In a surprise (and rare—this marks the first since the financial crisis) inter-meeting move, the Federal Reserve issued an emergency 50-basis point rate cut yesterday to help stabilize the markets. It provided a short-lived boost, but the markets plunged again by the end of the day to erase much of Monday’s rally…

After a straight week of market losses, there were some signs of stabilization this morning—the question is whether it will last or amount to a head-fake. The S&P 500® Index at least has crossed into oversold territory, and central banks look to be taking notice…

It’s no secret: this has been the worst week for U.S. stocks since the financial crisis. U.S. indices have entered correction territory—the fastest correction on record for the S&P 500—and the U.S. market outperformance comparable to the rest of the world is rapidly narrowing. But, like greed caused the market to be overbought at its highs, is fear now leading to overselling?

The markets may have kicked off this week with a severe case of the Mondays (okay, and the Tuesdays…), but is the situation as bad as it’s being made out to be? The ACWI’s certainly seen worse days in the past ten years, and we’ve spoken more than once now about how valuations were getting overheated. Could a pullback be just what the doctor ordered?

The forward price-to-equity (P/E) ratio for the S&P 500 index was about 19.5 late last week, passing the 19% mark for the first time in nearly 20 years. This marks a 17% year-over-year gain… should we be concerned for what that indicates about earnings?

While the S&P 500 has remained fairly “energized” throughout recent periods of geopolitical and epidemiological uncertainty, the index’s energy sector has failed to live up to its name for quite some time now. The broad Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (a.k.a XLE—though good luck googling it…) is down nearly 20% over the trailing 12 months, and U.S. energy stocks haven’t underperformed the S&P 500 by this wide a margin in nearly 80 years.

The S&P 500 had a record year in 2019 and may still be hovering around all-time highs, but it looks like (when it comes to 4Q19 earnings per share growth, at least) credit is owed exclusively to just five companies… and the names will likely come as no surprise. Value hasn’t been this concentrated among just five stocks since the tech bubble; are we in danger of history repeating itself?

Happy Valentine’s Day, Fireside Charts readers! If your wallet’s feeling a little light this week, you aren’t alone; U.S. farm bankruptcies keep climbing and hit an eight-year high in 2019. The U.S. farmer has been struggling for a long time now and saw a ray of hope with the recent signing of the Phase One trade deal with China—and its provisions for boosted agricultural trade…

The number of U.S. job openings fell short of expectations to hit a two-year low in December, reigniting fears of a softening economy. This marks the second significant decline in a row and a 14% (1 million+) year-over-year drop. The S&P 500 may be continuing to reach new highs, but we’re fairly sure the state of the job market has the Fed’s (and Claudia Sahm’s) ears perked up.

While the S&P 500 is as “energized” as ever, the energy sector itself has been struggling; it was the worst performer in 2019 and declined 11% in the past month, making it the only negative S&P 500 sector in that period. Will the bad times keep rolling or could the sector be poised for revitalization?