U.S. stocks broke a two‐week losing streak with their best weekly gain in eight months. Good U.S. economic data, well‐received fourth‐quarter earnings results, news of a possible Coronavirus vaccine, and China tariff reductions helped lift sentiment and propel the S&P 500 to recover its losses from the previous two weeks. 

All four U.S. indexes we track gained between&n

U.S. hiring came in stronger than expected in January, rebounding from a disappointing December print.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 225,000 in January, far surpassing Bloomberg’s consensus estimates for a 165,000 gain, according to the jobs report released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This number may help alleviate some investor unease over December’s somewhat weak reading. We argued at the time that December’s reading likely was due in large part to calendar effects and the volatility of month-to-month changes. We prefer to base our views of the labor market’s vitality on the larger trend, wh

Stocks got off to a nice start in 2020, until the late January selloff due to the coronavirus outbreak fears. In the end, the S&P 500 Index fell only 0.2% for the month, but it did mark the end to a 4-month win streak. Should bulls worry about what a down January might mean for the rest of 2020?

There’s an old adage on Wall Street that suggests, “As goes January, so goes the year.” This was first discussed in 1972 by Yale Hirsh of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, and it has an impressive track record.  Simply put, when the first month of the year was green, it bodes well for the rest of the year (and v

Monday’s strong manufacturing report caught our attention, even as the coronavirus outbreak dominated the financial media. At 50.9, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for January moved into expansionary territory (above 50) for the first time since July 2019. Trade-related components improved, likely signaling the positive impact of the U.S.-China phase-one trade deal. The forward-looking new-orders component also showed strength.

We must admit that the strong report surprised us given that economic growth expectations, particularly in Asia, have been comin