@theMarket: Whipsaw Action Leaves Markets HigherBy Bill Schmick,
11:22AM / Saturday, May 04, 2024 | |
It was a week where macroeconomic data, corporate earnings, and the Federal Reserve dictated the direction of the markets on almost a daily basis. By the end of the week, the verdict was a plus for the bulls.
On Friday, the non-farm payrolls indicated that the labor market cooled notably in April. The U.S. economy added 175,000 new jobs which was a lot lower than the expected job gains of 240,000. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent. What is bad news for the economy is good news for the stock market since weaker macroeconomic data means the Fed may cut interest rates sooner rather than later.
At the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday, 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Unions Make Headway Across NationBy Bill Schmick,
04:01PM / Friday, May 03, 2024 | |
The number of U.S. workers who claimed union membership increased ever so slightly last year from 14.3 million in 2022 to 14.4 million. However, as a share of the American workforce, union membership hit a new low. Today only one in 10 workers in America wear the union badge.
Back in 1983, union membership was as high as 20.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet, every day we hear of some effort to unionize workers across a wide spectrum of companies and industries. Starbucks, CVS, and Amazon come to mind. In 2023, the United Auto Workers (UAW) occupied headlines for months as they negotiated new contracts with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back Keep Traders on Their ToesBy Bill Schmick,
02:09PM / Friday, April 26, 2024 | |
The S&P 500 bounced by more than 2 percent this week, retracing almost half of the 5 percent decline we have suffered so far in April. The jury is still out on whether this is only a dead-cat bounce or a signal that the downside is over.
It was a week of mixed messages for sure. Good earnings drove markets up on Monday and Tuesday. About 43 percent of companies listed on the S&P 500 Index have reported so far. Overall, 57 percent of them are beating estimates. Those that have been beaten are doing so by a median of 8 percent. There have been stand-out winners and losers among them.
Meta, for example, had good results, but its future guidance (higher 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Real Estate Agents Face Bleak FutureBy Bill Schmick,
04:49PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024 | |
It has been a month since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) was forced to scrap a system of broker fees that has been in place for a generation. A federal court still must approve the change in June or July, but if it does, it could alter the way Americans buy and sell homes for decades into the future.
The change was precipitated by a series of class action lawsuits from home sellers that accused Realtors and the Realtors Association of keeping agent compensation artificially high. In October 2023, a federal jury in Kansas City found the NAR and some of the largest brokers in the country guilty of colluding to inflate real estate commissions.
The 0 Comments
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@theMarket: Markets Sink as Inflation Stays Sticky, Geopolitical Risk HeightensBy Bill Schmick,
03:11PM / Friday, April 19, 2024 | |
Geopolitical risk, inflation, higher for longer, rising bond yields, take your pick. There are several reasons for the stock market sell-off. The bad news for investors is that after a counter-trend bounce, the selling should continue.
There are at least half a dozen reasons why the markets were down again this week. If you have been following my columns, you know that I have been expecting this decline for weeks. The truth is that this pullback is long overdue. I believe it is a healthy, if painful, development that could last a few weeks.
I am not discounting the reasons for this decline. The attack on Israel last weekend was gut-wrenching. My next-door 0 Comments
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