Edward Jones - Mae Luchetti: Financial Advisor

The summer celebration in the stock market, to the tune of an impressive 19% rally from March through July, has given way to a new phase in which equities are almost exclusively reacting to interest-rate moves.* The midyear rally was powered by the...

The recent surge in interest rates has been the dominant driver across financial markets of late.

The Fed's new dot plot: One more rate hike left on the table, rate cut forecast reduced in 2024 Perhaps the key focus area for investors from last week's Fed meeting was the update to the "dot plot," or the FOMC's best estimate of where it sees the path..

For most of 2023, investors have got the best of both worlds as it relates to the evolving macroeconomic backdrop – above-trend economic growth supported by a resilient consumer, and still-high but steadily declining inflation.

Key Takeaways After a batch of softer employment figures two weeks ago, data last week offered a still-bright picture of the economy, with productivity and ISM services figures both consistent with ongoing growth.A steepening of the yield curve and...

Key Takeaways This past week, key datapoints around the U.S. jobs market presented a unified message: There are early signs of softening ahead in the labor market.

Last year, Fed Chair Powell dashed hopes for a swift end to the Fed's rate hikes.

Key Takeaways: After a steady rally from March through July, the market's mood has shifted more recently, with stocks falling last week, continuing what has been a rather weak August so far.

Some caution after a strong rally seems reasonable here After a remarkably strong rally to start the year, markets have given back a bit in August thus far, with the S&P 500 down around 3% since its recent high on July 31.

Fitch downgraded U.S. government credit, shining a spotlight on the growing federal debt burden.