Insights

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 (0.3%) S&P Mid Cap (1.8%) Russell 2000 (1.5%) MSCI EAFE (1.6%) MSCI EM (0.6%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.98% to 5.00% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Fed Raises Rates – The Federal Reserve chose to increase the benchmark interest rate by 0.25%, moving it from 3.50%-3.75% to 3.75%-4.00%. The rate hike was the first increase in three years and the first move made by new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh. The decision to increase rates wa

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 +0.5% S&P Mid Cap (1.3%) Russell 2000 (1.5%) MSCI EAFE +0.1% MSCI EM 0.0% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – fell from 4.74% to 4.72% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Warsh Speech – In his first speech as Federal Reserve Chairman at Jackson Hole, Kevin Warsh expressed concern that inflation hadn’t yet been tamped out. He stated, “we must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise,

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 (1.4%) S&P Mid Cap (2.4%) Russell 2000 (1.7%) MSCI EAFE (0.6%) MSCI EM +1.2% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.70% to 4.74% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Government Buys Back Debt – Likely in response to increasing long-term interest rates, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Wednesday that he would increase purchases of government bonds by the Treasury. Instead of purchases maxing out at $2 billion each time, these would

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 +0.4% S&P Mid Cap +1.1% Russell 2000 +1.1% MSCI EAFE +0.5% MSCI EM +2.6% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.66% to 4.70% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Earnings Season – Through Friday, approximately 91% of companies in the S&P 500 had reported Q2 earnings. The year-over-year earnings growth rate stood at 49.6%, which represents the highest earnings growth rate since Q2 2021. However, much of this can be attributed to technology com

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 (0.6%) S&P Mid Cap 0.3% Russell 2000 (1.1%) MSCI EAFE 0.4% MSCI EM 0.5% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.54% to 4.68% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News New Global Tariffs – As President Trump’s previous 10% global tariff expired on Friday, the administration announced new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on imports from 60 countries using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The White House claimed that these new tariffs were the result of

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 (1.5%) S&P Mid Cap (0.2%) Russell 2000 (0.5%) MSCI EAFE (0.8%) MSCI EM (4.1%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – fell from 4.57% to 4.54% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News U.S. Adds Tariff on Brazilian Imports – After a yearlong investigation into Brazilian trade practices, the U.S. announced they are imposing a 25% tariff on some Brazilian imports. Coffee and beef will be excluded. President Trump had previously imposed a 50% tariff on Braz

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 1.3% S&P Mid Cap (0.6%) Russell 2000 (0.6%) MSCI EAFE (1.4%) MSCI EM (1.8%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.48% to 4.57% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News US-Iran Conflict Continues – President Trump stated on Wednesday that the initial agreement with Iran to end the conflict was “over.” The U.S. launched new attacks on Iran over the last week and revoked their license to sell crude oil. This was done in response to fresh atta

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 2.3% S&P Mid Cap (0.2%) Russell 2000 (0.5%) MSCI EAFE 2.7% MSCI EM 0.9% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – fell rose 4.45% to 4.49% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Q2 Summary – After a lackluster first quarter, the S&P 500 gained over 15% in Q2, marking the best quarterly return since 2020. All the more impressive given ongoing negotiations with Iran and the increased likelihood of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve this year.

The stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 Stock Index, made several new highs, generating much comment during the past quarter. The exuberance over the rising stock market indices was offset by the fear that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will negatively affect job growth and disrupt the businesses of many well-run and respected companies. This situation is creating confusion among investors whose portfolios were not performing as well as the popular indices. Exuberance –

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 0.6% S&P Mid Cap 2.8% Russell 2000 3.9% MSCI EAFE 1.0% MSCI EM (2.0%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – fell from 4.54% to 4.49% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News US-Iran Deal – Reports indicate that the U.S. and Iran have agreed to an interim peace agreement that is expected to be signed by both nations on Friday. Details on what is included are sparse but expected to be released during the week. President Trump stated that the U.S. would

