The Markets (as of market close October 26, 2018) The benchmark indexes suffered another sharp decline last week. Each of the indexes listed here lost value, led by the Global Dow. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq could be nearing a correction (down more than 10% from recent peaks) following last week's drop. Equally noteworthy is the fact that all of the year-to-date gains have essentially dissipated, with only the Nasdaq still ahead of last year's closing value. Quarterly earning

The Markets (as of market close October 5, 2018) Another tough week on Wall Street as stocks and long-term bond prices fell, pushing yields higher. While each of the benchmark indexes listed here lost value last week, the large caps of the Dow and S&P 500 held up better than the tech stocks of the Nasdaq and the small-cap Russell 2000. With the continuing rise in oil prices, energy stocks and utilities fared well as did financial shares, which benefitted from a spike in inter

The Markets (as of market close September 28, 2018) Rising interest rates and ramped-up trade wars put a damper on stocks last week. While not unanticipated, the Fed raised the federal funds target rate 25 basis points and intimated that another hike is likely for December. On the trade front, the United States imposed tariffs of 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, prompting the Chinese government to threaten tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. imports. As was the case the

The Markets (as of market close September 28, 2018) Rising interest rates and ramped-up trade wars put a damper on stocks last week. While not unanticipated, the Fed raised the federal funds target rate 25 basis points and intimated that another hike is likely for December. On the trade front, the United States imposed tariffs of 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, prompting the Chinese government to threaten tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. imports. As was the case the