Stocks post fourth week of gains on trade talk progress, U.S. corporate earnings
US: S&P 500 Index +2.9%, Dow +3.0%, Nasdaq +2.7%
Europe: STOXX Europe 600 +2.3%, German DAX +2.9% France CAC 40 +2.0%, U.K. FTSE 100 -1.2%
Asia: Japan Nikkei +1.5%, China Shanghai Composite +1.7%, Korea KOSPI +2.4%
Rates/Commodities: 10-Year Treasury yield +6 basis points to 2.73%, WTI crude oil +1.2%, COMEX gold: +0.35%
We appreciate the opportunity to continue exchanging ideas and information with LPL advisors on social media. Here are some shares from December, when volatility spiked:
Daily Insights
Stocks continue to grind higher. Major indexes opened higher today, with the S&P 500 Index already posting gains in three of the four days so far this week. The volatility that has marked the last three months has been nowhere to be found so far in 2019, Continue reading
The U.S. government is in Day 27 of a partial government shutdown, now the longest in history.
Past shutdowns have largely been a nonevent for the U.S. economy and stocks. Business and consumer confidence indicators usually decline and government spending drops during a shutdown, but any losses have typically been recouped quickly. As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, U.S. stocks have also historically fared well after shutdowns, showing that any economic impact wasn’t enough to derail market rallies.
Daily Insights
EM still looks like a better value than Europe. The MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index and S&P 500 Index are both trading at 5-6% discounts to their 25 year averages, while Europe is trading in line with its average, on a forward price-to-earnings ratio (PE) basis. Continue reading
Daily Insights
No deal. Yesterday was another bump in the road for Brexit after more than two-thirds of the U.K. Parliament voted against British Prime Minister Theresa May’s separation deal. Continue reading
Yesterday’s U.K. Parliament vote was another bump in the road for Brexit.
As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, the British pound and the euro have steadily declined over the past few months, weighed down in large part by pessimism around British Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed plan for a European Union (EU) exit (or Brexit) Continue reading
Credit stress among banks has remained relatively calm recently, signaling an economic recession may not be as imminent as some investors fear.
Daily Insights
Treasury yield curve steepens, spread to investment grade widens. The Treasury yield curve steepened over the past week despite recent data suggesting global economic activity, particularly in China, ticked lower. Continue reading
Fourth quarter earnings reporting season begins this week with about three dozen S&P 500 companies set to report results. The action kicked off this morning with Citigroup’s numbers, which will be followed by several other major banks later in the week, as well as a smattering of results from some consumer and industrial companies. So what does corporate America have in store for us?