The period between now and year-end marks a historically bullish final stretch of the year for US stocks, particularly just before and after Christmas. The question for investors is whether favorable seasonal factors will be outweighed by economic fundamentals. The momentum toward a year-end rush to stocks seems to only be getting stronger now that … Read more
Apple Computer Inc. brought Steve Jobs back to the company in 1997 and found amazing success, but that has led to a “Steve Jobs Syndrome” that convinces companies to bring back formerly successful top executives even as an academic study shows it may not be a good idea. The Walt Disney Co. DIS, +6.30% is … Read more
Fresh China COVID-19 worries are threatening to nix any preholiday gains for Wall Street, with stock futures in the red and the dollar higher ahead of Monday’s open. In a shortened week that will bring both Thanksgiving and the World Cup kickoff, investors have all sorts of excuses to head to the sidelines. Those sticking … Read more
According to Fed Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller and several strategistslast week’s softer-than-expected October CPI that sent the S&P 500 to its best level in five months was overdone. His words may be getting through as stock futures point to a softer start as the last full week before Thanksgiving kicks off. We’ll also get retail … Read more
Text size A Carvana car-vending machine in Huntington Beach, Calif., in 2019. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Why buy now if prices are going to be lower tomorrow? That isn’t a question US consumers have been asking themselves lately. Inflation has had the opposite effect in recent months. But because prices are coming down and that is … Read more
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell feels a clear signal interest rates will move higher and stay there longer than previously anticipated. Investors wonder if that means new lows for the beaten-down stock market lie ahead. “If we don’t see inflation start to come down as the fed-funds rate goes up, then we’re not getting to … Read more
Markets continue to absorb the reverberations from this week’s Federal Reserve policy decision. The S&P 500 SPX has given up a chunk of its latest rally after Chair Jerome Powell suggested it was likely borrowing costs would peak at a higher level than investors had previously thought. The benchmark remains down 22.5% for the year. … Read more
It’s an island off the coast of China, with a land area comparable to Maryland and Delaware combined. Its population is about 1 million higher than that of Florida. Often overlooked in world headlines, Taiwan is grabbing the financial market’s attention as the biggest macro risk of the day, prompting many traders and investors to … Read more
The numbers: A key barometer of American factories fell to a 25-month low of 52.8% in July in a sign of creeping weakness in the US economy. The good news? Inflation pressures eased. Tea Institute for Supply Management’s closely followed manufacturing gauge dipped from 53% in June, in no small part due to another decline … Read more
“‘Ultimately, this will be a trap.’” — Mike Wilson, chief US equity strategist and CIO, Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson, who correctly called the stock market’s 2022 swoon, isn’t convinced the lows are in after major US indexes scored a big gain following Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision to raise rates by another 75 basis … Read more