Insights

 S&P 500 earnings are exceeding elevated expectations. Before earnings season began, S&P 500 earnings were expected to grow 23.6% as businesses rallied from lower earnings during the COVID shutdowns from one year ago. Based on the first quarter of companies reporting, earnings are n …

 The U.S. economy seems to be returning to firmer footing based on economic data released last week. Initial jobless claims fell to 576,000 and are the lowest they have been since mid-March 2020. The number of people receiving some form of government jobless support dropped from 18.2 millio …

I bet you’ve never heard of Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (DEB). It’s a rare disease where a person’s skin falls off! Areas that are often rubbed, like your elbow from sitting at a table or your thighs from wearing pants, become a constant battle. It’s painful, and patients suffer from f …

 Producer prices climbed 4.2% last week (Figure 1). Energy prices contributed to the largest gain since the index rose 4.5% in September 2011. The jobs market continues to see a high level of initial jobless claims while steady progress is being made in reducing the number of unemployed rec …

The U.S. jobs market roared back to life in March. The economy added or reclaimed 916,000 jobs, shattering expectations of a 150,000 increase. Workers being recalled or hired to fill openings at restaurants and bars contributed 176,000 jobs to March’s gains. Previous months were revised hig …

Events are aligning to give the U.S. economy a big boost. The Biden administration approved a $1.9 trillion stimulus package that will provide immediate relief to millions of American households. Last week the U.S. surpassed 100 million vaccine doses, and expectations are the U.S. will be v …

The U.S. economy returned to rapid job growth last month as fewer new COVID cases and loosening restrictions increased demand for labor. Restaurants and bars accounted for more than half the net gains, as employment in this hard-hit sector increased 286,000. Despite efforts to reopen school …

During the past decade, ending December 2019, low volatility investing has been embraced by many investors due to above average adjusted performance. With the turn of events, the year 2020 witnessed a negative surprise for low volatility stocks. This surprise further intensified when value …

The impact of government stimulus checks continues to permeate economic data. Personal income rose 10% in January, and disposable income rose 11.4%. Where did the money go? It primarily bought goods or was saved. Goods spending rose 5.8% in January, and the personal savings rate jumped to 2 …

American consumers put their stimulus checks to work last month. Retail and food service sales rose 5.3% in January, after declining 1.0% in December (Figure 1). Compared to one year ago, sales are 7.4% higher. The strong data resulted from the stimulus checks and declining virus cases. Bec …