Posts by Joe Ray

Despite worsening COVID numbers and the uncertainty of a presidential election, stocks rallied massively in the fourth quarter. During the fourth quarter, the S&P 500 rallied 12.15% while the NASDAQ gained a strong 15.6%.  In a dramatic change from the last few years, smaller and mid-cap stocks represented by the Russell 2000 returned an astounding…

When the decision was made to shut down the economy, we noted that the biggest beneficiaries of this would be large corporations and Big Government while the losers would be the individual workers and small businesses. Intuitively, this makes sense as small companies lack the wherewithal and liquidity in many cases to ride out long…

There are periods in history when buyers gravitate to what they perceive to be the safest places for investment. In the 1960s and early 1970s, it was the Nifty Fifty. Fifty large-cap stocks who through merger and acquisitions owned wholly diverse businesses that controlled a new post-war consumer. This consumer bought their products and their…

Life has been incredibly hard in some ways and much simpler in others. We have returned to a life where eating in has replaced restaurants. Social experiences have been replaced by social distancing. A call to check in on friends or family or a Netflix movie has replaced happy hours and concerts. Most people are…

2019 was a remarkable year for the stock market. Despite the yearlong trade issues with China, the S&P 500 with income was up 31.5% while the technology laden NASDAQ returned a whopping 36.7%. Other issues such as Brexit, impeachment, the failed IPO of WeWorks and slowing profit growth failed to negatively impact stocks as we…

A relatively flat stock market obscures the volatility and uncertainty that characterized this third quarter. Trade was the biggest issue going into the summer and as we exit the warm weather little progress with China has been made. Same could be said for other important trade issues such as Brexit and congressional passage of the…

May you live in interesting times…  Forgive me if I have used this phrase in a previous article, but it is again on my mind.  While the phrase is intended to sound like a blessing, it is always used ironically as a curse.  Often attributed to the Chinese, though its origin is debated, it did…

No one will ever be sure why Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his associates decided to raise rates on December 19, 2018 in the face of Brexit uncertainty, trade tensions with China, and quantifiable signs of a slowing domestic economy. President Trump had publicly criticized Chairman Powell and the Fed for its seemingly steadfast…

The fourth quarter began with Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, making unscripted comments suggesting that the Federal Reserve was on “automatic” pilot. While unscripted and limited, markets began a sharp descent on the belief that these comments were in stark contrast to the Federal Reserve’s traditional stance of data dependency to both inflation and employment.…

The  third quarter was stellar for stocks. Despite the imposition of tariffs on China, increasing election uncertainty and a number of trade issues, stocks continue to march forward. There are clearly some changes in leadership in recent weeks as the S&P 500 outperformed the NASDAQ for the first time in a while. The FAANG stocks…