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Weekly Gains for Big Benchmarks

Daily headlines about the coronavirus had little impact on stock market averages last week. Earnings and mergers had more influence.

All three Wall Street benchmarks improved. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.21%, outpacing the S&P 500, up 1.58%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 1.02%. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas equity markets, added 0.17%.

Commenting that the economy is in a “very good place,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told congressional legislators that…

Stocks Bounce Back

Stocks advanced four days out of five during the past market week, erasing the losses of the week before.

The Nasdaq Composite surged 4.04%, the S&P 500 3.17%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 3.00%. Foreign stocks also rallied: the MSCI EAFE index added 2.21%.

Thursday, investors woke up to the news that China would be lowering import taxes on about $75 billion of U.S. products. Later this week, a set of 10% tariffs is slated to drop to…

Equities Slip on Virus Concerns

Stock benchmarks declined for a second straight week as coronavirus news tempered risk appetite.

The S&P 500 fell 2.14% on the week. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.76%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 2.55%. Away from North America, developed markets slumped 2.24%, according to MSCI’s EAFE index.

The Federal Reserve left short-term interest rates alone at its January meeting, but it did make what Fed chairman Jerome Powell called a “small technical adjustment” in view of its continuing purchases of Treasuries. Wednesday, it slightly increased the…

Happy New Year! We hope you’re having a fantastic start to the new year. For cybercriminals, there has been no break–we have already seen a handful of scams and hacks in the first month of the year.
Read on to learn more about the cybersecurity happenings this month including:

How to fight back against common elder scams
Important news for Windows 7 users
A massive breach at Microsoft
New ransomware threats
And more

How to fight back against common elder scams

Over two million elderly people fall victim to a scam every year—and experts think there are many more that go unreported. The elderly population has long been a target for scammers for many reasons. First, many are trusting and may have decreased cognition stemming from health issues. Scammers are also aware that many of these people have retirement accounts with money to spare—or conversely, are on a budget and likely to jump on a chance at a windfall.
Reports find that elderly fraud is now a multi-million dollar business, with the median amount lost by someone over 80 being $1,000. There are many types of scams that… Read More

Stocks End the Week Lower

Stock prices fell last week as investors considered the potential health and economic risks of the flu-like coronavirus.

Foreign stock markets, as tracked by the broad MSCI EAFE index, fell 1.03% for the week. Coincidentally, the S&P 500 lost exactly that much across a 4-day Wall Street trading week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.22%, the Nasdaq Composite 0.79%.

By Friday’s closing bell, two cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in the U.S. by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sixty-three other potential cases were being monitored. Twenty-six people had died from the virus in…

Fresh Record Highs

Traders were in an upbeat mood last week, reacting to news out of Washington: the signing of the phase-one trade deal between the U.S. and China as well as the Senate passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). In addition, a new earnings season started. Risk appetite grew and spurred all three of the major Wall Street averages to record settlements on Friday.

For the week, the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.29%; the S&P 500, 1.97%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 1.82%. International stocks improved 0.40%, according to MSCI’s EAFE index.

President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed off on a new, partial U.S.-China trade pact Wednesday. In this deal, China agrees to buy…

Further Gains for Stocks

The market had a choppy five days, with traders reacting to geopolitical developments and weaker-than-expected jobs data. Even so, the three major U.S. equity indices posted weekly gains and continued their strong start to the new year. During Friday’s trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 29,000 for the first time.

Rising 1.75% for the week, the Nasdaq Composite outgained both the Dow (up 0.66%) and the S&P 500 (up 0.94%). The story for foreign stocks was different: the MSCI EAFE index declined 0.30%.

Wall Street was unimpressed by the latest jobs report from…

Concerns About Oil

Stocks descended from record highs Friday, as traders reacted to a U.S. drone strike that killed Iran’s top military officer. Oil prices rose more than 3% following the breaking news.

Wall Street benchmarks ended up having a sideways week, shortened by the New Year’s Day holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.04% across four trading sessions; the S&P 500, 0.16%. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.16%. The MSCI EAFE index, benchmarking developed overseas stock markets, added 0.30%.

WTI crude oil settled at $63.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday, down from…

What Drove the Markets

Four factors influenced investment performance in 2019: a shift in U.S. monetary policy, the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China, earnings, and the economy.

Stocks reached record highs in 2019. The S&P 500 climbed above 3,000 for the first time. The benchmark ended Friday’s trading session up 29.25% for the year. At Friday’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed a year-to-date advance of 22.95%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 35.74% YTD. The MSCI EAFE index, representing foreign stocks, was up 18.10% YTD through December 27.

The central bank made three quarter-point cuts to the…

Welcome to the last cybersecurity newsletter of 2019! It certainly has been a big year for cybersecurity. While we are sure the next decade will bring its own cybersecurity hacks, scams, and frauds—we will likely see new technology to help combat it.
Read on to learn more about the cybersecurity happenings this month including:

A new decade for cybersecurity
A major department store breach
How to keep your phone safe at airports
The setting you must enable for your Ring doorbell
And more

A new decade for cybersecurity

In just a few days, we welcome in 2020 and in turn, a new decade. The 2010s were a defining decade for cybersecurity. We saw some of the largest hacks, breaches, and scams make the news over the past ten years. But we have also gotten better with our cybersecurity. The number of institutions offering two-factor authentication has increased. More people are aware of what a phishing attack looks like. And legislation was passed making it easier for everyone (including minor children) to freeze their credit reports.
Of course, as we enter a new decade, new threats will emerge. Technology will continue to… Read More

Table of Contents

Weekly Gains for Big Benchmarks

Table of Contents

Stocks Bounce Back

Table of Contents

Equities Slip on Virus Concerns

How to fight back against common elder scams

Table of Contents

Stocks End the Week Lower

Table of Contents

Fresh Record Highs

Table of Contents

Further Gains for Stocks

Table of Contents

Concerns About Oil

Table of Contents

What Drove the Markets

A new decade for cybersecurity