Market Update: Wed, Jan 2, 2019 | LPL Financial Research

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What happened? Investors are still scratching their heads after a tumultuous Q4 that dragged the S&P 500 Index down >13% to finish 2018 in negative territory (-4.4%), its worst yearly return since 2008. To help you and your clients try to make sense of the market gyrations, we produced a Weekly Market Commentary and a Weekly Economic Commentary earlier this week to offer historical perspective on bear markets, compare the market’s fears and the economic realities, and provide our latest thoughts on fundamentals, the Federal Reserve, the government shutdown, and the potential durability of the market’s recent low. Today on the LPL Research blog, we’ll post a summary of the Weekly Economic Commentary, followed by a Weekly Market Commentary summary tomorrow.

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Market Update: Mon, Dec 31, 2018 | LPL Financial Research

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U.S., China talks progress as Chinese economic slowdown continues. In a tweet over the weekend, President Trump suggested that a “deal is moving along very well” after a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Though the president indicated “big progress is being made,” skeptics abound that a comprehensive agreement is imminent. Continue reading →

Weekly Market Drivers | LPL Financial Research

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Santa Makes Brief Appearance on Wall Street

US: S&P 500 Index +2.9%, Dow +2.8%, Nasdaq +4.0%
Europe: STOXX Europe 600 -0.1%, German DAX -0.7% France CAC 40 -0.3%, U.K. FTSE 100 +0.2%
Asia: Japan Nikkei -1.4%, China Shanghai Composite -0.5%, Korea KOSPI  -0.3%
Rates/Commodities: 10-Year Treasury yield -6 basis points to 2.72%, WTI crude oil -2.4%, COMEX gold: +1.6%

It was another wild ride for Wall Street this week after a 2.7% slide in the S&P 500 Index on Monday, Continue reading →

Market Observations After a Crazy Week

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While the S&P 500 Index technically did not enter a bear market based on the most widely used definition—a 20% or more decline based on closing prices—it sure felt like a bear market. The strong rebound on Wednesday helped reduce anxiety, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that many investors experienced a bear market this month with the Nasdaq, Russell 2000 Index, and international stocks, measured by the MSCI EAFE and Emerging Market indexes, all falling by more than 20% from this year’s highs.

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Putting an Extremely Volatile Market in Perspective

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On Monday, the S&P 500 Index came about as close as possible to the technical definition of a bear market without officially registering one (defined as a 20% or larger decline based on closing prices). Enduring these sharp declines can be unnerving for any investor, making it difficult to avoid the urge to react and sell at market lows. To hopefully provide some reassurance and perspective, we offer some historical context about this recent volatility and the relationship between bear markets and recessions.

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Market Update: Wed, Dec 26, 2018 | LPL Financial Research

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S&P 500 Index Reaches Bear Market on an Intra-Day Basis. While the S&P 500 Index is technically not in a bear market by the most widely used definition (20% or more decline based on closing prices), it is important to recognize that the index did fall more than 20% from its record intra-day high on September 20 through Monday’s low. Continue reading →