Bond Yields Are Getting Awfully Heavy For Stocks To Carry
October 19, 2023 Good morning, There is a lot of head scratching in the fixed income markets as to why yields are climbing like a run-away freight train. On Tuesday, bonds plunged again, pushing the US two-year yield to its highest level since 2006. There are a variety of possible reasons – exponentially growing debt […]
Week Ahead
October 16, 2023 Good morning, Markets do not discount the loss of life. It is called a bloodless process for a reason. My Morning Note is all about the behavior of markets and sometimes I miss the forest for the trees writing it. With apologies, my deepest sympathies go out to all my friends, their […]
Awful Headlines
October 9, 2023 Good morning, The events in the Middle East are dominating headlines and have impacted financial markets to a reasonable degree. Buying crude is the knee-jerk response whenever tensions rise in the region, and sure enough oil is up sharply on the day. However, that market response isn’t as significant as that of […]
At Least The Sentiment Setup Is In Place
October 5, 2023 Good morning, The S&P 500 Index’s 8% decline from its July 31st high has had an unfamiliar companion – at least for the past 25 years – rising bond yields. For much of the past quarter century, rising bond yields have been bullish for stocks because it meant deflationary forces were becoming […]
No Sign of a Relief Rally – That’s When They Show Up
October 2, 2023 Good morning, No shutdown this weekend – that leans okay, you would think. It appears not to be, given this morning’s weakness in Futures prices (down 1% from overnight highs and down .20% from Friday’s close). The U.S. government has averted a spending shutdown in circumstances too contorted to bear repeating. Markets are […]
What Is The Question
September 28, 2023 Good morning, The market in S&P 500 Index (SPX) terms has fallen -5.35% in 9 trading days. The market feels like it is taking the elevator shaft down after months of taking escalators upward. We talked about this – it does not feel good. However, feelings need to be isolated from market […]
Budget Battle Correction
September 25, 2023 Good morning, Fear is a stronger emotion than greed, and markets fall faster than they climb. The adage that markets go up on an escalator and fall through an elevator shaft is good to remember during swift declines like last week’s. In round numbers, U.S. equity indexes were off -3% last week, […]
Hawkish Pause – Resumption of Correction
September 21, 2023 Good morning, As widely expected, the Fed delivered a “hawkish pause” yesterday. The FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) left the fed funds target unchanged, at a range of 5.25% to 5.50%. The statement and press conference reinforced Powell’s Jackson Hole speech of restriction for longer. The Dot plot (the chart of FOMC […]
3 Questions with Robertson Stephens featuring Founder and CEO of Fairsquare Medicare, Dan Petkevich – Medicare
October 5, 2023 – Chief Marketing Officer, Louis Calabrese, hosts Managing Director, Lauren Sigman and Founder and CEO of Fairsquare Medicare, Dan Petkevich, to discuss Medicare and the upcoming enrollment period. Disclosures Investment advisory services offered through Robertson Stephens (“Robertson Stephens”), an SEC-registered investment advisor. Registration does not imply any specific level of skill or […]
Keith Larkin on Smart Money Circle Podcast
October 2, 2023 – Principal & Managing Director, Keith Larkin appeared on Smart Money Circle podcast sharing timeless advice with listeners, reflecting on his current role at Robertson Stephens as well as how he got to where he is today. “The passion really was working with clients and trying to help them with solutions that I saw some clients had […]
Jeanette Garretty on Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia
September 28, 2023 – Chief Economist and Managing Director, Jeanette Garretty appeared on Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia to discuss the prospect of a federal government shutdown and the economic implications. “I’m quite concerned about what the impact might be on interest rates, especially if there’s a change in credit ratings or of a change in credit ratings,” says Garretty. “Right now, the […]
Fed Week
September 18, 2023 Good morning, Last week’s data-dump turned out to be a very mixed affair for equities. A spike higher in energy prices and the onset of a U.S. auto-workers strike on Friday wiped out week-to-date market gains, and left U.S. equity indexes down modestly on the week. The S&P 500 Index, for example, […]