The Week in Review for the week ending February 15, 2013  Price swings were relatively subdued during the week as positive economic data and enthusiasm over merger and acquisition activity seemed to balance out investors’ hesitation to bid stocks higher after two months of solid gains. More than $140 billion in merger and acquisition deals […]

 The Week in Review for the week ending February 8, 2013  The broad averages managed modest gains for the week despite a sharp pullback on Monday. Investors continued to be generally encouraged by earnings reports and economic data. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite fared a bit better than other indexes, as tech shares were driven by […]

The Week in Review for the week ending January 25, 2013 The month long global equity advance continued last week on strengthening US, Chinese and German economic data. Strong corporate earnings reports, continued expansion in Chinese manufacturing and falling US jobless claims along with the Conference Board’s leading economic indicators and the US Federal Reserve Board’s Beige Book […]

 The Week in Review for the week ending January 18, 2013  The top news from last week included China’s economic growth rising to 7.9% in the fourth quarter and US housing and weekly jobless reports improving, with both cresting multiyear thresholds, and inflation remaining contained. The eurozone remained the weak link, with Germany’s economy contracting […]

 The Week in Review for the week ending January 11, 2013  Last week, timid economic data from Europe contrasted with bullish reports from Asia. In Japan, in spite of signs of economic weakness, its nine-week stock market rally continued. Positive Chinese trade data boosted Asian markets, but rising Chinese inflation led to a pullback in […]

The Week in Review for the week ending January 4, 2013  Investors were relieved last week as the US Congress agreed to a down-to-the-wire compromise deal on the federal budget. However, that may have merely pushed back the fiscal cliff showdown until March, when Congress will be faced with spending cuts, long-term debt reduction and […]

The Week in Review for the week ending August 24, 2012 Last week investors faced an array of negative news –– from declining manufacturing activity in China and the eurozone to a poor profits picture among large US corporations to continued concerns about weakness in Greece and Spain. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras spent the […]

The Week in Review for the week ending August 17, 2012 Last week official data confirmed what many investors had long suspected –– that the eurozone economy contracted in the second quarter. That fact was offset by surprisingly positive economic reports from the United Kingdom and a long string of upbeat data from the United […]

The Week in Review for the week ending August 10, 2012 A variety of reports that came out throughout last week confirmed that the European economy continues to weaken, with deepening troughs in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. China reported lower export levels, slowing inflation and sharply lower bank loan activity. Taiwan and South […]

The Week in Review for the week ending July 27, 2012 Markets responded positively to European Central Bank president Mario Draghi’s assertion that the ECB would do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. However, Germany’s Bundesbank reiterated its opposition to further ECB government bond purchases. The UK economy contracted sharply in the second quarter […]