The Markets The bond market was not happy last week. The bond market typically doesn’t get as much attention as the stock market does, but it is a powerful force in the financial world. When a government, company, or other type of organization needs financing, it may issue a bond. In return for borrowing money, the bond issuer promises to pay a set amount of interest for a certain period and then return the lender’s money. The United States government issues a lot of bonds. It sells U.S....

The Markets Looking beneath the surface of the rally. Stock markets in the United States moved higher last week on enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI), strong corporate earnings, and signs of resilience in the U.S. economy, reported Connor Smith of Barron’s and Michael Msika of Bloomberg. What makes this rally interesting is not just its momentum, but also how unusual it is from a historic perspective. It’s rare for the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index to deliver four...

The Markets The stock market rally continued. April ended with the Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) and Nasdaq Composite Indexes at record-high levels, having delivered their best monthly returns since 2020, reported Connor Smith of Barron’s. In April, investors: Leaned into optimism, remaining hopeful for progress in the Middle East. Paul R. LaMonica of Barron’s reported, “Markets are looking beyond the Iran war to a year of healthy profits and stock gains. Investors in our latest Big...