Weekly Update

The Weekly Update

Week of October 12th, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Stocks staged a powerful rally last week, riding a wave of optimism over the prospect of the passage of a new fiscal stimulus bill.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.27%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 increased 3.84%. The Nasdaq Composite index gained 4.56% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, advanced 2.23%.

Stimulus Stalemate?
The anticipation of lawmakers passing a new round of economic stimulus was a decisive driver of market action all week.

A mid-week tweet by President Trump announcing that he was ending stimulus negotiations sent stocks lower. Losses were exacerbated by sharp declines in some mega-cap technology companies as details emerged from a House Judiciary subcommittee report on its investigation into their competitive practices.

Stocks quickly reversed direction, climbing after the President tweeted that he would sign …

The Weekly Update

Week of October 5th, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Stocks advanced last week, propelled by hopes that legislators may reach an agreement for a new fiscal stimulus package and optimism generated by a few corporate deal announcements and initial public offerings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.87%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 increased 1.52%. The Nasdaq Composite index gained 1.48% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, advanced 1.56%.

The Quarter in Brief
The summer brought an economic rebound and a continuation of the stock market rally that began in spring. In late September, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow tracker estimated real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 32.0% for the third quarter. All three of the major Wall Street benchmarks advanced in Q3; the S&P 500 added nearly 8%, ending the quarter up about …

The Weekly Update

Week of September 28th, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Stocks were mixed last week as worries that stretched from Washington D.C., where prospects of a new fiscal stimulus bill dimmed, to Europe, which saw an increase of new COVID-19 cases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.75%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.63%. The Nasdaq Composite index gained 1.11% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, slumped 4.20%.

Late Friday Rally Pares Losses
Dwindling chances of a federal fiscal stimulus, pre-election jitters, and worries over a second wave of coronavirus infections in Europe weighed heavily on investors.

The weakness in technology persisted. The Department of Justice proposal to curb legal protections for internet companies and require them to take greater responsibility for the content on their sites adding to that sector’s woes.

Energy stocks were also hit hard on …

The Weekly Update

Week of September 21st, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Stocks slipped as the technology sector remained under pressure and a mid-week announcement by the Federal Reserve failed to inspire investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.03%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.64%. The Nasdaq Composite index dropped 0.56% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, rose 0.75%.

Technology Pulls Stocks Lower
As has been the case in recent weeks, technology stocks led the market higher, then lower in an otherwise turbulent week of trading.

Merger and acquisition activity announced at the start of the week generated a rush back into technology stocks, sparking a rebound from the previous week’s drop. Stocks continued to advance until Wednesday, when investors began to digest comments from the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The Fed delivered a message that coupled …

The Weekly Update

Week of September 14th, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Stocks traveled a volatile path last week as investors appeared concerned about the upcoming elections, an uncertain economy, and more delays with additional fiscal stimulus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.66%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 slumped 2.51%. The Nasdaq Composite index plummeted 4.06% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, rose 1.44%.

Stocks Continue to Slip
In a holiday-shortened week of trading, stocks resumed their slide from the prior week, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq slipping into correction territory in a three-day span ended on Tuesday, September 8th. (A correction is defined as a decline of at least 10% from a recent high.)

After staging a strong rebound on Wednesday, stocks once again headed lower as the Senate failed to pass another coronavirus stimulus bill. Mega-cap technology companies remained …

The Weekly Update

Week of September 7th, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
A late week sell-off sent stocks broadly lower as investors took some profits after stocks reached all-time highs earlier in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.82%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 slumped 2.31%. The Nasdaq Composite index dropped 3.27% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, fell 0.62%.

Gravity Reasserts Itself
Stocks hit a wall late last week as the technology companies, which had led the market higher, slipped in Thursday and Friday trading, dragging down the overall market.

The week began on an upbeat note as August momentum continued into the start of September. While participation in the rally on Tuesday and Wednesday was fairly broad, technology stocks continued to be the focus of market strength. But that sentiment changed quickly on Thursday.

With little warning and …

The Weekly Update

Week of August 31st, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Stocks advanced relentlessly last week on positive COVID-19 developments, encouraging economic data, and a supportive policy shift in the Fed’s approach to its target inflation rate.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 2.59%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 jumped 3.26%. The Nasdaq Composite index leaped 3.39% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, rose 1.19%.

Stocks Power Higher
Investors pushed stock prices higher all week as hopeful news came with each new day, from the announcement of a potential treatment for COVID-19 to news that U.S. and China negotiators had met by videoconference. Despite another high new jobless claims number, other economic data released during the week indicated a continuing economic recovery, further supporting investor enthusiasm for stocks.

The Fed’s announcement of a shift in its inflation policy, which …

The Weekly Update

Week of August 24th, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Stocks powered to another week of gains as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite set multiple new record highs along the way.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was essentially unchanged while the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose by 0.72%. The Nasdaq Composite index added 2.65% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, slipped 0.71%.

The S&P 500 Sets Record High
The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Tuesday, erasing the steep losses suffered in February and March. The recovery has been powered by unprecedented monetary accommodation, fiscal stimulus, and investor willingness to look ahead with confidence that global economies will get past the pandemic challenge. Technology stocks continued to lead the market and helped push the NASDAQ Composite to new highs.

Stocks were mixed as the week progressed amid …

The Weekly Update

Week of August 17th, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Stock prices drifted higher in an otherwise quiet news week, as a slowdown in new COVID-19 cases outweighed a Congressional impasse on a new fiscal-spending measure.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.81%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose by 0.64%. The Nasdaq Composite Index inched 0.08% higher for the week. The MSCI EAFE Index, which tracks developed stock markets overseas, advanced 3.11%.

S&P 500 Nears All-Time High
Stock prices were supported by a falling rate of COVID-19 cases nationwide and optimism that – despite a lack of progress on a fiscal-aid bill – Congress would eventually come to a spending agreement.

The industrial and financial sectors saw solid gains, while technology stocks, after slipping earlier in the week, found some footing as the week came to a close.

The S&P 500 Index flirted all week with …

The Weekly Update

Week of August 10th, 2020
By Christopher T. Much, CFP®, AIF®

The Week on Wall Street
Overlooking stalled efforts by Congress to pass a new fiscal stimulus bill, stocks marched higher last week with the Dow Jones Industrials leading the way and the NASDAQ Composite setting multiple fresh record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.80%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose by 2.45%. The Nasdaq Composite index climbed 2.47% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, advanced 2.31%.

Earnings Season Winds Down
A string of encouraging news reports, including a decline in new COVID-19 cases nationwide, pushed stock prices higher throughout the week. Stocks also rallied on signs of a pick-up in manufacturing activity, factory orders that came in well above estimates, and a better-than-expected new jobless claims number.

Congress wasn’t able to come to an agreement on a stimulus package, which disappointed some …