Hope you are all doing well. The major U.S. stock indexes traded in a narrow range for the fourth week in a row. The NASDAQ was up 0.4% for the week, the Dow down 0.2%, and the S&P 500 essentially flat. The S&P 500 posted its fourth monthly gain out of the past five months, adding about 2.6% in August. The NASDAQ outperformed, rising 3.9%, while the Dow gained 1.3%. Gloria Steinem passed away this week; I broke down this week’s update using some of her notable quotes.
Decisions are best made by the people affected by them.
The Federal Reserve’s dual mandate means its decisions are dictated by the labor market and inflation. To the end, we found out the U.S. labor market’s summer slowdown reversed course in August. Friday’s monthly labor market report showed a monthly gain of 162,000 jobs. That marks a sharp turnaround from July’s upwardly adjusted figure of 21,000 jobs added. The August gain was roughly triple the number of jobs most economists had forecast. It is the largest in five months. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%.
Once we give up searching for approval, we often find it easier to earn respect.
Despite the threats from the President, the Fed has held its independence. The market reflects respect for that independence. The President’s comments didn’t impact Treasury yields. Yields of U.S. 2- and 10-year Treasuries climbed to year-to-date highs of 4.39% and 4.80%, respectively, on Tuesday before pulling back slightly later in the week. At the longer end of the yield curve, the 30-year note closed at 5.24% on Friday, just below a recent peak of 5.31% and near the highest level in two decades.
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