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This week the economy gave investors good news and a bit of a headache, both at once. Stocks liked that. The S&P 500 gained 1.2% and the Nasdaq rose 2.0%, including a record high on Tuesday. Now the headache.
By Ramie Khalil
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Oil stayed above $100 a barrel. Chip stocks took a sharp hit in a single day. And yet... the market ended the week surprisingly calm.
By Ramie Khalil
September has a reputation. It has seasonally earned its spot as one of the more volatile months of the year, and last week did nothing to change that. When oil moves, everything that has to be made, shipped or moved moves with it.
By Ramie Khalil
July is usually a strong month for stocks. This year, it wasn't. Here's the simple version. The market didn't move in one direction. It split. The Dow finished with its fourth winning month in a row. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both went the other way.
By Ramie Khalil
Last week the market did something that surprised a lot of people. It went up. That may not sound like a big deal, but think about everything it had to walk through to get there. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran flared back up. Oil prices jumped. And through all of it, the market kept its footing and pushed higher. Here is the simple version of what happened, and why The Fortress Financial team is watching it so closely.
By Ramie Khalil
Markets didn't exactly do what a lot of people expected this past week. After the US-Iran ceasefire, the result wasn't the outcome many were looking for. Both the S&P and NASDAQ pulled back, with the NASDAQ closing down 4.59% and the S&P falling a more modest 1.94%. Sometimes the market just doesn't follow the script.
By Ramie Khalil
Last week we finally saw a more meaningful pullback in the market. The S&P 500 dropped about 5%... and then nearly erased the entire move by Friday. We closed down less than a quarter of a percent from where we opened Monday morning. The index found support right above 7,200 and bounced. What caught my attention was what led the recovery. It wasn't just the usual mega-cap stocks. The broader market and small caps actually led the way. That is what we want to see in a healthy bull market.
By Ramie Khalil
For nine straight weeks, the stock market kept hitting record highs — something that's only happened four times in the last 40 years. Last Friday, that streak ended with one of the sharpest single-day drops since April 2025. Here's what happened, and what to watch next.
By Ramie Khalil
The stock market just wrapped up its 9th consecutive week of gains, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh record highs. If you've been sitting on the sidelines wondering whether now is the right time to pay attention to your investments — the answer is yes.
By Ramie Khalil
The markets kept climbing last week, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting record highs. This week is a shorter trading week, but don't let that fool you — the economic calendar is packed with major data that could shape the Federal Reserve's thinking heading into the June FOMC meeting.
By Ramie Khalil
Last week was a mix of new highs followed by closing lows. The Dow crossed 50,000 for the first time since February. The S&P 500 pushed above 7,500 for the first time in its history. By Friday's close, those gains had largely reversed. Moves like this are to be expected when markets get too extended.
By Ramie Khalil
Last week was one of the biggest weeks of the year for the stock market. Between major earnings reports, the Federal Reserve weighing in on interest rates, and fresh economic data, there was a lot happening at once. The short version: the market liked what it heard.
By Ramie Khalil
In the short term, the market is a voting machine — reactive, emotional, swayed by headlines. In the long term, it is a weighing machine — patient, fundamental, indifferent to noise. This past week was a lesson in exactly that.
By Ramie Khalil