Posts by Michael Kane

Last year was one of the strangest years that I can ever remember from a market perspective.  Stocks started 2020 reasonably well but then the pandemic hit.  The global economy was put into lockdown to keep medical systems from being overwhelmed.  The S&P 500 fell 34% in just 22 days and the volatility index went…

To say that 2020 has been an unusual year would be an understatement.  Never before have governments been forced to shut down their economies to stop the spread of a deadly virus. The stock market responded to the shutdown as would be expected with the S&P 500 declining 34% from February 18th to March 23rd.…

What a crazy year it has already been for investors.  As previously reported, the first quarter of 2020 was one of the worst quarters ever for stocks with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) down 21.3%, the S&P 500 down 19.6%, the NASDAQ down 14.0% and the smaller company Russell 2000 down 30.6%. In contrast,…

All of us have been touched in one way or another by the COVID-19 pandemic, we at Wealthstreet hope that you and your families are safe and well. The first quarter of 2020 was one of the worst quarters for stocks ever.  It was, in fact, the worst first quarter for the Dow Jones Industrial…

The Grinch had the upper hand during the last quarter of 2018 but it was Santa’s (or Hanukkah Harry’s) turn in 2019.  During the last three months of 2018 the S&P 500 lost 13.5%, in contrast the S&P 500 gained 9.1% this past year.  In all, the full year of 2019 was very strong with…

In 2008, the Federal Reserve lowered the Federal Funds rate to zero in an effort to stabilize financial markets and stimulate economic growth resulting from the Financial Crisis.  This was an extraordinary measure to deal with extraordinary times.  Over the subsequent years the financial system, markets and the economy slowly recovered. Then began the debate,…

There has always been some disconnect between stocks, bonds, and the economy. Stocks and the people who own are often the optimists of the group. They look forward and try to extrapolate the future winners and losers, willing to pay multiples of earnings or revenue in order to own a part of a company’s or…

What a difference three months makes.  In mid-December the Federal Reserve raised the Fed Funds rate by 0.25%, the 4th such increase during 2018.  The December increase in the Fed Funds rate caused elements of the yield curve to invert (short-term rates higher than long-term rates) which is often a precursor to recession.  The economic…

Volatility was truly back in 2018.  The year began well with the S&P 500 gaining over 5% in January, but then through mid-February it quickly suffered a 10% correction.  From there the U.S. stock market again rallied and by the end of the third quarter the S&P 500 was up over 10%.  The fourth quarter…

The third quarter of 2018 was a very good one for U.S. stock markets with the S&P 500 recording a gain of 7.7% bringing the year to date gain to 10.6%.  International markets have not performed nearly as well as the U.S. market this year as the MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) Index was…