Notes from the Research Desk

Stocks rallied for the second consecutive week as a string of strong economic data releases boosted stock prices globally. The big bounce in the US jobs report and increased M&A activity were the main drivers of performance this week as broad equities closed just shy of record highs.

Still, we expect stocks to remain in a trading range with elevated volatility. Fundamentals are not sufficient to drive a sustainable upside break-out, and many unresolved risks remain (i.e. oil, China, “Brexit” fall out, US Presidential election). We expect a better fundamental outlook for 2017 to coincide with the conclusion of the elections to drive an uptrend.

The expected free-for-all in NBA free agency lived up to the hype with incredible amounts of new deal tv cash spent on players. The Lakers added a couple of big bodied vets to compliment their roster of young talent and the we're all curious to see what the post-Kobe team can do. The Clippers, meanwhile, stood pat and look about the same as last season. NFL training camp begins at the end of July!