Market Analysis

Q3 QUARTERLY RECAP

• Stocks post further 2020 gains in Q3, despite a modest pull back in September
• Economy claws back adding 1.3m jobs in Aug and single digit unemployment rate
• Federal Reserve announces a shift in approach to inflation while keeping rates at historic lows

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), one of the most widely followed stock market indices, has made some key changes to its starting lineup.

This Month’s Recap:

• Stock prices surged in August
• Investors cheered positive news of potential COVID-19 treatment
• A month-long succession of upbeat economic data is welcomed

U.S. Markets In this Month’s Recap:

U.S. Markets

Stock prices rallied in July as further development of a COVID-19 vaccine and better-than-expected corporate financial reports encouraged investors.

Q2 Quarterly Recap

In recent days, we have watched as outraged and frustrated protestors spilled out into the streets of American cities. Across our communities, unhealed wounds have been brought vividly to our attention once again.

Hindsight is 20/20. It’s only human to imagine what it might have been like to turn left instead of right on some fateful day. However, that sort of daydreaming is unhelpful when investing, especially when it leads you to try and time the market.

Q1 Quarter’s Recap

• COVID-19 hits the United States and the markets tumble
• Many businesses close their doors in effort to “flatten the curve”
• The Fed lowers rates and takes other actions to help support the economy
• Congress passes the CARES Act in response

If somebody had told you 15 years ago when oil prices were rising above $150 a barrel that oil producers would be paying storage companies to take oil off their hands, what would you have said?  For that matter, what would you have said if somebody had told you these things a month ago?