Stock Market Report – Winter 2023
The stock market rebounded during the fourth quarter, though still ended lower over the year. The outlook for 2023 hinges on continued Fed rate hikes.
The Economy
Market Report – Fall 2022
To the vexation of investors everywhere, the market slide, which began in January, continued through the third quarter. U.S. large-company stocks were down 4.9%, small-company stocks were off by 2.2%, foreign stocks slid 9.4%, and bonds lost 4.8%. Decelerating economic growth began in early 2022. A decrease in growth does not ordinarily accompany rising inflation, …
Market Report – Summer 2022
Stock and bond markets were down sharply over the second quarter as inflation flared. During the second quarter, large-company stocks fell 16.1%, small-company stocks dropped 17.2%. Foreign stocks were down 14.5%, and even bonds lost ground, falling 4.7%. In the first half of 2020 as the pandemic took hold, the U.S. economy technically slipped into …
Market Report – Spring 2022
In a marked contrast to results over the last three years, the stock and bond markets each ended the first quarter decidedly lower. In the U.S., large company stocks were down 4.6% and smaller companies were down 7.5%. Foreign stocks were down 5.9% and bonds were lower by 5.9%. The volatility during the quarter was …
Market Report – Winter 2022
The stock market ended the final quarter of the year with some measures higher and some measures lower, though for the year markets were solidly higher. For 2021, large company stocks rose 28.7%, small company stocks rose 14.8%, and foreign stocks were up 11.3%. Domestic bonds for the year were down 1.5 percent. The initial …
Market Report – Fall 2021
The stock market finished mixed for the third quarter with the stocks of large US companies rising 1.2% while smaller US company stocks declined -3.5%. Foreign stocks were also lower by 1.4%, and US bonds were higher by 0.4%. Covid cases linked to the Delta variant increased over the summer, causing more consumers to stay …
Market Report – Summer 2021
The stock market moved generally higher during the second quarter, although we saw a fairly sharp diversion between the results of domestic large company stocks and smaller company stocks. For the quarter, large US stocks were up 8.5%, small US stocks were up 4.3%, and foreign stocks were up 5.2%. Bonds rebounded from first quarter …
Market Report – Spring 2021
On December 14, as a year of staggering loss was coming to a close, Covid-19 vaccine distribution began in the United States. As of this writing, more than 124 million people have received the vaccine, while 46 million people (more than 14% of the total US population) are fully vaccinated. The accelerating pace of vaccination …
Market Report – Winter 2021
The three major events of the year—the coronavirus pandemic, racial unrest, and a contentious presidential election— combined to present an environment that we could scarcely have imagined twelve months ago. There has been plenty of fallout from these events, including the heartbreak over lives lost, economic hardship, a painful confrontation with systemic racism, and the …
Market Report – Fall 2020
In spite of heightened volatility in stocks as the quarter drew to a close, the markets generally moved higher over the period. For the quarter, US large company stocks rose 8.9%, smaller company US stocks were up 4.9%, foreign stocks were higher by 4.8%, and US bonds, broadly measured, were up 0.6%. While stock indexes …