Bouchey Blog
With equity markets continuously hitting all-time highs this year, we frequently get the question from our clients as to when will the bull market end. The level of skepticism remains high even as the S&P 500 Index crossed four major milestones this year, passing the 2,300 level in February and recently crossing the 2,600 level.…
After a disappointing report in September, the labor market rebounded in October. The U.S. economy created 261,000 jobs for the month of October, which came in below economists’ expectations of 313,000. However, revisions show that the economy added 18,000 jobs for the month of September instead of the initially reported decline of 33,000 jobs. The…
The initial estimate for Third Quarter GDP was released this morning, and the U.S economy expanded 3% for the second consecutive quarter. This exceeded economists’ estimate of 2.6% growth and marks the best back-to-back quarters of GDP growth since 2014. Consumer spending, which represents nearly 70% of the economy, grew higher than expected (2.4% vs…
The impact of Hurricane Harvey and Irma disrupted the labor market significantly in September, as U.S. payrolls declined for the first time since 2010. The impact of these two hurricanes was expected to weigh on the jobs report, as economists’ expected an increase of 80,000 jobs in September versus an increase of 169,000 jobs in…
It has been a quiet summer for the stock market, with volatility and trading volumes near multi-year lows despite increased potential for military conflict between the U.S. and North Korea among other geopolitical issues. In fact, this entire year has seen the lowest average volatility levels on record, as strong earnings and improving economic fundamentals…
The labor market produced another strong month in July, as the economy created over 200,000 jobs for the second consecutive month. The total change in nonfarm payrolls increased by 209,000 jobs, well above the 180,000 figure economists expected for the month. The strong gains experienced in June were revised higher, as the economy created 231,000…
The U.S. Commerce Department released their first estimate of GDP for the Second Quarter (Q2) 2017, with economic growth picking up relative to the First Quarter. GDP rose at an annual rate of 2.6% for the quarter, which was inline with analyst expectations. This was a rebound from Q1, where the economy grew at a…