A Wall Street vs Main Street Jobs Report On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls grew by 256,000 in December, easily surpassing analyst expectations of a more modest increase of 155,000 (Wall Street Journal). The unemployment rate...

Best Two Years in a Quarter-Century In late 2022, a new bull market emerged from the ashes of a nine-month bear market, leading to 2023’s impressive rise of over 26% for the closely followed S&P 500 Index, according to S&P Global (including dividends...

Sticky Inflation The monthly numbers are out, and while the rate of inflation is well off the 2022 peak, price hikes remain uncomfortably high. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the core CPI, which excludes food and...

Job Growth and Economic Growth On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 227,000 in November, which came in just above the consensus forecast of 214,000 (CNBC). The unemployment rate, measured by a different BLS...

Another Strong Earnings Season Our discussions have included Fed policy, the economy, and the surge in inflation since the pandemic. Why? In large part, they are all a part of the stock market pricing equation. Yet, so are corporate profits, and profits for the...

Does a Republican Sweep Matter for Investors? Tables and graphics such as the one below typically surface every four years. While they are interesting, they do not provide much insight, except for the idea that stocks tend to perform well regardless of who occupies...