Expectations for volatility are at a record low. Despite a steady stream of events that could have sparked a wide-spread sell-off, the market was surprisingly resilient. The S&P 500 (including dividends) has been up every month since the election. This ties the longest streak on record (December 1994-September
One of the common themes from the bullish analysts continues to be, “household balance sheets are much more healthy than they were at the start of the financial crisis.” The data these analysts are using relates only to mortgage debt and the amount of money each month used
The past few weeks I’ve been fortunate enough to sit in over a dozen client meetings with our advisors. Whether they were prospective SEM clients or longer-term clients, there has been a common theme — most do not see any risk in the market. One even commented, “
For those of you that have been away from your computer the past two weeks you haven’t missed much. The last 13 days has been one of the most calm on record. Yesterday I heard one analyst say the sideways movement was a coiled spring ready to explode
Earnings season has brought a constant stream of “better than expected” earnings reports, which has led to a seemingly endless string of new record highs for the S&P 500. The bulls have argued the new highs are justified based on the earnings the companies behind them