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 (2.5%) S&P Mid Cap (0.9%) Russell 2000 (2.9%) MSCI EAFE (1.4%) MSCI EM (2.0%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.45% to 4.54% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Jobs Report – May: 172k (Reuters Poll est. 85k) Apr: 179k In a surprise to the market, payroll additions in May were reported far above most estimates and higher than the highest analyst estimate. Revisions made to April also surprised to the upside, changing the total numb

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 +1.5% S&P Mid Cap +1.4% Russell 2000 +1.8% MSCI EAFE +0.2% MSCI EM +0.2% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – fell from 4.57% to 4.45% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Iran Deal Status – Oil prices surged in early trading on Monday after reports stated that Iran ceased negotiations with the United States. This comes after the U.S. and Iran traded strikes against each other over the weekend. Concerns over mines laid by Iran in the Strait of H

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 +0.2% S&P Mid Cap (2.4%) Russell 2000 (2.4%) MSCI EAFE (1.7%) MSCI EM (2.5%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.36% to 4.60% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Trump in China – President Trump visited China for two days last week. The first trip by a U.S. president since 2017. President Xi described the relationship between the U.S. and China in a new manner, framing it as “constructive strategic stability.” No major deals were

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 +2.4% S&P Mid Cap +1.7% Russell 2000 +1.7% MSCI EAFE +0.9% MSCI EM +6.9% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – fell from 4.38% to 4.36% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Iran Ceasefire on “Life Support” – Just one day after starting “Project Freedom” where the U.S. military would guide commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump declared that he was pausing the operation citing progress towards an agreement with Iran. That pro

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 +0.9% S&P Mid Cap 0.0% Russell 2000 +0.9% MSCI EAFE +0.9% MSCI EM (0.5%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.31% to 4.38% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News U.A.E. Leaves OPEC – The United Arab Emirates stated that they plan to leave OPEC on May 1 and begin increasing their oil production thereafter. In recent years, the U.A.E. has asked for greater flexibility from OPEC to produce more oil. With the rise of shale oil coming from

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 +0.5% S&P Mid Cap (0.1%) Russell 2000 +0.4% MSCI EAFE (2.9%) MSCI EM +0.8% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.24% to 4.31% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Justice Department Ends Powell Investigation – U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro stated that she was closing her inquiry into Jerome Powell. As a result, Senator Thom Tillis said that he planned to support the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the new Federal Reserve chair. Jerome

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 (2.1%) S&P Mid Cap +0.4% Russell 2000 +0.5% MSCI EAFE (0.1%) MSCI EM (1.8%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.39% to 4.44% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News U.S. and Iran Negotiations Stall – President Trump claimed that Iran had agreed to most of the 15 points the U.S. proposed to broker a peace deal and added that they agreed to allow 20 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a “sign of res

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 (1.9%) S&P Mid Cap (1.3%) Russell 2000 (1.7%) MSCI EAFE (2.1%) MSCI EM (0.4%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.29% to 4.39% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Fed Meeting – Federal Reserve officials voted 11-1 to keep interest rates in a range between 3.50%-3.75%. Recent Trump appointee Stephen Miran was the lone dissenting vote, continuing to vote in favor of an interest rate cut. The yield on a 2

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 +1.1% S&P Mid Cap +1.2% Russell 2000 +0.7% MSCI EAFE +0.8% MSCI EM +0.8% 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 4.06% to 4.09% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Supreme Court Rules Against Trump Tariffs – On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that many of President Trump’s recently implemented tariffs were unconstitutional. All tariffs tied to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were struck do

Price Return Last Week S&P 500 (0.1%) S&P Mid Cap +4.4% Russell 2000 +2.2% MSCI EAFE +0.5% MSCI EM (1.4%) 10 Yr US Treasury Rate – fell from 4.24% to 4.21% Source: Refinitiv Eikon Recent News Earnings Update – As of Friday, 59% of S&P 500 companies have reported Q4 2025 earnings results. The blended earnings growth rate thus far is 13.0% year-over-year, making this the fifth consecutive quarter with a double-digit earnings growth rate i