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The markets finished the first half of the year in unprecedented territory. The S&P 500 is positive 15.29% year-to-date, the Nasdaq is positive 18.57% year-to-date and the Dow is positive 4.79%. The bond index is down 0.71%. People used to say if the U.S. sneezes,...

While April brought much-needed showers to Texas, the markets, which had been on fire for much of the previous 8 months, also had a little water tossed on them. The S&P 500 finished April down 3.27%, the NASDAQ was down 3.59% and the Dow finished down 3.46%....

While February had a few pause days, overall, the markets were very good. The Nasdaq Composite led the march higher in February, gaining 6.1% and finishing the month at its first record close since November 2021. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P...

For the first month of the year, the markets seemed very resilient until the final trading day, when the indices gave up .8% on the Dow, 1.6% on the S&P 500 and 2.23% on the NASDAQ. The 10-year Treasury dipped just below 4% on the final trading day. More about...

The month of December was good for the markets with the three major indices all riding an 8-week winning streak to end the year. The NASDAQ finished the year positive 44.6% while the S&P 500 was up 24.6% for the year and the...

For the month of November, the NASDAQ finished up 10.7% for the month. The S&P 500 was up 8.7% for the month while the Dow was up 8.8% for the month. The market reacted strongly to the Fed’s comments earlier in the month stating that they were on hold for now. I...

For the month of October, the NASDAQ finished down 2.8% for the month. The S&P 500 was down 2.2% for the month while the Dow was down 1.36% for the month. Of course, the big news this month is the escalation of combat between Israel and Hamas. While this creates a...

After a rough August the markets continued their downward trend with the S&P 500 losing 4.87% after the loss of 3% in August. The S&P finished the 3rd quarter down 3.65% but remains positive 11.68% year-to-date. The Dow Jones Industrial Average similarly...

August was not kind in the markets. The S&P 500 is down more than 3% this month, the Nasdaq Composite fell just over 5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 3%. Throughout the bull market dating back to 2009, Brian Wesbury the Chief Economist for First...