Rearview to Windshield, June 2023

May ‘23 Market Recap: The S&P 500 gained 0.4% in May and traded in a 100pt range (4056 and 4169), one of the most narrow monthly ranges (11th percentile) in history since the 1930s. The VIX remained low as well. Only 23% of stocks outperformed the S&P 500, the...

Rearview to Windshield, May 2023

April ‘23 Market Recap: Despite elevated macro and micro uncertainty, the S&P 500 rallied 1.5% in April. Keeping with positive correlation, fixed income continues to trade in the same direction as equities. The recent sharp decline in equity market breadth also...

Aptus Musings: Q1 2023 Earnings Preview

On the radio last week, I heard a classic John Prine song that had the following (slightly tweaked) lyric: “a clown puts his makeup on upside down, so even when he smiles, he wears a frown”. It’s actually a pretty funny song if you listen to the lyrics. I think it...

Rearview to Windshield, April 2023

March ‘23 Market Recap; The S&P 500 ignored the fallout from banking woes and recorded a surprising +3.7% gain last month, leaving the index in positive territory for Q1 ‘23 (+7.5%). After a mid-month hike, the current Fed Funds rate (upper bound) is at 5% vs....

Rearview to Windshield, March 2023

February ‘23 Market Recap: The January rally suddenly looks distant as equities closed lower for the month, finishing down 5.0% from their early February peak. This has been a confluence of technicals, bond yield increases due to uncomfortably strong economic data in...