Notes from the Trading Desk — A bi-monthly commentary that discusses current news and market observations.

As we enter the final trading sessions of 2024, U.S. equities are sitting on significant year-to-date gains. The S&P 500 has advanced just over 27% this year, while the Nasdaq Composite has surged more than 34%.

U.S. stocks continued their march higher during last week’s holiday-shortened trading week. The S&P 500 finished the week at a record high and closed out the month of November 5.73% higher, its best monthly performance of the year, closing higher for the...

A post-election surge in U.S. stocks drove major equity indices to all-time highs last week. The S&P 500 surpassed 6,000 and logged its 50th record high of the year, while the Dow Jones Industrials Average crossed 44,000 for the first time.

U.S. equities saw continued strength last week, building on recent momentum and pushing major indices to record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 notched fresh all-time highs, with the S&P 500 logging its 45th record high of the year...

The S&P 500 set fresh all-time highs last week, logging its 39th record close of the year, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and equal-weight S&P 500 also notched record closes. Major U.S. equity indices are coming off two straight weeks of...

Major U.S. equity indices finished out the month of August at or near all-time highs. The S&P 500 closed higher for a fourth-straight month despite starting August with a 6% decline in the first three trading days.

U.S. stocks recovered ground last week as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq broke a four-week losing streak and posted their best weekly performances since November 2023. The S&P 500 finished out the week on a seven-day winning streak and reclaimed its 50-day...

Market dynamics have changed quite a bit since our last edition of Notes from the Trading Desk was released at the end of June. The first week and a half of July saw continued strength in the largest technology stocks that market...

Markets experienced continued strength throughout the first few weeks of June as the S&P 500 logged its third consecutive weekly gain, up for the eighth week in the past nine. The benchmark index closed higher by 0.61% last week, bringing its month-to-date...

U.S. stocks closed out the month of May higher following a weak April. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged five consecutive weekly gains before closing lower the last week of May.

It has been a little over a month since the last edition of Notes from the Trading Desk was published and since then, US equity markets experienced their largest pullback since October of last year. The S&P 500 declined over 5% during...

Major U.S. equity indices are coming off a winning first quarter. The S&P 500 gained more than 10% in the quarter, a second straight double-digit quarterly percentage gain and its best start to the year since 2019.