Craig Birk | TalkMarkets | Page 3
Executive Vice President of Portfolio Management at Personal Capital
My professional passion is helping individuals and families get the most from their money. Much of my career centered on generating alpha (beating a benchmark) for high net worth investors and big institutions. While relative performance remains incredibly important over time, my focus has evolved ...more

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Q1 2019 Market Commentary: Review & Outlook
Funding raised from IPOs is expected to approach or surpass $100 billion in 2019, a level last seen just before the dot-com crash.
Capital Markets Review & Commentary: March 2019
The 2019 rally marched on, with global stocks nearly erasing losses incurred in Q4. However, gains in March accumulated at a slower pace were more concentrated. Bonds continued to impress, as investors drove yields lower.
Weekly Market Digest: Apple And Amazon Stocks Up This Week
US stocks powered ahead, driven by technology companies. International stocks remained flat as the dollar strengthened and trade talks returned to the headlines.
Weekly Market Digest: Musk Considers Taking Tesla Private
A sell-off on Friday wiped out gains for the week and left US stocks modestly lower for the week. In part due to a strengthening dollar, international stocks fared worse and are now down 4.2% for the year widening the gap with US stocks to over 11%.
Capital Markets Review & Commentary: Earnings Growth Trumps Trade Conflict
In the first week of the month, tariffs went into effect on $34 billion of Chinese goods, and in the second week, President Trump announced intention to levy duties on an additional $200 billion.
Weekly Market Digest: Apple Becomes The First $1 Trillion Company
US stocks rose and International stocks fell driven in part by strong US earnings and by increased selling pressure on emerging markets stocks when trade war news intensifies. Strong results from Apple stemmed the selling pressure in tech stocks.
Q2 2018 Market Recap: Trade War Talk Casts A Shadow On Strong Earnings Growth
For Q2, US stocks were up 3.9% (VTI) and international stocks were down 3.5% (VEU​). US bonds were roughly flat as the Fed marched forward with its plan to slowly raise interest rates and normalize its balance sheet.
Weekly Market Digest: How Will Mid-Term Elections Impact The Market?
Earnings season moved into full swing with several major financial companies announcing mixed results. Perhaps due to reduced trade concerns, small caps lagged, but still remain ahead of large caps for the year.
Capital Markets Review & Commentary - Tuesday, July 10
Generally speaking, escalation and new tariffs pushed markets down while conciliatory comments raised the tide.
Weekly Market Digest: Stocks Rise Despite Escalating Trade War
US stocks (VTI) rose 1.7% for the week and international stocks (VEU) rose 0.7% as investors started to accept that this trade war will play out over a long period of time and it's just one factor among many in economic growth and securities prices.
International Stocks Take A Hit At The Close Of The Second Quarter
Stocks finished lower as ongoing trade tensions weighed on investor sentiment. The president said he would curb Chinese investment in US companies but communications out of Washington the rest of the week sent mixed messages.
Capital Markets Review & Commentary - June 9
With a sizzling earnings season wrapped up, investor focus in May shifted to geopolitical issues. An overall theme was change and inconsistency. With China, threats of tariffs and trade war oscillated with glimmers of compromise and agreement.
Weekly Market Digest: Tech Sector Sees Strong Gains
For the year, the tech sector is up a little over 12% while the S&P 500 is up a little less than 5%. That means tech accounts for about 60% of the gains.
Weekly Market Digest: Italian Bonds In Crisis
Amid all of the geopolitical headlines it can be easy to overlook the fact that companies are producing record profits and the economy is chugging along. This week’s jobs report shows strength and a good middle ground for wage growth.
Tesla And Tianqi Strike Lithium Deals, Brent Crude Hits $80 Per Barrel
Global markets seesawed over the last five days as investors grappled with many of the same headlines, including North Korea, Iran, increasing bond yields and rebounding oil. Virtually all asset classes other than commodities ended the week lower.
Oil Prices Continue To Rise As The U.S. Exits The Iran Nuclear Accord
Equity investors overlooked President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord and pushed stocks higher. Energy prices rose with increased tensions, with Brent crude oil prices hitting $77 a barrel.
33 to 48 of 86 Posts