Economic Commentary – July 21, 2025
The US economy continues to feel as if some corner has been turned, which is a pretty nifty trick to pull off without an appreciable slowing of economic growth. The week’s data will help to illuminate the degree to which that growth continues into the third quarter; data for June should provide some sense of the […]
2025 Mid-Year Outlook
Chief Economist Jeanette Garretty and Chief Investment Officer Stuart Katz break down what happened in the first half of 2025 and provide their outlook for the remainder of the year.
June 2025 Recap
The Economy While second-quarter economic growth appears robust on the surface, potentially reaching nearly 4% driven by a surge in durable goods, this figure doesn’t fully capture the significant economic and political volatility experienced in the last 6 months. For instance, the first-quarter GDP saw a decline of 0.5%. When averaged, the first half of […]
Smart Strategies for Financial Independence
Many Americans start July off celebrating Independence Day, when the thirteen colonies took the brave step of becoming politically and financially independent from the British monarchy. The concept of self-determination that guided them had its roots in the Enlightenment ideals of individual liberty and self-governance. July is also a time that many children take their […]
Economic Commentary – June 30, 2025
Fireworks generally start well before Fourth of July in neighborhoods around the country. This curtailed week for market-moving data is no exception. The economic cherry bombs will be in the form of employment data, which could as easily be a bust as a large and startling “Boom”. And there will be plenty of sparklers highlighting […]
Investment Commentary – June 30, 2025
In the second quarter, the S&P 500 was up ~10%. The U.S. dollar has had one of its worst starts to a year on record. It is on pace to fall approximately 8% in Q2 alone. Almost every asset class is negatively correlated with the U.S. dollar. To put the first half of 2025 simply, […]
Long-Term Care: Planning for the Care You Hope You’ll Never Need
You’ve worked hard, saved wisely, and planned for a fulfilling retirement. But what if the unexpected happens, like early-onset Alzheimer’s or a serious health event that changes your day-to-day life? We’ve heard it often: “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.” We don’t plan to need long-term care, but we do need to plan how […]
Investment Commentary – June 23, 2025
What Happened Geopolitics took center stage last week as Israel and Iran continued to launch missiles at each other, culminating with the U.S. joining the war with strategic strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend. Markets had initially taken the Israel-Iran hostilities in stride, rallying early in the week. However, as the possibility of […]
Economic Commentary – June 23, 2025
Any business looking for calm seemingly can’t catch a break. The Federal Reserve feels that pain, too. Just as inflation was on the verge of becoming a lesser concern, albeit at the expense of increased worries about economic growth, a war in the Middle East raises the specter of gas and oil price spikes working their way […]
Five Charts for the Week That Was: June 20, 2025
Chief Economist Jeanette Garretty provides 5 economic charts covering topics including the Fed Rate, GDP estimates, home sales, oil prices, and Chinese exports and imports.
FOMC Commentary – June 18, 2025
The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) today confirmed the current monetary policy, keeping the target Fed Funds rate in the 4.25%-4.5% range and continuing to reduce the Fed’s holdings of US Treasuries and agency debt (“the balance sheet.”)
Investment Commentary – June 16, 2025
Executive Summary Last week, stocks were down and bonds up (price up/yield down). The MSCI Emerging Markets index outperformed the S&P 500 and MSCI EAFE. The best performing sectors in the S&P 500 were energy, healthcare, and utilities. Across U.S. Russell style & market cap indices, large-cap value did the best, and the value factor […]