Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling

The Stock Market hit a fresh, all-time high this week. The S&P 500 cleared 5300 for the first time. The Dow reached a new, major pinnacle of 40K. The rally continued. All that seemed to matter to the Market was that Fed Chair Powell signaled the next rate move will, in all likelihood, be down, and not up. It was off to the races for stocks with a historic Friday finish. There's nothing like some big round numbers to get the Bulls excited. Hats and champagne were present on the floor of the exchange. No matter how you slice it, the continued strength for stocks is quite impressive...

The United States hit a ceiling in which further borrowing is no longer permissible. It can borrow no more. Defaulting on its debt is officially possible. Formal notice was given to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury. She estimates we have until June to address it before crisis sets in.

We are in the heart of August and that means Back-to-School season is upon us. Students are getting ready to meet their new teachers with mixed emotions of both nerves and excitement for going back to school. In fact, some parts of the country have already started school. Parents are tasked with taking inventory and gearing kids up for heading back to class. This is no small feat, especially as consumers have seen their budgets stretched due to inflation.

Market turbulence is back. It returned with a vengeance this week. I last wrote on March 31st these words: "The Market was running pretty hot heading into Spring. We could see a cooling off period before another run higher. It's not a stretch to say volatility is likely to pick up as we head towards Summer. A lot of good stuff has been priced in from this rally. The Presidential election is heating up and we anticipate the road ahead to be quite bumpy. This Bull still seems healthy. It's just getting mature. And the next stretch could definitely be a challenge." That was from our Spring Newsletter which went out last week. The road definitely got bumpy, fast...

The post-election rally stalled this week. The Dow and S&P erased half of their gains since Election Day. A better-than-expected earnings report from Disney helped cushion the Dow, while the Tech-heavy NAS fared the worst on the week. The Market continues to deal with the fits and starts in the wake of the election. It’s trying to decipher the differences of campaign promises versus actual governing priorities. There have been some cabinet appointments that, shall I say, have raised some eyebrows as well as caused full blown shock. That shock included members from within the Republican Party...