When a huge part of the US economy was shut down last year due to COVID 19, stocks fell as company profits took a big hit in the first and second quarters. As large parts of the economy opened up in the third quarter, profits and stocks rose. In a recent commentary by JP Morgan, one of the Portfolio Strategists we utilize for client accounts, they talk about company profits…

This very important question is addressed in this month’s issue of “On The Mark”.

Clark Capital, one of the Portfolio Strategists we utilize for client accounts, has posted their views of the economy and markets using their five stock market gauges.

Last Friday, the Department of Labor released the employment data for the month of December, and the numbers were disappointing. Today, JP Morgan, one of the Portfolio Strategists we utilize for client accounts, said this about this report…

Today’s post is fairly long, but I wanted to share this article “2020 Hindsight” by Jerry Chafkin, Chief Investment Office of AssetMark, which gives a great overview of 2020 and what we may expect in the economy and markets in 2021.

Diversification is one of the foundations of investing and an important way of controlling risk in a portfolio. Investors are more and more using index funds to help them to diversify. However, it is possible that these investors are not diversifying away as much risk as they thought. Today’s issue of “On The Mark” discusses this concern…

Since the market lows in March, large technology stocks have roared back and pushed market indices into gains as people and businesses used more technology in a COVID world. However, the rest of the stock market has not fared as well. In today’s post, I would like to share a “thought of the week” released today by JP Morgan, one of the Portfolio Strategists we utilize for client accounts, about whether this may be now changing .

The US economy is a consumer spending driven economy which is fueled by consumer income. When recessions occur, as we experienced earlier this year, unemployment rises and personal income drops and along with it consumer spending.