Last week’s important economic data releases included a look at April’s durable goods orders report and the minutes from the most recent Fed meeting. April’s personal income and spending reports were a highlight, as spending beat expectations for the month. This week’s highlights will include reports on consumer and business confidence and employment in May.

We saw the release of several important economic updates last week. The April retail sales report was a highlight and showed that sales growth came in strong during the month while March’s growth was revised upward. This will be another interesting week for updates, with reports on durable goods orders, the minutes from the most recent Fed meeting, and personal income and spending growth in April.

Hi, everybody. It has been a busy week. Even though the market continues to drop, frankly I don’t have much to say that I haven’t already said. So, this will be a very short post!

When we look at yesterday’s market performance, something stands out. It’s not just the magnitude of the decline, bad though it was, but the speed. And it wasn’t just yesterday, as this past month has seen pretty much all of the decline for the past quarter and well over half of the decline for the year. In other words, the market has essentially been down all year. It started to stabilize in March and April—only to collapse again in May. That’s scary.

This will be a short post as I am back from a Commonwealth conference and catching up. There are lots of things to think about, on both a professional and personal level, and I will share more going forward. As always, it was great to see my Commonwealth friends, old and new, and do some really cool stuff including a cooking class (didn’t see that coming, did you?) and a Red Sox game with Tim Wakefield, who very nicely signed a hat for my wife. She did very well out of the conference, with the hat and a signed pastry cookbook. You have to take care of the home front.

Today, I’m attending the Commonwealth Chairman’s Retreat conference. Of course, we’ll spend some time discussing business and the markets, but we’ll also get the chance to look at issues beyond that and into our own lives. Longtime readers may remember my column on gratitudes, where I talked about a Chairman’s presentation by psychologist Shawn Achor on how simply writing down three gratitudes a day could change your life for the better. I tried it, and it worked. I have now written down my gratitudes every day for several years, and there is no doubt it has made a very positive difference.

All eyes were on last week’s release of the consumer and producer inflation reports for April. They showed that inflationary pressure moderated during the month following a surge in March, but there is still a lot of work to be done to get rising prices under control. This will be a busy week of economic updates, with reports scheduled that will cover retail sales, industrial production, and the housing sector.

Much of the discussion around the market decline so far this year has been, first, why is it happening and, second, how far will it go? Most people are looking at the market as an independent entity, trying to second-guess how it will act in the future. Most people will, inevitably, be wrong.

My colleague Sam Millette, manager, fixed income on Commonwealth’s Investment Management and Research team, has helped me put together this month’s Market Risk Update. Thanks for the assist, Sam!

Markets dropped in April, reversing the gains from March. The S&P 500 lost 8.72 percent during the month, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped 4.82 percent. The Nasdaq Composite saw the largest decline during the month, as the technology-heavy index fell 13.24 percent in April. The sell-off in April is a reminder that risks remain, and they should be monitored going forward.

My colleague Sam Millette, manager, fixed income on Commonwealth’s Investment Management and Research team, has helped me put together this month’s Economic Risk Factor Update. Thanks for the assist, Sam!

Yesterday was another bad down day in the markets. Not only that, but other assets are getting hit as well, with bitcoin getting hit even more than the general financial markets. As worries rise, when will the bleeding stop? 

There were several important economic data releases last week, with reports covering business confidence, international trade, the results from the Fed’s May meeting, and the April employment report. The jobs report was a highlight, as it showed continued strong hiring in April despite the headwinds created by rising labor costs and tighter monetary policy. This will be another busy week of updates, with a focus on the April inflation reports.

Yesterday saw another significant drop in stock markets, more than reversing the bounce we saw the prior day. Up, down, up, down, but largely down—it looks like the market is headed down indefinitely.

One of the key things I do as an analyst is figure out what can be safely ignored. In today’s environment, with so many “different this time” events going on—the pandemic, the Ukraine war, and the 40-year high in inflation—what can we safely disregard? Finding the right answer is not as simple as it was a couple of years ago.

April was a hard month for the markets. For the month, U.S. markets were down between 5 percent for the Dow and 14 percent for the Nasdaq, and international markets fell between 5 percent and 7 percent. Fixed income was also down for the month—there was truly nowhere to hide.

April was one of the worst months for the markets since the start of the pandemic.U.S. markets were down between 5 percent for the Dow and 14 percent for the Nasdaq, while international markets fell between 5 percent and 7 percent. Rising interest rates drove the declines, with the Fed signaling it intended to keep tightening monetary policy. Still, the U.S. economic news was positive. Hiring remained strong, supporting consumer confidence, and business confidence and investment remained healthy.

Last week was a busy period for economic updates, with several important data releases that covered wide areas of the economy. The advanced estimate for first-quarter GDP growth showed that the economy surprisingly contracted to start the year, but the underlying data had some positive signs for growth ahead. This will be another busy week of updates, with highlights including business confidence, international trade, the results from the Fed’s May meeting, and the April employment report.