Earnings Season – April 14, 2021
Q3 and Q4 earnings season easily exceeded analysts’ low earnings estimates. In hindsight, analysts failed to incorporate the strong economic recovery into profit estimates. Most…
Vaccines, Cash and Economic Growth – April 12, 2021
It seems pretty obvious, at least in hindsight. Reopen the economy, give people cash, roll out effective vaccines, and job growth would soar. But an…
March Roars Like a Lion – April 8, 2021
The U.S. BLS reported nonfarm payrolls soared by 916,000 in March. Two key measures of the manufacturing and service sectors provided by the Institute for…
A Housing Bonanza – April 5, 2021
The pandemic has created distortions in the economy that have aided some sectors and hurt others. One sector that has benefitted enormously has been housing….
Planning for Your Finances in the COVID Era – March 31, 2021
It’s been one year since Covid was declared a pandemic. What have we learned? Time-tested financial principles have served us well. You must have a…
The Pandemic Distorts Spending Patterns – March 29, 2021
This has been a recession like no other. Lockdowns battered economic activity in March and April, while the reopening of the economy and government relief…
The Bull Market Turns One – March 24, 2021
The major stock market indexes hit bottom on March 23, 2020. Data points The S&P 500 Index2 had peaked just one month prior. The decline…
Money for Nothing and an Upgraded Outlook – March 22, 2021
One theme that stood out from the Fed’s meeting last week and Fed Chief Powell’s press conference which followed the meeting—the Fed is in no…
New Stimulus in the Pipeline – March 17, 2021
Last week the president signed the American Rescue Plan, which pumps another $1.9 trillion into the economy. That’s on top of the $900 billion passed…
One Year Later – March 15, 2021
One year ago, the World Health Organization declared the Covid outbreak a pandemic. Americans were beginning to stock up on staples, strict lockdowns were in…