Insights

End of October Market Update ·        This was a huge month for biotechnology.  Biotech is a very long duration asset (many companies are far from their first profits), so they benefit greatly from lower interest rates.   ·        This was also a very good month for solar/clean energy.  Strangely, this industry tends to move counter-intuitively (meaning not at all like political control would make you think).   ·        October was also a huge month for semi-conductors, as de

Historically, September is a difficult month for stocks.  Market started to anticipate this by flattening out in mid-August, but positive interest rate news sent the market soaring again after Labor Day.

Growth stocks seem a little tired.  Give them credit where it is due, they have sizzled over the last few months.  However, in the wake of Nvidia’s extremely-solid-but-not-quite-lights-out earnings report and strong-but-not-pound-the-table-strong forward guidance, investors have decided that the tech sector might need to rest for a little while.

This morning’s Unemployment Report was a shocker!  The 73,000 July figure was disappointing as 110,000 was expected, but it was hardly a market mover in and of itself.  The big negative market reaction was for the revisions to the previous two months.  May was revised down from 144,000 to 19,000, and June from 147,000 down to 14,000.  Those were MASSIVE revisions! 

The second quarter came in like a shark and went out like a kitten.  The first six trading days of the quarter were wracked with tariff fears and selling, then we got the policy reversal, and then investors increasingly traded stable assets for those that had more upside potential.

Of Pianos, Mattresses, and Light Switches - Why it is Especially Challenging to Manage Assets in this Environment

In negotiations, it can be valuable to create the impression that you are willing to take bigger risks than your adversary.  Oftentimes,...

Market thoughts March 4, 2025 by Mark Carlton, CFA®

Summary With dividends reinvested, the S&P 500 gained close to 25% in 2024, but only 2.4% [1]  of that came in the final three months. ...

Trademark Blog Post – December 11, 2024: The U.S. stock market surged after the November election.  Investors remembered that in the...

Summary The third quarter of 2024 was an investment advisor’s dream.  Performance was very good, but better yet it was widely distributed...

Summary The S&P 500 gained 4.3% last quarter, and 15.3% in the first half of the year[1].  That is the good news.  The bad news was that...

Summary The stock rally that began in late October continued through this past March.  The S&P 500 added 10.6% last quarter<1>....

Summary Higher interest rates continued into late October, but at that point positive inflation news and encouraging statements from...

Trademark Financial Market Update – November 1, 2023 Interest Rate Environment Update It seems to me that the world is now in a new...

Summary The stock market rally ran into the wall of higher interest rates at the beginning of August.  As a result, the market gave up...

Trademark Financial Market Update – August 23, 2023 1) The US dollar continues to rise, suggesting a “risk-off” approach for global...

Schwab TransitionIn 2020, our custodian, TD Ameritrade, was acquired by the Charles Schwab Corporation. Over the past several years, the...

Summary The markets experienced as much volatility last quarter as we normally see in a full year, but it was mostly to the upside. ...

Trademark Financial Market Update – March 2, 2023 I am inclined to see the stock market as a tug of war between bullish (upward) and...