Market Commentary

Is the Home Improvement Boom Dead?

Aug 18, 2022

This week we received second quarter results from home improvement giants Home Depot1 and Lowe’s2. Results for these companies are important because they can be useful barometers for the health of the US housing market, the US consumer and the US economy at large ...

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Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth

Aug 11, 2022

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released their monthly Consumer Price Index report Wednesday morning, and boy did the markets like what they saw. Inflation was 0.0% for the month. Huzzah! Inflation is defeated! Even the sky isn’t a limit! Well, not so fast. Certainly the CPI report is a positive development after two ...

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Know the Arguments!

Aug 4, 2022

I had a conversation with a client the other day, and he made a comment that made me think. He said he can’t stand to watch the cable financial news channels anymore. I asked why, and he said that he is tired of hearing all the negativity about the economy and he doesn’t believe any of the positive commentary...

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Are You Strapped In?

Jul 28, 2022

Stocks took off like a rocket ship on Wednesday with the S&P 500 up 2.6% and the Nasdaq up over 4%. What’s interesting about yesterday’s rally is that it followed a day on which the S&P 500 fell 1.3% and the Nasdaq fell 1.9%. What are we to make of all this volatility? How could sentiment change so quickly in a day?...

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Making a Tough Call

Jul 21, 2022

I often get asked whether or not I see a recession coming. I have no crystal ball, but my answer has been that the likelihood is high. The evidence supporting that call is accumulating by the day, and it seems to more than offset the factors that could keep us out of a technical recession. In recent presentations...

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Inflation, Inflation, Inflation

Jul 13, 2022

Prices continue to rise at a pace not seen since the early 1980’s. In fact, it’s been so long since inflation was such a pervasive problem that many folks are living through it for the first time. It appears that the forces that kept inflation at bay for so long – globalization, the coming of age of the baby boomers, the decline...

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The News Isn't All Bad

Jul 6, 2022

Following the worst half for stocks since 1970, it’s hard to find good news. But there is some. Stock valuations haven’t been this attractive for quite a while. Except for a very short-lived blip after COVID arrived in March, 2020, we’d have to go back to mid-2019 to find stocks as attractive as they now appear to be...

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Angered by Facts

Jun 30, 2022

There is a running group conversation on Twitter during every live TV program including the CNBC shows. All sorts of people react in real-time to whatever pundits and talking-heads have to say. The comments are positive and negative, but the negative comments are often scathing...

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Raise the Rates and Slow the Economy - Housing Gets Hit First

Jun 23, 2022

Investors looking to put new money to work in bonds have reason to cheer. It’s now possible to get a positive inflation-adjusted return on Treasury bonds. Imagine that! We no longer have to lose purchasing power when we lend money to the US government! Aren’t we lucky!...

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Storm Strategies – Fed Hikes 75 Basis Points

Jun 15, 2022

Well, this certainly isn’t much fun! It has been quite a while since there’s been a Bear Market in the US. There was a brief one in December of 2018, but then the Fed began lowering interest rates (again) and shares quickly rebounded. This time, the Fed doesn’t really have that option...

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Why Inflation Is Not Likely Long for This World

Jun 8, 2022

This Friday we will receive the May reading for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Just about everyone thinks this data point has more potential to move the markets than any other this week. I even heard one commentator on Bloomberg TV say this morning that “the trading week begins...

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What’s Ahead for the Markets in 2021

Jan 26, 2021

While the first month of 2021 may not have been the clean slate many were hoping for, the markets, at least, finally have some clarity. Joe Biden is our 46th president, and although the blue wave in Georgia was a bit of a surprise...

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Our Thoughts on the Market

Oct 2, 2020

We wanted to touch base on the markets following the news that the President and First Lady have tested positive for COVID 19. History has shown that markets can react negatively in the short term to uncertainty...

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2020 CARES ACT RMD Letter

Apr 8, 2020

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (H.R. 748), also known as the CARES Act, is a law meant to address the economic fallout of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

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Market Impact of Coronavirus

Mar 23, 2020

As the world digests the news of stoppages in travel, and postponements of events, equity markets are correcting sharply and have fallen into bear market territory. It can be alarming and frustrating to watch the balance of your hard-earned savings fluctuate wildly.

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Our Thoughts on the Recent Market Correction

Mar 11, 2020

After a weekend of continued news of uncertainty about the coronavirus and tensions in oil markets, global equity indexes have started off the week in the red. We suspect this volatility will continue in the face of a pandemic ...

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Economic Impact of Coronavirus

Feb 28, 2020

We at White Pine Wealth Management wanted to take a moment to comment on the economic impact of the coronavirus as seen in the recent market decline. COVID-2019 (also known as 'nCov' or 'coronavirus') first gained public attention...

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