July 2024 Update
July 1, 2024 — June of 2024 was a good month for financial markets. Leading the pack were (again) technology stocks, with the NASDAQ up 6% on the month. Close in second place were emerging market ex-China stocks, largely driven by India, Taiwan, and South Korea, all of which had large rallies in the month. […]
June 2024 Update
June 2, 2024 — After a weak April, markets bounced back in May, with the S&P 500 staging a breathtaking rally in the final few hours of trading on Friday, May 31. For the month, most asset classes were up, with utilities outpacing even the tech-heavy NASDAQ to be the monthly performance leader (more on […]
May 2024 Update
May 3, 2024 — From the end of March until the end of April, the market had a serious rethink about the path of monetary policy for the rest of 2024. March ended with the market pricing in three 25 basis-point rate cuts by the Fed over the next 12 months. As we’ve written in […]
April 2024 Update
April 3, 2024 — As hints of spring emerged in an unseasonably warm March, markets continued to rally, with the S&P 500 up over 3%. Gold was a strong performer on the month, as were many of the prior-year laggards, like utilities, midcaps, and small caps. We wrote about our views on gold — positive […]
March 2024 Update
March 3, 2024 — February was an interesting month in financial markets. Nvidia stock continued its incredible run on the back of a huge earnings beat. Tech did very well (again). Talk of tech bubbles has become pervasive, though serious people have pushed back against the tech doomsayers. (Our view is that tech stocks are […]
February 2024 Update
February 4, 2024 — Markets continued their strong performance in January of 2024, though it was hard to live up to the incredible returns of November and December of 2023. However, as the next table shows, the strong aggregate performance in January hid much variability when looking at individual markets. One theme for the month […]
January 2024 Update
January 1, 2024 — December 2023 saw a continuation of November’s rally, though the December winners tended to be the year’s laggards. For example, long-term Treasuries, which were having an otherwise less-than-great year, were up over 8% in December, after rallying over 9% in November. The Russell 2000, another 2023-laggard, led the way in December […]
December 2023 Update
December 4, 2023 — November of 2023 was significant for us on two levels. First, it was a very strong month for financial markets. Outside of a few pockets of weakness (notably commodities), just about everything was up and it was up a lot. QuantStreet’s portfolios also did well in November (more on that below). […]
November 2023 Update
November 3, 2023 — October 2023 was a weak month for financial markets, with bonds, stocks, and commodities all down. Though interest rates continued to increase in October, bonds (U.S. and international government bonds and U.S. corporates) were the best performing asset class. U.S. broad market indexes, like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, were down […]
October 2023 Update
October 3, 2023 — In an apt metaphor for the month, JFK Airport in New York saw 8 inches of rain last Friday, a record rainfall dating back to 1948, when tracking of such matters started. Indeed, in September, markets were bombarded by a deluge of bad news: inflation fears (despite lower inflation numbers), hawkish […]