Posts by Katherine Liola

Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, recaps the market and economic news for July. Overall, it was a good month for the markets. As July began, we saw strong job gains, declining layoff numbers, and rising consumer confidence and spending. Markets rose on this good news. But then infection counts went up, leading to state-level closures. This…

Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, recaps the market and economic news for June. It was a great month for the markets. In part, markets were reacting to progress on the viral front, with drops in the daily case growth rate and increased testing. They were also responding to the continued economic recovery. Millions of jobs returned,…

Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, recaps the market and economic news for May. Last month, we saw real progress in the coronavirus, which allowed the economy to begin reopening. Hundreds of thousands returned to work, people began to shop again, and confidence started to stabilize. In turn, U.S. markets rose to just above their long-term trend…

Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, recaps the market and economic news for April. In the U.S., markets were up by double digits. Still, the economic damage continued. Millions of jobs were lost, and businesses shut down. But we did see progress. The spread of the virus slowed, and testing increased. Plus, federal stimulus provided funds to…

Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, recaps the market and economic news for March. It was a terrible month for the financial markets, with the coronavirus driving the volatility. In the U.S., markets were down by double digits. Further, the economic damage began to emerge, with three million jobs lost in a week. In response, the government…