08 Jul 2005

Posted at 15:11h in The Friday Brief by
The economy is growing fast enough to create jobs, but not so fast to cause significant inflationary pressures.  The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 5% in June from 5.1% in May.  Cutbacks at auto factories kept the payroll growth of 146,000 new jobs, below the expected 200,000, but the last two months’ job growth numbers were revised significantly upward, improving the job growth picture. 

01 Jul 2005

Posted at 15:35h in The Friday Brief by
The quarter was remarkable on several fronts; the world mourned and buried a beloved Pope John Paul II, oil prices set new record highs (but not inflation-adjusted highs), but failed to derail corporate earnings which soundly beat analysts’ estimates, and corporate managers felt good enough about their futures to book some healthy acquisitions.  But after digesting three months of mixed economic news and promises of higher rates from the Fed, investors chose to be more optimistic.  During the quarter the S&P 500 gained 1.4% while the tech-heavy NASDAQ rose 3%.  The 30 Dow Jones Industrials didn’t fare so well dropping 1.6% during the same period.  Our three models performed very well in comparison.  Your quarterly reports are in the mail and are available on our website at http://www.beaconinvest.com

24 Jun 2005

Posted at 15:47h in The Friday Brief by
Until Monday, investors seemed little interested in rising oil prices.  But oil’s crossing of the $60.00 threshold rattled more than a few.  Stocks declined for the past four days as oil prices increased.  When the price of crude briefly crossed $60.00 yesterday for the second time this week on the New York Mercantile Exchange, even more headed for the exits.  FedEx didn’t help matters as they reported earnings that fell short of expectations; blaming high fuel process for some of their problem.  The DOW was down 1.6% and the broader S&P 500 was down a little over one percent.