Weekly Market Commentary 01.09.2012 U.S. stocks rose last week by 1.7%, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, getting 2012 off to a solid start. A combination of solid and better-thanexpected economic data, a quiet week in Europe, and few negative earnings pre-announcements drove the rebound. While macroeconomic factors are likely to remain key drivers [...]
Apocalypse Soon
Weekly Market Commentary 12.19.2011 A search of the bestsellers with “2012” in their title does not offer the books you might expect such as travel guides, how to crack the SAT exam, or the best new cars to buy. Instead, the top books on the list are among the thousands of books, films, videos, seminars, [...]
New Ideas Are Not Just for Europe
Weekly Market Commentary 12.12.2011 Developing new solutions to battle the debt problems in Europe has been important to making substantive progress toward a long-term solution. Last week’s European summit produced progress in the form of a landmark agreement to strengthen budget rules. While the accord addresses the longterm problems facing Europe, the spending cuts are [...]
Black Friday Caps a Dark Week for Investors
Weekly Market Commentary 11.28.2011 It was a black Friday for investors as the holiday week closed with the S&P 500 turning in its worst performance during the week of Thanksgiving since 1932. Despite strong retail sales indications and solid readings on U.S. economic growth, worsening sentiment on the European debt problems — combined with a [...]
European Upgrade
Posted on January 18, 2012 by BuchananWealth in Market Commentary
Weekly Market Commentary 01.17.2012 On Friday, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, one of the three major U.S. ratings agencies, downgraded France and Austria from AAA to AA+ and downgraded seven others (Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one notch and Italy, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus by two notches). The downgrades contributed to the second down day [...]