Like a host at a dinner party, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) put the performance of the U.S. economy on the table last week to be gnawed over by world markets.  Our weekly market commentary reports that when the IMF presented its annual review of the world’s largest economy, it stated that: “Despite some improvements in [...]

Like a funhouse mirror, investors’ concerns about whether and when the Federal Reserve will begin to end its quantitative easing program contorted market responses to economic news last week. Our weekly market commentary describes how unexceptional economic reports were treated as good news and pushed stock markets higher.  Strong economic reports were treated as bad [...]

Last week, investors and traders obsessed about the Federal Reserve and the possibility it might begin to end its quantitative easing program. The Fed began its first round of quantitative easing during the financial crisis in an effort to prop up the American economy.  In general, quantitative easing helps increase money supply and promote lending [...]