With just under two weeks left in 2022, investors are evaluating where they stand and making decisions for how to approach the new year. 2022 marked the beginning of tightening monetary policy by the Federal Reserve to tame elevated inflation. After maintaining near zero interest rates to boost the economy during the Covid pandemic, the Read More
Posts by Juan Luque - Assistant Trader & Portfolio Manager
From the Trading Desk: New Bull or Hopeful Bounce?
As mentioned in the last post, volatility across markets appears here to stay. The days of buying and holding an index might be long gone. Shareholders of the popular tech companies will not likely see anywhere near the gains that we saw in the last cycle. The S&P 500 Index reached a new low for Read More
From the Trading Desk: Are Markets Broken?
Last week, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed the Fed’s commitment to reducing inflation no matter the short-term cost to the economy. More aggressive interest rake hikes now appear to be on the table and unsurprisingly stocks sold off sharply in response. The S&P 500 Index erased August’s gains and finished the month down Read More
From the Trading Desk: A Recession in All but a Name
This month’s CPI reading of 9.1% marked a 40-year high, despite the Fed’s efforts to tame inflation. GDP numbers for Q2 were published and the US economy shrank for a second consecutive quarter. GDP US Chained 2012 Dollars QoQ SAAR (GDP CQOQ Index) 12-months Despite the general rule to identify a recession, the fall of Read More
From the Trading Desk: Six Months in Review
We are now halfway through 2022 and it has been such a wild start of the year. The S&P 500 Index had its worst half a year since 1970 with losses of over 20%, the NASDAQ Composite fell more than 29% and the Bitcoin Reference Rate was down over 60%. This environment is nothing like Read More