US and International Equities The S&P 500 Index gave back some gains in September after a strong five-month run, with most sectors finishing in the red. The utilities and materials sectors were the exceptions, both gaining for the month. The sectors with the largest pullbacks this past month were energy, communication services, information technology, and [...]
An old Wall Street adage says bond markets are smarter than equity markets, so when stocks encounter volatility, investors often look to the bond market for clues about the potential severity of equity market weakness. The option-adjusted spread (OAS), a key data point, adjusts a bond’s yield for any unique features of the bond in [...]
The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) May 2–3, 2017 meeting signaled that the Fed is likely to continue tightening monetary policy and may begin to normalize (reduce) its balance sheet toward year-end. The unwinding of the balance sheet by the Fed and the strategy it employs to accomplish this will be material to global markets. Despite [...]
When the Federal Reserve gives interest rates a nudge, you feel it. "The Federal Reserve has its fingers in your pocketbook to a greater degree than the IRS," says Michael Reese, a CFP professional in Traverse City, Michigan. The interest rates you pay and earn, the availability of credit and even your prospects in the [...]
