DAILY INSIGHTS
Stocks slightly lower after Monday’s solid gains. The five-day rally in the S&P 500 Index at 17.4% was the second best in the index’s history, suggesting a pause may be in order. The latest COVID-19 news is focused on whether hotspots, including Italy, Spain, and New York, have seen the worst of the outbreak, while support for a fourth fiscal stimulus package is building. Continue reading
Market Blog
The big equity bounce has continued, with the S&P 500 Index up more than 17% from the multi-year lows hit last Monday. The big question on many investors’ minds is could this be a bear market rally? After all, some of the most spectacular short-term bounces took place during bear markets. Continue reading
Market Blog
Initial jobless claims came in at a record 3.3 million last week, exceeding most economist estimates. In our latest LPL Street View video, LPL Financial Chief Investment Officer Burt White breaks down big number, but also focuses on some numbers that are more important.
DAILY INSIGHTS
Another big week. Stocks opened higher on the heels of huge gains last week. President Trump extended the CDC’s social distancing guidelines through April, as there has been success with containment strategies in Seattle, and China saw no new cases in Wuhan for a sixth straight day. Continue reading
Economic Blog
We’ve been closely monitoring the details in our Road to Recovery Playbook over the past few weeks, looking for ways to opportunistically take advantage of the sharp pullback in equity prices. The Playbook consists of five factors we are scrutinizing in order to gauge progress toward the market’s bottoming process and to signal an appropriate time to get more aggressive with equity allocations. One of those factors emphasizes whether we believe there is visibility into the probability and severity of a US recession. Continue reading
DAILY INSIGHTS
Markets giving up some gains into the weekend. Following the historic run over the past three days, US equities are lower in early trading Friday. The United States now has more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than China, though far fewer deaths. The stimulus package is expected to pass through the House of Representatives today before heading to the White House for President Trump’s signature, though if any lawmaker objects to the special “voice vote,” a delay remains a possibility. Continue reading
Market Blog
With the major stock market indexes all entering a bear market this month, it’s no surprise that stocks have stolen most of the spotlight. However, actions taken by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to support what may be considered the safest part of the bond market, US Treasuries, may actually have more lasting implications for investors’ portfolios. Continue reading
DAILY INSIGHTS
Sell the news. Stocks reversed earlier losses this morning and traded higher this morning after the Senate approved the roughly $2 trillion fiscal stimulus package and markets digested the unprecedented surge in weekly jobless claims. Wednesday’s gains marked the first two-day win streak for the S&P 500 Index in more than a month, after tying its longest streak without back-to-back up days since WWII. Continue reading
Economic Blog
Weekly new jobless claims were reported this morning, and to no one’s surprise they rose to levels thought unimaginable just a few weeks ago. As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, 3.3 million people filed new claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending March 21, almost 5 times the previous high of 695,000 set in 1982. Continue reading
Market Blog
We’ve been monitoring the details in our Road to Recovery Playbook closely over the past few weeks, looking for ways to opportunistically take advantage of the sharp pullback in equity prices. The Playbook has five important factors we are scrutinizing in order to be more aggressive with equity allocations. Continue reading