November 2021

Earlier this week energy consumers witnessed a war of wills between energy consuming nations, led by the U.S., and the energy producers of OPEC+.  The oil consumer group, in response to rising oil prices (+60% since the start of 2021) and a lack of additional supply from OPEC+, recently announced a plan to release a portion of their strategic petroleum reserves.  OPEC+, in turn, stated they would meet such release with a cut in production.  All of this be

Wells Fargo Asset Management recently announced a rebranding of their mutual fund business, as a part of their sale to GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners. Effective on or about December 6^th, all of their mutual funds will drop the Wells Fargo name and will be rebranded as Allspring.

After a disappointing September, U.S. stocks soared to new highs in October, advancing by just over 7%. Returns were largely driven by positive earnings news for Q3, where more than 80% of companies have thus far reported a positive earnings surprise. This figure comes in well above the long-term average of closer to 65%. Fixed income markets ended the month slightly negative, as the curve flattened, with rates at the shorter end of the curve increasing, while the yield on the 30-year bond declined.