Investment Newsletter First Quarter 2025

Tariffs Hit Hard After a positive start to the year, equity markets sold off aggressively in March. The S&P 500 Index ended the quarter with a 4.3% decline and briefly slipped into “correction” territory (defined as a 10% decline from the previous peak). The consumer discretionary and technology sectors were hit the hardest, with the Nasdaq Index down over 10%.[...] Continue reading

Investment Newsletter Fourth Quarter 2024

Another Solid Year in the Books This was another uneven quarter, with the S&P 500 Index higher by 2.4% while most other asset classes – large cap value, small and mid-cap, international equities, and bonds all posted flattish or negative returns. Consistent with full-year 2024 results, mega-cap technology stocks outperformed in the final quarter, propelling the[...] Continue reading

Investment Newsletter Third Quarter 2024

Broadening... Equity markets quickly recovered from an ~8% decline in early August to finish the quarter at a new all-time high. In sharp contrast to the previous quarter, Q3 performance results were well distributed across market sectors and capitalization ranges. The market capitalization weighted S&P 500 Index, which is heavily influenced by the concentration to[...] Continue reading

Investment Market Commentary for Q2 2024

The S&P 500 Index advanced by 4.3% in the second quarter. The market cap weighted S&P was well supported by the strong performance and high weightings of the mega-cap technology stocks as “AI” – Artificial Intelligence enthusiasm dominated the market narrative. However, in stark contrast to the previous two quarters, market breadth and participation[...] Continue reading

Investment Newsletter First Quarter 2024

Shake it off... U.S. equities rallied for a second straight quarter. The S&P Index advanced by 10.6%, posting the best performance to start a year since 2019. Similar to the fourth quarter of last year, returns were more evenly distributed with broader participation across market sectors. While the technology sector and “AI” stocks continued to perform well, we[...] Continue reading