Brad mcMillan

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) traded slightly higher Friday morning after the Labor Department reported its second straight disappointing monthly jobs reports. The U.S. added just 194,000 jobs in September, falling well short of consensus economist estimates of 500,000 jobs. The U...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) finished the month of September down 4.8%. While that’s far from a stock market crash, the September pullback was notable for several reasons. The Numbers: September was not only the worst month of 2021, it was also the worst month for the S&P...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) has rallied 2.4% in the last two days after the Federal reserve said on Wednesday that it could begin tapering its $128 billion in monthly asset purchases “soon.” The Fed’s commentary suggests the U.S. economy is now on strong enough...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) dipped lower Friday morning after the Labor Department reported one of the most disappointing monthly jobs reports in recent history. The U.S. added just 235,000 jobs in August, falling well short of consensus economist estimates of 720,000 jobs. The...

In a series of blog posts last week, Commonwealth Financial Network chief investment officer Brad McMillan discussed just what’s going on with labor shortages in the U.S. economy. The $300-per-week emergency federal unemployment supplement has taken a lot of the blame for the lack of...

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) reported a $4.8-billion loss in the first quarter from its exposure to U.S. hedge fund Archegos Capital. But many investors had never heard of Archegos until the fund blew up, severely impacting Credit Suisse, Nomura and a handful of media and tech stocks.. What Is Archegos...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) rallied once again on Thursday, and investors are clearly feeling optimistic about the economy’s near-term outlook after Democrats successfully gained control of the Senate earlier this week. While a Democratic “blue wave” in Washington...

The Past Week, In A Nutshell What Happened: Despite a volatile week, U.S. index futures managed to establish new all-time highs. Remember This: “In the longer term, the good news is that vaccines are now rolling out increasingly quickly,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at...

After a wild ride for the markets this yea,  the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) is on track to finish 2020 up 13.5% on the year. Given the ongoing pandemic, the stock market seems to be pricing in a lot of optimism about 2021, but Commonwealth Financial Network chief investment...

The Past Week, In A Nutshell What Happened: In light of hopes for a sustained economic rebound, U.S. broad market indices pushed to new all-time highs. Remember This: “[T]he third wave is now hitting the economy harder than we thought and that the damage is likely to keep adding up in coming...

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released employment data for the month of November, and the numbers were disappointing. Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know. What You Need To Know About The Jobs Report: The nonfarm payroll number came in at +245,000, well worse than...

The Past Week, In A Nutshell What Happened: Last week ended negative on relative weakness from the technology sector. Remember This: “August benefited from multiple tailwinds, resulting in one of the best Augusts on record. Those tailwinds look stretched and at risk, however,” said Brad...

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) was up another 1% on Wednesday to new all-time highs, while the underlying U.S. economy continues to struggle with a COVID-19-driven recession. The disconnect between the health of the economy and the bullish momentum in the stock market has baffled some...

The Last Week In A Nutshell What Happened: The S&P 500 experienced its best quarter since 1998, adding 20%. "A 20% quarterly gain is quite rare, but the catch is previous large quarterly gains have actually led to continued strength. In fact, a quarter later stocks have been higher...

In a year in which COVID-19 has devastated the U.S. economy, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) is now down just 2.5% year-to-date in the first half of the year. While investors are thankful for the resiliency of the stock market, Brad McMillan, Chief Investment Officer for Commonwealth...