The Markets (as of market close December 27, 2019) The holiday spirit, coupled with renewed optimism on the trade front, helped propel stocks higher last week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed the other benchmark indexes listed here, crossing the 9000 plateau for the first time ever. News that the signing of the Phase One trade agreement between the United States and China is imminent helped boost investors' spirits during the holiday-shortened week. However, details of the

The Markets (as of market close December 13, 2019) Positive developments finally arrived in the ongoing trade war between the United States and China. Last Friday, President Trump announced phase one of a trade deal with China. The president indicated that he would forgo the imposition of tariffs scheduled for December 15 and reduce existing tariffs on about $120 billion of Chinese imports. According to the president's tweets, China has agreed to make large purchases of targe

The Markets (as of market close December 6, 2019) Market performance was uneven last week, culminating in some of the benchmark indexes closing in the black while a few lost value by week's end. A strong jobs report and guarded optimism that progress will continue toward a resolution to the U.S./China trade war helped push stocks higher. The S&P 500 closed up less than 0.25%, while the small caps of the Russell 2000 gained over 0.50%. The Dow fell slightly, as did the tech-he

The Markets (as of market close November 29, 2019) The holiday-shortened week was a good one for investors as they were encouraged by the growing likelihood of "phase one" in the resolution of the trade war between China and the United States. The large caps of the Dow and S&P 500 reached record highs earlier in the week as did the tech stocks of the Nasdaq, although the Dow lost some momentum following turkey day. By the close of the markets on Friday, the Russell 2000 had s