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The Federal Reserve stayed on message and was suitably dovish at its latest FOMC meeting. There were a few subtle changes to the language of the FOMC statement and in Chairman Powell’s post-meeting remarks. The committee reaffirmed it wants to observe substantial progress toward its dual...

S&P 500 futures broke above 4200 in the overnight session, continuing their almost relentless march upward with new all-time highs. Except for last week’s volatile and range-bound price movement, the /ES has scarcely paused for a breather since March 24; it notched only 7 red candles...

Mark Twain once quipped, “Everyone complains about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it.”  Well, these days everyone probably would complain about inflation if it ever reappeared in a major way, but the Fed promises it won’t do anything about it until...

As goes FANG, so goes the market. That’s been a generally pretty good rule of thumb for divining the direction of the U.S. stock market the past decade. But it’s getting more complicated. Leadership in the S&P 500 flip-flopped once COVID vaccines were announced last November and the...

What a difference a year makes. Unlike last May, there’s arguably lots to look forward to as vaccinations gain steam. People are back at baseball stadiums, and the Kentucky Derby and Memorial Day picnics loom. Oh yeah, we’ve also got the April jobs report straight ahead. OK, so maybe...

At this point, it’s hard to build up much suspense for Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) earnings. That’s in part due to the continued increase in online shopping, strong tailwinds from last year that are anticipated to endure, and because the company helpfully provides guidance for...

Ready or not, it’s time for all of us to put our Fed hats on. Again.  It’s only been six weeks since the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, but they’re gathering again today. The usual press conference featuring Fed Chairman Jerome Powell comes right after the...

UPS (NYSE: UPS) beat on first-quarter earnings before the bell this morning with earnings per share of $2.77 and revenue of $22.91 billion. The company is not providing 2021 guidance. Right now, Americans are depending on package deliveries more than ever as e-commerce spikes during the pandemic...

There’s so much news swirling around Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) that digging into the fundamentals seems like a monumental task. We’ll do it anyway as investors await earnings from the biggest company (in market cap) on earth. The iPhone maker’s earnings report after the close...

In Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) last earnings conference call with analysts, CEO Satya Nadella opened with an upbeat and sweeping salvo on cloud platform Azure’s role in the emerging “second wave” of global digital transformation.  Despite all the fireworks, it...

It’s probably one of the busier weeks so far this year in terms of closely-watched economic data here in the U.S., let’s take a market minute to get ahead of what you should be keeping an eye on. First and foremost, you’re going to be hearing a lot about how the FOMC meeting...

There’s a cloud hanging over automakers these days, and it’s made of silicon. A global semiconductor shortage has been rippling through the auto industry, which needs chips for infotainment systems, engine management for better fuel economy, and power braking and steering. But...

U.S. stocks are unsteady this week as investors struggle to navigate through a muddied global pandemic outlook, a suite of corporate earnings updates, and yesterday’s news of proposed legislative overhaul of capital gains taxes. The swings that we are seeing reflect the fact that investors...

The market’s four-week winning streak looks threatened as today’s session opens. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) closed just above 4185 a week ago and finished Thursday near 4135, so it would take a major rally for a green week after the taxman’s visit yesterday. At the same...

Without much doubt, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) shares have come a long way. They’re up 4,371% since the first public offering in 2004, so it’s easy to think that GOOGL shows every sign of being a “mature” company. But GOOGL’s also shown an ability to reinvent...