Market Commentary, July 13, 2026

Oil Has Given Back Gains, but Gasoline—Not So Much Just before the start of the war, WTI crude oil traded at about $67 per barrel, according to MarketWatch. By last week, the price of oil had fallen to within about $1 of its pre-war price. However, the same can’t be...

Market Commentary, July 6, 2026

A Q2 to Remember “S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Log Their Best Quarter since 2020,” read a story in the Wall Street Journal. “Dow Heads for Best First Half in 5 Years,” according to CNBC. And it wasn’t simply the biggest U.S. firms, which are represented in the Dow, the...

Market Commentary, June 29, 2026

1776 to Today: Reflections on the Fourth of July As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding—a milestone known as the Semiquincentennial—the Declaration of Independence remains as important as ever. The treasured document declared the 13...

Market Commentary, June 22, 2026

There’s a New Sheriff in Town The Federal Reserve surprised no one by holding its key rate, the fed funds rate, at 3.50–3.75%. But given the Fed’s full-throated rhetorical assault on inflation under newly installed Kevin Warsh, who took the helm from Jay Powell after...

Market Commentary, June 15, 2026

The Latest on Inflation The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provided investors with a modest sense of relief when it was released last Wednesday. According to the BLS, headline CPI rose 0.5% in May and is up 4.2%...

Market Commentary, June 8, 2026

Hiring Ramps Up Well, that was a pleasant surprise. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 172,000 in May, more than double the 80,000 economists had expected, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. On top of that, the most...