By Tom Burnett CFA On July 29, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced that its Governors had voted unanimously to leave the interest rates on short-term, fed funds unchanged at the range of 0-.25%. In its announcement, the Fed emphasized that the weak economic conditions are expected to continue well into…
By Tom Burnett CFA The accommodative policies of the Federal Reserve appear to be having their intended impact on market interest rates. We follow closely the levels and trends of the Treasury securities since they form the most liquid segment of the fixed-income market. The FED has made it clear that…
By Tom Burnett CFA The first half of the stock market’s 2020 year is now complete and we will continue our ongoing review of the performance record of the primary equity market investment strategies. Morningstar is the source of the annual rate of return performance data and we use ETF vehicles as…
By Tom Burnett CFA On July 2, 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported jobs data for the month of June. The report showed a gain of 4.8 million jobs, as the economy continues to recover from the Covid-19 outbreak and the measures used to counter it. The unemployment rate fell to 11.1% from 13.3%…
By Tom Burnett CFA We continue to monitor the FACTSET data for 2020 consensus earnings estimates for the S/P 500 Index. Based on data from the June 26 report, it appears that analysts have begun to flatten out their earnings forecasts for the 2020 and 2021 years. While the forecasts for the June quarter…