David Cohen

While March signaled gains, April proved challenging, culminating in widespread losses.

Investors seeking clarity on the future path of inflation and interest rates struggled to find it in March as key economic indictors sent mixed signals. The month kicked off with a strong February jobs report, with the Labor Department reporting that nonfarm payrolls increased by 275,000 for the month (against expectations of 198,000). While the February numbers suggested the economy continues to run hot, downward revisions to the December and January reports reduced the initial estimates for those months by 167,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose from 3.7% to 3.9% in February.

Much like the Las Vegas Hotel on the Strip that appears to be right next door, investors are discovering in 2024 that interest rate cuts are farther away than they seem.

Much like the Las Vegas Hotel on the Strip that appears to be right next door, investors are discovering in 2024 that interest rate cuts are farther away than they seem.

With the exception of MLPs, securities markets continued to deliver robust gains across the board in December as the markets began to divine measurable rate cuts by the Fed in 2024.

Securities markets shrugged off a challenging three months and delivered robust gains across the board in November as hopes for a soft economic landing gained ground among investors.

Securities markets continued to struggle in October in the face of rising interest rates and concerns about whether the Federal Reserve might continue its monetary tightening policy.

Securities markets continued to struggle in October in the face of rising interest rates and concerns about whether the Federal Reserve might continue its monetary tightening policy.