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Quarterly Market Review

Q2 2025 Market Review: From Yippy to Yahoo!

The S&P 500 opened Q2 with one of its steepest intra-quarter drawdowns in recent memory. On April 2nd, dubbed “Liberation Day,” the U.S. moved forward with the implementation of a tariff package on strategic imports from Asia and Europe, and the Americas. While long signaled by hawkish elements within the administration, we had remained hopeful […]

July 8, 2025

Tariff Drama

Q1 2025 Market Review (with Early April Commentary) By most measures, the start of the first quarter of 2025 painted a picture of positive economic momentum and optimism. Growth remained solid. Unemployment hovered near 60-year lows. Real wages were rising. Corporate earnings were on track for double-digit growth. Margins were historically high. CEO and small […]

April 10, 2025

2024: A Look Back. 2025: A Look Ahead.

The year 2024 is now in the history books and we are looking forward to 2025. It is always challenging to distill an entire year (or give our views on the coming one) in a few bullet points, but here we go. 2024 in three bullets, and 2025 in thirteen, a baker’s dozen. More details […]

January 8, 2025

Q3 2024 Market Review: An Upward Flight…With Three Air Pockets

Market Recap Markets enjoyed another notable rise in prices this quarter. If you went to sleep on June 30 and woke up ninety days later, you would have noticed a seemingly smooth and pleasant rise in your brokerage statements. The S&P 500 was up 5.9% while small-cap stocks performed even better, with the Russell 2000 […]

October 2, 2024

Q2 2024 Market Review: Higher interest rates should cool the consumer. If only it were so simple.

When the Fed started one of the most aggressive rate hikes in U.S. history, it was supposed to rein in the American consumer. And it has. But not with the vigor and speed that the Fed and the capital markets expected. The U.S. consumer has remained remarkably resilient. We think the Fed and the market […]

July 3, 2024

Q1 2024 Market Review: When Good News…Was Just Plain Good News

Market Recap There are always odd times in investing when what’s happening in the economy is completely disconnected from what’s happening in the capital markets. This was not one of those times! For the first quarter of this year, good news in the economy actually translated to good news in the risk markets. The U.S. […]

April 3, 2024

2023 Market Review: Asset Prices Climbed the Wall of Worry

Market Recap At the beginning of 2023 (and a few months in), the mood in the markets was downright dour. 2022 had not been kind – with both equities and bonds suffering some of their worst returns in over a decade – and the conventional view of the future was equally bleak. The laundry list […]

January 8, 2024

I Married a Robot: How Artificial Intelligence Will Change Our Lives

EDITOR’S NOTE: In only the last few months, it seems that Artificial Intelligence has moved from a futuristic concept rarely mentioned in mainstream media to a technology that has the potential to radically change the nature of work, leisure, and how we interact with others. Since the introduction of the ChatGPT large language Model (LLM) […]

October 26, 2023

Q3 2023 Market Review: When Good News Was Bad News

Market Recap There is an old saw in the investment business that “the market is not the economy.” This past quarter proved once again it might just be true. While the U.S. economy continued showing strength — good news, right? — This was bad news for stocks and bonds, both. The U.S.’s economic resilience surprised many. In […]

October 10, 2023

Q2 2023 Market Review: A Painful Lesson for Market Timers

The surprising resiliency of the US economy in the first half of 2023 has persuaded many investors that the worst may be avoided. Read more from Bruce Simon in our Q2 Market Review.

July 10, 2023

Q1 2023 Market Review: Back to Black

Despite a range of challenges including rising interest rates, inflation, and banking industry upheaval, financial markets showed their resilience and posted solid gains in the quarter. Read more from Bruce Simon in our Q1 Market review.

April 6, 2023

2022 Market Review: In the Rear View Mirror, Happily

It was a year that most investors would like to forget. Both stocks and bonds suffered double-digit losses in 2022, providing little solace to those who own fixed income securities as a buffer from the volatility of the stock market. The MSCI All-Country World Index dropped 18.4% in 2022 and the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index fell 13%. A traditional mix of 60% US stocks (S&P 500) and 40% bonds lost more than 16%.

January 3, 2023