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
Posts by Juan Luque - Assistant Trader & Portfolio Manager
From the Trading Desk: The Next Market Catalyst
Last week the S&P 500 Index experienced its 7th consecutive weekly decline while the list of companies reporting weaker Q2 forecasts keeps growing. Big retailers such as Walmart and Target slumped after cutting outlooks amid inflation pressure on future profits. As I write this, retailers have recovered some losses after Macy’s and Dollar Tree raised their Read More
From the Trading Desk: Inflation is Here to Stay
April commenced with fresh data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that the CPI (consumer price index) rose 8.5% year over year last month compared to March of 2021, a level that marks the fastest increase since December 1981. Fed officials discussed acting more aggressively to combat rising inflation, even suggesting various policymakers “would Read More
From the Trading Desk: What’s Happening in the Market?
To recap my previous post, Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced a 0.25% rate hike last week. The Fed is monitoring the economy and has telegraphed its intention to hike rates as needed to bring down inflation in response to the sharp price increases consumers are seeing in their daily lives. Volatility has picked up in Read More
From the Trading Desk: Historic Russian Market Impacts
Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chair, confirmed the central bank’s plan to raise interest rates this month as the U.S. economy remains strong despite the war in Ukraine. Stocks climbed on Wednesday to erase losses from the previous two sessions. Commodities reached multi-year record high levels as investors weigh the effect on supply that economic sanctions Read More