Market Update
As you may know, consumer spending makes up almost 70% of the US economy. If you look on the surface of the latest monthly retail sales report, the negative 1.5% drop gives a bearish sentiment. However, after looking deeper into the numbers, we find that after accounting for the termination of the cash for clunkers […]
Dow over 10,000
The run in the stock market continues in October. Cash on the sidelines, better than expected earnings announcements and money market yields close to 0% is causing investors to look at the stock and bond markets for higher returns. Many people are still sitting on the sidelines – $3.4 trillion in cash – still worried […]
Market Update – October 1, 2009
The economy doesn’t have to be this bad!!! The rate of unemployment for the young is the highest it has ever been, overall unemployment is near 10% and many economists talk about a jobless recovery. The sad news is it doesn’t have to be this way. In addition, Mark and I have boys graduating from […]
Market Update – September 15, 2009
Bonds, not Stocks, Suffer more with Inflation A few weeks ago, we mentioned in our market update that we are not overly concerned with inflation at this time. The reasons include the massive deleveraging occurring in the U.S., a lack of upward pressure on wages and falling real estate prices, all of which are offsetting […]
THOR's Market Update August 5, 2009
The Market As you will see from your July statement, the stock market over the past few weeks has produced positive returns in your account. Some of the old stock market adages such as the “January effect”, “don’t fight the Fed”, etc., have fallen by the wayside. If you had bought into the “sell in […]
THOR's Market Update July 17, 2009
Economy vs. Stock Market Many clients have asked for our opinion about the stock market and, at the same time, the economy. Most people believe they are one and the same. They aren’t. The way to think about the relationship between the two is that the stock market is a fortune teller for what will […]
THOR's Market Update July 1, 2009
This morning, both the Consumer Confidence Index and the Expectations Index delivered numbers below the consensus forecast and are down from the previous month’s readings. While not a huge surprise, this news just adds to the fatigue the market has been experiencing over the past few weeks. But, according to some investor sentiment indicators, the […]
THOR's Market Update June 22, 2009
One of the keys to the great success of America is that we let companies fail. On average, 10% of all companies (public and private) will fail in any given year. Business failures are difficult for those employees and investors who had an interest in the failed company, but this normal ebb and flow is […]
THOR's Market Update June 10, 2009
So we finally swallowed the bitter GM bankruptcy pill. The fact that the US government now owns greater than 70% of the means of production for this company presents a new set of challenges which will have political and financial implications for years to come. Hopefully workers and resources will move to more productive areas […]
THOR's Market Update May 19, 2009
In our last Market Update, we were cautiously optimistic about the direction in which the stock market and economy were headed. We discussed our belief that one of the primary catalysts for the first quarter market upswing was money moving off the sidelines and into the market. Click here to read more.