The Times, They are A-Changin
Stocks pushed higher Friday as the three major market benchmarks booked their best weekly percentage gains since November. On the economic front, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index climbed in January to its highest level in nine months, which followed...
What awaits us in 2023?
With few exceptions, the best and brightest in stock and bond markets failed to appreciate how the outbreak of inflation would upend the investing world in 2022. They failed to anticipate how the Fed would react, thinking rate hikes would be measured rather than...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
t has been a tough 2022 for investors but our clients have done better than most mutual fund and hedge fund managers. Year to date, all of our clients' portfolios have outperformed the Nasdaq (down 34%) and 90% of our clients have outperformed the S&P 500 (down...
The Fed jolts the stock market once again
The Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected 50-basis-point rate hike this week, but surprised the markets by signaling rates would stay high through next year. At the meeting, the Fed revised their median prediction for core inflation in 2023 upwards by...
When Irrationality Triumphs Sensibility
Last week, Blackstone announced that it will limit investor redemptions from its $69 billion Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) in December after being hit with heavy withdrawals in October and November. For those who are not familiar with BREIT, Blackstone...
Attempting to defy the Phillips Curve?
A speech from Fed Chair Jay Powell on Wednesday sent markets flying amid signals that the central bank could begin slowing its aggressive interest rate increases. When the dust settled at the end of the session, the Nasdaq closed up a whopping 4.4%, while the S&P...
Happy Holidays
To all our clients and readers of this newsletter - Happy Thanksgiving and Seasons Greetings. It has been a tough year for investors with the S&P 500 down 16% ytd and Nasdaq down 29% ytd. Surprisingly, the Dow Jones is only down by 5.5% ytd, a reflection of the...
Retail stocks breaking down before the holidays signals a recession in 2023
Stocks finished with modest gains Friday, but the main U.S. indexes still ended with weekly losses as doubts rose about the staying power of the recent rally sparked by signs of easing U.S. inflation. Stocks turned lower earlier in the week after St. Louis Federal...
The Bitcoin fools lose their shirt
On Monday this week, Sam Bankman-Fried, the chief executive of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, took to Twitter to reassure his customers: “FTX is fine,” he wrote. “Assets are fine.” On Friday, FTX announced that it was filing for bankruptcy, capping an extraordinary...