Every Monday, for the last year or more, I've been providing my Instagram followers and Family Finance Moms group members with a detailed, weekly market update. It covers market performance, key economic indicators, both leading and lagging, as well as financial news highlights from the week before and what to anticipate in the week ahead.
Going forward, I will now publish all the same market update content here on the blog. This is for ease of readability and more permanent accessibility given your feedback. You can also find more in-depth Economic Recovery Tracking post from 2020 with lengthier historical context here, as well as a State of the Economic Recovery as of Fall 2021 here.
S3-4: Q3 GDP Surprise, Bear Market Rally & A Deep Dive on How to Get Scholarships for College
Thank you for sharing! 0 shares Share Tweet Pin LinkedIn Reddit Email Print Mix As October neared its close last week, markets rallied to post positive monthly returns for just the third time this year. Is it a bear market rally or have we seen the bottom and are we on our way to recovery? Behind the rally? We had a positive Q3 GDP surprise and a range of data points from Q3 earnings. After that, we will take a deep dive on how to find scholarships for college with scholarship expert and author, Jean O’Toole. While everyone else is…
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S3-3: What is OPEC, the Labor Market & A Deep Dive on the Importance of Understanding Our Economy
It was another eventful week for the markets and global economy last week. OPEC+ made waves economically and politically with its announcement to cut oil production, major employment releases sent mixed messages on the labor market, and more on the Twitter / Musk buyout as the saga continues. To learn more on all of these, including what is OPEC, along with a deep dive with our Q4 FFM Book Club author Howard Yaruss on the importance of understanding our economy, read on or listen to the full episode of Finance Explained below. What’s Moving Markets? Early last week, the stock…
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S3-2: Bear Market, the British Pound & A Deep Dive on Estate and Will Planning
It feels like I start every week off this way lately, but last week was a newsworthy one for financial markets in many ways. All major US stock indices – the Dow, S&P 500, and the Nasdaq – are all firmly in bear market territory. Market volatility continues to remain high, and last week was exacerbated by a plunge in the British Pound, reflecting investors’ concerns around the new Prime Minister’s fiscal policy plans. And the PCE Price Index for August, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation released last Friday, showed little sign of inflation alleviating. I will dive into…
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S3-1: Is the US Economy Currently in a Recession?
After my annual summer hiatus, there’s one question I have been getting more than any other: are we in a recession? By traditional historical measures, knowing what happens during a recession, the short answer is likely yes. But the official group that declares recessions has not yet, so what are they waiting for? Here are the key data points I’ve been tracking this summer and what they tell us about the current state of the economy, the likelihood of a recession, and what you can do to protect your family through this phase of the economic cycle. Read on or…
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S2-20: Market Free Fall, April Inflation & Deep Dive on Why is Childcare So Expensive
Last week, we saw the 6th consecutive week of down markets, with both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ hitting new lows, as investors continue to digest the latest Fed rate hike and last week’s April inflation numbers. Catch it all on this week’s podcast, along with a deep dive on the childcare dilemma featuring three Early Childcare Center directors to talk about the challenges facing their industry, why is childcare so expensive, and the impact it has on the economy more broadly. Weekly Market Update Last week, the market continued its downward trend, finishing down -2.41%, the sixth consecutive week…
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S2-19: Bear Market, Q1 GDP Miss & A Deep Dive on Cryptocurrency and NFTs
Last week, we saw the 4th consecutive week of down markets, with April performance coming in as the worst month since March 2020 for the S&P 500, and the worst month for the NASDAQ since 2008. The week also included an expected decline in real GDP for Q1 2022, adding credibility to investors’ recession concerns. What’s behind it all and could a market bottom be near? Catch it all on this week’s podcast, along with a deep dive on the latest financial craze, cryptocurrency, and NFTs, with Dr. Merav Ozair, a FinTech professor at Rutgers Business School and leading global…
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S2-18: Market Correcting, Housing Update & A Deep Dive on US Agriculture and Rising Food Prices
On this week’s episode of Finance Explained, the market had its third consecutive down week this month and is now in correction mode and headed for bear market territory. I’ve got the latest on the housing market through March, as the spring selling season starts to pick up. And this week’s deep dive features a panel of 3 US agriculture experts to talk about what’s going on with farming, input prices, drought in the Western US, and the outlook for food prices in the US this year. Market Correction Last week, the market finished down for the third consecutive week…
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Market Update 4-4-2022
Last week, we saw the end of March, the end of the first quarter and the start of a new month. The market eked out a gain for the week, finished up for March, but had its worst quarterly performance since Q1 2020 at the start of the pandemic. In other economic news for the week, we also got an update from the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, the PCE Price Index, as well as an update on the March labor market. Catch it all on this week’s podcast, along with a deep dive with Mainvest CEO, Nick Mathews, an…
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Market Update 3-28-2022
Last week, the market rallied for the second week in a row, finishing the week up +1.8%, up +3.9% for March thus far, but still down -4.7% for the year. The big story of the week, however, was a major move in interest rates. Learn just how much interest rates are increasing, what’s driving it, and more in this week’s market update! Catch it all on this week’s podcast, along with a deep dive with Nicholle Overkamp, MBA, ChFC, CDFA, a Financial Planner and Retirement Planning Specialist, who will walk through the distinctions between planners, advisors and what to expect…
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