Category Archive

It has been a sputtering start for capital markets thus far in 2024. The performance of the headline benchmark S&P 500 has been bumpy at best in moving between marginal gains and losses so far in January.

A fresh new calendar year is underway for capital markets, so much focus is on what we can reasonably expect in the year ahead. But given that capital market movements flow across the beginnings and ends of our calendar pages, it is worthwhile to consider as investors get back up to speed from the holiday season what segments of the markets have been winning thus far, and what areas of the market may have been left behind and offering potential opportunity depending on how events unfold in the weeks ahead.

A New Year is underway for capital markets, and the consensus prognostications are tilted toward a favorable year for both stocks and bonds.

Christmas came early to capital markets on Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Reserve emerged from its latest Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday with good tidings for investors, sharing tales that inflation continues to come down and labor markets coming into balance.

The age-old stock market adage has rang so true over the past year.  The notion of “sell in May and go away” is based on the historical trend of relative underperformance by stocks during the period from May 1 to October 31.  Of course, the flip side of this adage is the historical trend of relative stock outperformance during the period from November 1 to April 30.

It has been a November to remember. Following a three-month slide from August to October that saw U.S. stocks decline by more than -10% and the 10-Year U.S. Treasury yield jump by more than a percentage point (ouch and ouch), capital markets roared back to life this month.

For more than a decade, the U.S. stock market has been the place to be for global equity investors. But as we continue to emerge from the inflationary induced bear market over the last two years, developed international and emerging markets may be worth a closer look.

Capital markets have had a remarkable run in recent weeks. After bottoming at the end of October, the S&P 500 Index has soared roughly +10%. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury yield has also plunged by more than a half percentage point since recently peaking at 5.00%, driving a comparable nearly +10% bounce in long-term U.S. Treasuries. Given these head turning gains for both stocks and bonds over such a short-term period of time, it is reasonable to consider what we should reasonably expect from here between now and when many across America are carving turkey for their Thanksgiving Day feasts.

Just over a week ago, both stock and bond markets were long overdue for a bounce. And bounce they have. Just like a slingshot, the further and deeper capital markets pulled back through late October, the greater the energy released once the upside rally finally arrived. In the wake of this recent capital market burst, it is worthwhile to evaluate both where we stand today and what we can reasonably expect in the weeks ahead through the end of the year.

It’s been a haunted ride for capital markets over the last two years. And just when it looked like the horrors were finally coming to an end this past summer, the last few months have seen the stock and bond market demons rise again. While a new dawn may still lie ahead for capital markets in the coming months, here …