
The dollar’s been soaring lately and surprising many analysts. After the latest upward surge, the PowerShares DB US Dollar Bullish ETF (UUP) still is down 4.50% over the last 12 months and 0.85% annualized for the last three years. But it’s up 4.86% for the last three months, 3.39% for the last four weeks and […]
Investors Sell off Stocks of Companies with Good Results
Investors are learning that stock prices don’t always follow earnings. Over the long-term, corporate earnings overall tend to grow at about the same rate as gross domestic product (GDP), and stock prices tend to rise at the same rate as earnings. But that’s over the long term, since there can be a lot of divergence […]
Do Weak Retail Sales Indicate a Problem with the Economy?
Do weak retail sales indicate a problem with the economy? They’re certainly a problem for retailers. Weak overall sales, plus competition from online retailers, are among trends causing a large number of retailers to file for bankruptcy. But does the recent weakness in retail sales foreshadow a problem with economic growth? The latest retail sales […]
Markets Continue Negative Trend
The investment markets in March continued the negative trends of February. The biggest trend, of course, is negative returns for the major stock indexes. The S&P 500 slid 2.74% in March, fell 7.81% from its Jan. 26 peak to wipe out January’s strong gains and now has a year-to-date loss of 1.00%. The Dow Jones […]
The Post-Crisis Inflation Mystery
Inflation probably is the most important, and puzzling, economic factor today. The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate of maintaining full employment while restraining inflation. With unemployment very low, the Fed’s primary focus is on inflation these days. The path of inflation, and the Fed’s expectations of that path, will determine how much the Fed […]
The Next Phase of the Economic Cycle Begins
Important things are happening in the economy and markets. After years of providing massive liquidity, the central banks are shifting gears. The Federal Reserve has been tightening for several years and other major central banks are either tightening or leaning toward it. Also, in the last few months, the economic cycle moved to the late phase after […]
The Changing S&P 500
The market rally the last few years has been uneven, and that’s led to technology stocks dominating the S&P 500. S&P doesn’t rebalance the S&P 500 index on a regular basis. It generally lets the market do that, as the weight of different stocks and especially sectors changes over time. Sometimes the changes can be […]
