Market Thoughts for August 2020

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Brad McMillan, Commonwealth’s CIO, recaps the market and economic news for July. Overall, it was a good month for the markets. As July began, we saw strong job gains, declining layoff numbers, and rising consumer confidence and spending. Markets rose on this good news. But then infection counts went up, leading to state-level closures. This shift hit hiring and confidence, slowing the recovery. As a result, several market indices declined from their midmonth levels. Should we expect more volatility ahead? Stay tuned to find out. Follow Brad at blog.commonwealth.com/independent-market-observer.