DAILY INSIGHTS

LPL Financial closed April 10. Please note the stock and bond markets and LPL Financial will be closed Friday, April 10. We will return to our normal business schedule Monday, April 13.

Stocks reverse earlier losses, open nicely higher. Stocks are adding to Wednesday’s rally as the S&P 500 Index tries to build on its 23% bounce from the March 23 lows. The reversal higher ahead of the open was driven by $2.3 trillion in stimulus programs announced by the Federal Reserve (Fed) (discussed below). Beyond the massive policy response, market participants continue to focus on COVID-19 containment efforts, another surge in weekly jobless claims (also discussed below), and extreme volatility in the oil markets. Continue reading →

Market Blog

The economic damage inflicted by the current COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented, with thousands of businesses temporarily shuttered and millions of workers out of work. While the historic drop in economic activity is real and will be reflected in the second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers, some nuances in the way GDP is reported may be exaggerating the extent of the damage. Continue reading →

DAILY INSIGHTS

LPL Financial closed April 10. Please note the stock and bond markets and LPL Financial will be closed Friday, April 10. We will return to our normal business schedule Monday, April 13.

Bounce back. Stocks opened higher this morning after a big reversal Tuesday afternoon. New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Illinois all reported their highest daily death tolls on Tuesday, but the number of new cases and new hospital admissions in hot spots continued to decline. Continue reading →

Market Blog

Stocks have rallied nicely off the March 23 lows on the back of a bold policy response from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and lawmakers in Washington, DC, which was followed by signs that a peak in growth of COVID-19 cases may come soon. At Wednesday’s close, the S&P 500 Index stood 19% above the March 23 closing low but down 17.7% for the year. Continue reading →

Market Blog

Did the US economy go into a recession last month? According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) the answer is no, but we think there’s a good chance that will be revised after the fact to show the economy did indeed begin a recession in March 2020. Continue reading →

DAILY INSIGHTS

Strong rally extending into a second day. After rallying more than 7% to open the week Monday, the S&P 500 Index opened strongly again Tuesday on expectations that the COVID-19 pandemic is increasingly coming under control. Global stocks climbed overnight but trailed US gains. Uncertainty remains on how long social-distancing and quarantine measures will need to stay in place, and any good news is welcome after continued downward revisions to economic growth and earnings expectations. Continue reading →

Market Blog

Experiencing a major pullback in stocks is never a comfortable feeling. In times like these, we believe it can be helpful to set aside the daily headlines and keep perspective of how stocks have historically performed over the long term. After all, the majority of market participants are long-term investors, not day traders as the financial media would have its viewers believe. Continue reading →

DAILY INSIGHTS

Stocks surge on signs of COVID-19 stabilization. The S&P 500 Index opened more than 3% higher this morning, erasing all of last week’s losses on some early encouraging signs out of New York City that social distancing may have brought forward a potential peak in the growth rate of new cases. It’s only a day or two, and it’s only one city, but it is progress for the epicenter of the US outbreak. In Europe, more evidence emerged that the worst of their crisis may have passed, driving their markets sharply higher in midday trading. Continue reading →

Markets Blog

We continue to follow our Road to Recovery Playbook for guidance in assessing the market’s bottoming process. Continue reading →

Economic Blog

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly employment report this morning, showing the US jobs market posted its first month-over-month decline in March since September 2010. As seen in the chart below, total nonfarm payrolls fell by 701,000 during the March survey period, a sharp drop-off from what had been a sanguine trend. Continue reading →