Peek of the Week - Weekly Market Commentary for January 29, 2024. The United States economy is not performing the way anyone thought it would. Instead of tipping into a recession last year, it crushed expectations. Our Peek of the Week discusses the US Economy, inflation, Health Savings Accounts and investments.

The cycle of economic activity

Peek of the Week - Weekly Market Commentary for December 4, 2023. Economic activity tends to move in the cycle of: contraction, trough, expansion and peak. At the end of the fourth quarter, the U.S. economy has been in the late cycle stage of expansion, yet this doesn't necessarily mean that we will reach a contraction entirely. Expansions occur when an economy produces more goods and services and our economy has been expanding since mid-year-2022. Expansions end when the economy experiences a shock of some kind. Shocks that cause recessions might include financial market disruptions, international disturbances, technology shocks, energy price shocks and actions taken by monetary policymakers to restrain inflation.

Bearish, bullish, and some pricing strategies

Peek of the Week - Weekly Market Commentary for November 27, 2023. Today's Peek of the Week lets us know that investors have been more optimistic this month. In early November, investors were "decidedly bearish" but as stock markets gained and the month continued, participants in the AAII survey started to become more bullish. Consumers have been considerably less optimistic overall, as we saw the fourth month of declining sentiment in a row. Stocks moved higher after many investors felt confident that the Fed is done raising rates.

Inflation slows and the market loses steam

Peek of the Week - Weekly Market Commentary for November 20, 2023. Today's Peek of the Week asks, "is it done yet?" and we aren't talking about the Thanksgiving turkey! Investors enthusiastically embraced the idea that the Fed could be done raising rates and might even begin to lower them. Inflation eased and the Consumer Price Index showed U.S. inflation running flat from September to October. Core inflation (which excludes volatile food and energy prices) is up, and we also saw gasoline and fuel oil prices dropping. While a slower pace of overall price increases is great news, inflation remains well above the Fed’s two percent target. Our PEEK also shares employment and hiring details, while noting that stocks moved higher last week.

A lot to process and the hope for peace

Peek of the Week - Weekly Market Commentary for October 16, 2023. Investors are currently considering geopolitics, the war in Israel, inflation, consumer sentiment, government shutdowns and volatility. In the last week, we've seen a war get declared with high death tolls and now the risk of it increasing in Israel's surrounding region has appeared. Americans are experiencing persistent inflation which has consumers feeling less optimistic. The good news is that banks did well in the third quarter.

A strong economy brings significant uncertainty

Peek of the Week - Weekly Market Commentary for October 9, 2023. Financial markets lost ground during the third quarter, but U.S. stocks rallied last week due to corporate earnings and falling inflation. New details on inflation numbers, the labor market, and U.S. employment data. Unemployment rates are nearing historically low levels and labor force participation increased.