Broad U.S. equity markets finished out the week flat as new U.S. economic data came in short of expectations. The nation’s GDP rose to 2.8% in the last three months of 2011, falling short of the expected 3% increase, leading many investors to think twice about the economy’s current condition and the status of its recovery. Euro debt drama also continued this week as another slew of downgrades from Fitch Ratings cut the sovereign deb ratings of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus, and Slovenia. Although the currency markets reacted to the announcement, the volatility was short lived because Fitch’s cuts were not as severe as Standard & Poor’s downgrades two weeks ago. In the commodities space, gold futures for February delivery rose for a weekly gain of over 4% as downward pressure on the U.S. dollar pushed investors into the tried and true safe haven. [click to continue…]
Broad equity markets got off to a rocky start this week as investors struggled to digest the latest news from overseas. Last week, Standard and Poor’s announced their downgrade of nine euro-zone countries, stripping the coveted triple-A ratings from France and Austria. Although this news was somewhat expected, markets struggled to find a definitive direction [...]
Once again investors saw the seemingly never ending Euro drama take center stage this week, overshadowing all the strong U.S. employment data that was announced last week. Stock markets tumbled during Friday’s trading session after several news reports announced that Standard & Poor’s downgraded the coveted triple-A ratings of France with speculation that Austria will [...]
Investors rang in the new year with plenty of activity in just the first week of trading in 2012. Markets welcomed better than expected U.S. employment data, which showed that job growth accelerated and the unemployment rate dropped lower in the month of December. The positive report helped boost hope for a strengthening labor market [...]
The final week of trading in 2011 has shaped out be fairly tame relative to the volatile trading frenzy witnessed throughout the year. Looming debt woes on both sides of the Atlantic have paved the way for an uncertain economic backdrop that appears to be slowly spilling over into 2012. Amidst the turmoil, the ETF [...]
Investors had plenty to celebrate this holiday weekend, as the S&P 500 pushed back into positive territory for 2011 after the index’s three-day winning streak. Despite the announcement of several dreary and unimpressive U.S. economic reports, stock markets continued to gain steam throughout the week, finishing off strong at the end of Friday’s trading session. Investors also [...]
Euro drama took center stage again this week, sending stock markets for a roller coaster ride as investors braced themselves for more bad news about the seemingly never-ending, and rather cyclical European debt crisis. Major stock indexes saw a glimmer of hope in Friday’s early morning trading session with the Dow Jones Industrial average rising [...]
Last week’s hopeful surge in the markets were quickly overshadowed this week with worse-than-expected news from overseas, contributing to the never-ending cycle of the European debt crisis. Major stock indexes remained unchanged earlier in the week then dropped during Thursday’s trading session as investors digested the latest euro-zone developments. The European Central Bank announced its [...]
Investors were in for wild ride this week as stock markets skyrocketed to record-high week levels not seen in almost three years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked during Wednesday’s trading session, gaining a remarkable 490 points while the S&P jumped 4.3%. Major stock indexes continued to rally through the end of the week with [...]
The last week may have been a brief one for U.S. equity markets, but the Thanksgiving-shortened stretch saw the continuation of disappointing losses that raise the likelihood of a year in the red for 2011 and potentially accelerating declines heading in to the final month of the year. While investors attention stateside focused on retail [...]
Markets welcomed good news this week with the announcement of an increase in the index of leading economic indicators for the month of October. The report indicated that the U.S. economy is finally beginning to gain momentum, which is better than what most investors had expected. Investors also responded to positive retail sales data, which showed [...]
