And That’s The Quarter That Was

April 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Attached (linked) please find And That’s The ‘Quarter’ That Was, the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the period just ended March 31, 2008.  As go the first five trading days, so goes the entire year. (Hopefully that is not true this year.)  As goes January, so goes the entire year.  (Hopefully that is not true this year either.)  When an original NFL team wins the Super Bowl, the markets move higher.  (Didn’t anyone on Wall Street watch the Giants beat the Patriots?)  With all kinds of theories abound, the markets continued to take their negative cues this quarter from the subprime mess and ongoing credit crisis.  With more record write-downs (and lots of finger-pointing), the major equity indexes all tumbled and fixed income became the beneficiary of a flight-to-quality.  Bernanke put on his thinking cap and got pretty darn creative to prevent a further escalation of the “challenges.”  During the quarter, we said goodbye (and good riddance) to one-time financial giant Bear Stearns (whose investors may have gotten the raw end of the “bailout” deal.  While most analysts now anticipate a recession, a few eternal optimists believe that the second half of the year will bring a nice rebound (both in the economy and the markets). On that note, has ESPN-Classics started replaying this year’s Super Bowl yet?

Weekly Investment & Economic Recap: 3.28.08

April 1, 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 March 28, 2008. Never let it be said that JP Morgan Chase would kick a man (shareholder) when he’s down.  Last week, the major bank undoubtedly looked to take advantage of Bear Stearn’s financial “challenges” with its feeble (Fed orchestrated) bailout offer of $ 2/share.  This week, it increased its offer to $10/share (though still may be making out with a pretty good deal). Speaking of deals, the current credit crisis may be hindering Clear Channel’s move toward privatization as some key banks began balking over financing terms.  The economic numbers of the week depicted continued sluggishness as recession seems more and more the likely scenario. Investors still can’t seem to make heads or tails of the times as volatility in the form of triple digit price moves remains very much the norm for the markets these days.  Looking for a distraction?  March Madness is upon us (and the Horns are still alive and kicking). 

Coming up in the week ahead:  Construction Spending (Tuesday), ISM - Manufacturing (Tuesday), ISM - Services (Thursday), Unemployment Rate (Friday), Nonfarm Payroll Additions (Friday)

Weekly Economic & Investment Recap: 2.29.08

March 3, 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 February 29, 2008. Unfortunately for investors looking to close out the month with only slight equity index losses, February had an extra day this year and the markets did not take too kindly to the ongoing negative developments.  After a decent start to the week that had investors (somewhat) optimistic about the month as a whole, the final two days saw a return of the “bears” who focused on the weaker economy, declining dollar, softer earnings, rising oil prices, and all else negative.  In fact, Friday was the second worst day for stocks in 2008.  While much of the earnings news and economic data had been expected (for the most part), little positive emerged to bring about any semblance of a rally.  Bernanke keeps saying the right things and investors expect more rate cuts to ease the economic challenges, though the dollar and oil reacted unfavorably to these implications.  Bring on March. Maybe a new month will welcome a new attitude. 

Coming up in the week ahead:  Construction Spending (Monday), ISM - Manufacturing (Monday), ISM - Services (Wednesday), Fed Beige Book (Wednesday), Unemployment Rate (Friday), Non-farm Payroll Additions (Friday)

Weekly Economic & Investment Recap: 2.8.08

February 10, 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 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)

Weekly Economics & Investment Recap: 2.1.08

February 3, 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 February 1, 2008.  Continued weakness in housing (no problem).  Plunging consumer confidence (why worry?).  Growing unemployment (so what).  Poor earnings (big deal).  Record write-downs (no biggee).  After all, Dr. Bernanke has our backs.  Apparently, these days, the Fed has the tonic for all that ails the country as the 50 bps move (in the immediate aftermath of the surprising 75 bps cut last week) brought out the “high fives” among investors.  These days, every time Dr. B. so much as sneezes, he makes national news and the markets react.  (If only the State of the Union would have garnered similar ratings.)   Well, a weak January has come to a close and investors can now move on with hopes for bigger and better things.  (Now, from a market perspective, who are we supposed to root for in the Super Bowl again?) 

Coming up in the week ahead:  Factory Orders (Monday), ISM – Services (Tuesday), Consumer Credit (Friday)

And That’s The Quarter That Was: Sept. ‘07

October 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Attached (linked) please find And That’s The ‘Quarter’ That Was…the Brounes & Associates market/economic commentary for the period just ended September 30, 2007.  Investors can be such a fickle bunch.  After pushing into record territory early in the quarter, equities nosedived (or, is it nosedove?) as the subprime (and related) woes led to cries of “no housing stocks” which became “no mortgage-related stocks” which became “no financial stocks” and, ultimately, “no stocks period.”  And just when it looked like all investors were left running for cover (or the safe haven of treasuries), enter the Fed to save the day with a few sneaky moves of their own.  (Can you say bailout?)  Suddenly the sky was no longer falling and investors were more than willing to dip their toes back into the deep end of the equity pool.  The major indexes (sans small-cap) have their sights set on double-digit annual returns with three months left in the year.

Comments