First Financial, LLC
Monthly Market Review
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Weekly Market Commentary
-Darren Leavitt, CFA It was an extremely busy week on Wall Street. First-quarter earnings results were highlighted by Apple and Amazon. Investors encouraged by their results sent higher shares on the back of increased dividends, increased share buyback programs, and...
June 2022 Market Review and Outlook
Monthly Commentary - June '22 -Darren Leavitt, CFA It was just an ugly month of June for investors and for that matter the 1st half of 2022. All asset classes seemed to fall except for the US dollar. The month started with a “peak inflation” narrative that was...
April 2022 Market Review and Outlook
Monthly Market Commentary – April ’22 -Darren Leavitt, CFA Global financial markets had a rough month in April. Inflation continued to be top of mind for investors as data continued to show historic increases in prices. The Federal Reserve still appears to be behind...
March 2022 Market Review and Outlook
Monthly Market Commentary - March '22 -Darren Leavitt, CFA In March, global financial markets continued to be volatile, focused on the Russian/Ukraine war and inflation rates not seen in decades. Countries worldwide condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and started...
December 2021 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA US financial markets rallied in December in volatile trade. It seemed markets would take two steps forward in one week only to give up a step in the following week. The emergence of the Omicron variant rattled markets initially, but investors were...
Monthly Market Review for September 2021
-Darren Leavitt, CFA September proved again to be a difficult month for financial assets. A narrative that the growth of global economies has peaked was evident during the month. Market sentiment was further dampened by fears that inflation has become persistent...
Monthly Market Review for August 2021
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Global markets rallied in August as economic data revealed strength across the globe. However, delta variant infection rates soared during the month, especially in unvaccinated populations, which dampened sentiment and global growth...
July 2021 Market Review and Outlook
Monthly Market Review for July 2021 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US equity markets forged new all-time highs in July despite fears of a slowdown in global economic growth due to the delta variant of Covid. A bipartisan infrastructure bill made its way through the House and...
June 2021 Market Review and Outlook
Monthly Market Recap - June 2021 -Darren Leavitt, CFA US financial markets were able to rally to new records in June despite a more hawkish Federal Reserve and rhetoric that suggested the US economy had seen peak growth and peak inflation expectations. A flattening...
May 2021 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Financial Markets ended the month of May with mixed results. A prominent rotational trade was again present throughout the month. Inflation was top of mind and debated by investors as some economic data fueled concerns of a systemic increase in...
March 2021 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA A prominent rotational trade out of mega-cap growth stocks into value-oriented cyclical issues extended US equity indices gains in March. Covid-19 inoculations continued to ramp up in the US as broader segments of the population became eligible...
January 2021 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Financial markets started 2021 in strong form but lost some ground in the final week of trade. Covid-19 vaccines continued to be developed, and inoculations continued to be administered to front line workers and the elderly. A light at the end...
December 2020 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Financial markets rallied in December on the prospects and ultimate agreement of another tranche of Coronavirus stimulus. Covid-19 vaccine emergency use approvals from the FDA aided market sentiment even as daily infection rates,...
November 2020 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Global markets rallied in November. A historic US election played out as one of Wall Street’s best-case scenarios. Three effective Covid-19 vaccines were announced over the month, which further stocked investor enthusiasm. Third-quarter earnings...
October 2020 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Global financial markets had mixed performances in October. Investors were hoping for another tranche of stimulus from Washington, but the politicians were too far apart to get a deal done in the end. The US Presidential election continued to...
August 2020 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Global equity markets continued their ascent in August. Developed international markets increased by 4.72%, while emerging markets increased by 2.89%. The S&P rose 7.01%, the Dow gained 7.57%, the tech-heavy NASDAQ led gains with a 9.59%...
July 2020 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Covid-19 infections continued to hobble the reopening of specific geographies around the world, while efforts to produce a vaccine continued to show positive progress. Central banks were reasonably quiet during the month, keeping policy rates low...
June 2020 Market Review and Outlook
-Darren Leavitt, CFA The financial markets continued to be volatile throughout June but were ultimately able to build upon May’s gains. Optimism surrounding the reopening of the global economy fueled investor’s risk appetite for cyclical issues such as financials and...
May 2020 Market Review
-Darren Leavitt, CFA Financial Markets continued to rebound nicely in May as economies around the globe started to reopen. There were also constructive news headlines related to effective coronavirus therapies and positive data on some early-stage results for...
April 2020 Market Review
April 2020 Market Review -Darren Leavitt, CFA Global markets continued to rebound in April as global governments and central banks added more stimulus to combat the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19. Developed markets outperformed emerging markets, and growth...
Mid-April Market Update
Mid-April 2020 Market Update - David Young, CFA We vividly recall the financial crisis of 2008. The economy was quickly contracting, several financial institutions required bailouts, layoffs abounded, and the stock market plunged. But we weren’t grappling with fear...
January 2020 Market Review
January 2020 Market Review -Darren Leavitt, CFA The markets started January with nice gains but gave back some of those gains later in the month on concerns related to the spread of the novel coronavirus and its effect on the global economy. During the month, the US...