Commonwealth Financial Network

Stocks are poised for a seventh consecutive session of gains on Friday, driven by the traditional year-end Santa Claus rally. As the market eyes potential robust gains in the remaining nine sessions of the year, the upcoming quadruple witching session introduces an element of volatility, given the...

The third-quarter reporting season starts in earnest this week, with some high-profile names from the financial and tech spaces in the earnings mix. Mixed Expectations: S&P 500 earnings will likely increase for the first time in a year, according to FactSet. The blended year-over-year earnings...

U.S. housing starts in May saw the highest increase since 2016, along with an uptick in applications to build, indicating a rejuvenation of residential construction. What Happened: Data issued by the Federal Reserve of St. Louis showed a 21.7% jump in the initiation of home construction, reaching...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) is off to a strong start to 2023, but history suggests the second half of February could be a difficult road for the market. After a difficult December and a horrible overall 2022, the stock market rallied in January as fears over inflation subsided....

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) traded lower Friday after the Labor Department reported strong U.S. jobs market numbers from November. The U.S. added 263,000 jobs in November, beating average economist estimates of 200,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7%, in-line with...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) traded higher Friday after the Labor Department reported strong U.S. jobs market numbers from October. The U.S. added 261,000 jobs in October, beating average economist estimates of 205,000 jobs. The unemployment rate increased 0.2% to 3.7%, above...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) traded lower Friday after the Labor Department reported strong U.S. jobs market numbers from September. The U.S. added 263,000 jobs in September, beating average economist estimates of 250,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell 0.2% to 3.5%, below consensus...

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its target Fed funds rate by 0.75% in June and July in an attempt to get inflation under control. Investors wondering if the Fed will pull the trigger on a third 0.75% hike at its next meeting in September got some key inflation data on Wednesday morning...

There's no question 2022 has been a brutal year so far for investors. With the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) down nearly 20% year-to-date, Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, recently compiled the Commonwealth team's economic and market...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) traded lower by 1% on Tuesday after the latest reading of consumer confidence suggests U.S. shoppers are taking notice of rising prices and falling stocks. What Happened: The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped from 103.2 in May to...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) dropped 2.5% and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE: DIA) dropped 2.4% on Thursday morning after Russia launched an attack against Ukraine. What Happened? Russia invaded Ukraine overnight, with reports of missile strikes and...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) traded lower by 0.2% Friday morning after the Labor Department reported encouraging U.S. jobs market numbers from January. The U.S. added 467,000 jobs in January, beating consensus economist estimates of 150,000 jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate ticked...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) traded higher by 0.4% on Wednesday morning after the Labor Department reported a 7% increase in the consumer price index in the month of December, the fastest inflation growth since 1982. What Happened: The headline CPI rose 7% in November, in-line with...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) traded lower by 0.3% Friday morning after the Labor Department reported disappointing U.S. jobs market numbers from December. The U.S. added 199,000 jobs in December, missing consensus economist estimates of 422,000 jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate fell to...

Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, recently released his 2022 Market and Economic Outlook report. One of the main themes of this year’s report: the return to normal for the market and the economy in 2022 that McMillan is expecting, and what it will...