Weekly Economic & Investment Recap: 2.8.08

February 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

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Attached/linked please find And That’s The Week That Was…the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the week ended February 8, 2008.  Well, apparently, last week’s stellar equity market performance may have been more short-term aberration than long-term trend.  (So much for the “trend being your friend.”)   This week, some confusing economic releases combined with more disappointing earnings reports to send the markets back into a tailspin.  While Warren Buffett emerged to add his two cents to the credit fiasco, most investors were more worried about the financial firm downgrades and the poor retail results.  Didn’t anyone out there watch the Super Bowl? 

Coming up in the week ahead:  Retail Sales (Wednesday), Trade Balance (Thursday), Industrial Production (Friday)

And That’s The Week That Was: 1.18.08

January 21, 2008 | 1 Comment

Attached/linked please find And That’s The Week That Was…the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the week ended January 18, 2008.  With virtually all investors calling for some pretty dismal earnings numbers from Citigroup and Merrill, the results were even worse than expected.  Enter more foreign governments with a continuation of the international “bailout”…talk about globalization at its finest/worst.  (Is anyone else concerned about this?)   Earnings season has lived up to its most pessimistic predictions; financials led the negativity, though some consumer-driven companies suffered last quarter as well.  For now, there seems to be no reprieve in sight including Bush’s quickly conceived economic stimulus plan that many believe to be “too little, too late.”  News from the housing, retail, and inflation fronts brought even more sentiments of “gloom and doom.”  Oil prices declined (at least, that’s a positive), gold rose (the ultimate hedge), and the Fed looks to be on target for a 50 bps cut in the weeks to come.  Equities tumbled early in the week and never looked back.  Both the tech-heavy NASDAQ and the small-cap Russell 2000 have fallen over 10% thus far this year and the other indexes aren’t far behind.  Perhaps investors will get this intense negativity out of their system all at once and then move on to better things?  (Wishful thinking…) 

Coming up in the week ahead:  Existing Home Sales (Thursday)

And That’s The Week That Was: 1.11.08

January 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Attached/linked please find And That’s The Week That Was…the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the week ended January 11, 2008.  Enough already!!!  Just when you thought news from the financial world could not get any worse…the staggering write-downs at major financial institutions continue to expand as do the needs for even more capital infusions from our neighbors in the Middle East and Asia.  (That short-term fix can’t be good long-term, can it?)  With more and more analysts predicting recession, Bernanke made a pretty forceful statement that the Fed stands prepared to act to avoid the “inevitable” downturn.  Bank of America took steps to become the nation’s largest mortgage lender (is that a good move these days?) and more rumors about financial services consolidations also surfaced.   The markets encountered some serious volatility, though ended the week on a very sour note.  By true definition, we are now experiencing a “correction” from the October highs (duh!).  Earnings season kicked off on a decent note (thanks Alcoa), though all eyes are on next week’s calendar as many of the major financial players (Merrill, Citi) are scheduled to report.  Virtually all predictions have been incredibly negative.  (Hopefully, we will experience a “sell the rumor, buy the fact.”) Coming up in the week ahead:  Retail Sales (Tuesday), PPI (Tuesday), CPI (Wednesday), Fed Beige Book (Wednesday), Housing Starts (Thursday), Leading Economic Indicators (Friday)

And That’s The Week That Was

July 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Attached/linked please find And That’s The Week That Was, July 20 2007…

We are very pleased to offer our readers the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the week ended July 20, 2007.  What do you get when you combine…1) a vast array of (conflicting) earnings reports; 2) soaring oil prices on the heals of some favorable inflation numbers; 3) a rebound in a housing release on top of more subprime warnings; and 4) a fresh round of acquisition announcements (and a few that aren’t quite so fresh).  Apparently, all of those weekly details translate into new highs for the major equity indexes (just before they gave back all of those gains and then some).  All in a week’s work (again).

Coming up in the week ahead: More Home Sales Data (Wednesday & Thursday), GDP (Friday)

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