blog
May 23, 2022
Dawn of a New Era for Core Bonds

May 23rd, 2022: Core bond investors have experienced the worst start to the year ever. However tough this year has been so far though (and it has been tough), the potential for future returns has improved meaningfully, in our view. Starting yields tend to be a good predictor...

May 16, 2022
Corporate America Delivers, Market Attention Focused Elsewhere

May 16th, 2022: First quarter earnings season was solid by just about any measure, but based on recent market behavior it’s obvious that in general market participants paid little attention. This is a macro-driven market, so it will likely take positive macro developments,...

May 9, 2022
Have We Really Seen Extreme Pessimism Yet?

May 9th, 2022: It’s been a very tough start to the year with both stocks and bonds down sharply. Adding to the “wall of worry” for investors are the highest levels of U.S. inflation in decades, an aggressive Federal Reserve (Fed), Chinese lockdowns, and continuing war ...

May 2, 2022
Why You Shouldn’t Sell Your Stocks in May This Year

May 2nd, 2022: “Sell in May and go away” is probably the most widely cited stock market cliché in history. Every year a barrage of Wall Street commentaries, media stories, and investor questions flood in about the popular stock market adage. In this week’s Weekly Mark...

April 25, 2022
Businesses and Consumers Likely Protected From Near-Term Recession

April 25th, 2022: Not all recessions are created equal. Previous downturns in the U.S. were prompted by various shocks, with the most recent recession started by health and government-induced shutdowns. Other recessions started in the corporate sector, whereas some started f...

April 18, 2022
What to Watch This Earnings Season

April 18th, 2022: First quarter earnings season is rolling. BlackRock, Delta Airlines, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley were among the first 16 S&P 500 companies to report March quarter results, following 20 index constituents with quarters ending in Februar...

April 11, 2022
Headwinds to Global Growth: An Economy of Two Halves

April 11th, 2022: LPL Research reduced U.S. and global GDP forecasts due to Russian commodity disruptions, elevated inflation dynamics, and higher borrowing costs. Still, we expect the U.S. economy to grow 2.7-3.2% in 2022, supported by business investment and consumer servi...

April 4, 2022
Our Stock Market Final Four

April 4th, 2022: As the Final Four NCAA Basketball Tournament rolls on in New Orleans, we continue our tradition of picking a stock market final four. We have identified our four key factors for the stock market outlook: 1) Consumer spending, 2) Earnings, 3) Interest rates, ...

March 29, 2022
Tempered but Optimistic Enthusiasm Over Stocks

March 28th, 2022: As the stock market recovered from the 2020 pandemic lows, valuations reached levels not seen since the dotcom bubble more than 20 years ago. The reopening economy and massive fiscal stimulus helped fuel one of the strongest starts to a bull market ever...

March 22, 2022
Are Core Bonds Under Pressure?

March 22nd, 2022: Core bond investors have experienced one of the worst starts to the year ever, potentially calling into question the validity of bonds in a portfolio. Despite the poor start, we don’t think the value proposition for bonds has changed much. Moreover, with ...

March 14, 2022
Ready, Set, Rate Hike

March 14th, 2022: The Federal Reserve (Fed) meets this week and in all likelihood will raise short-term interest rates for the first time since emergency levels of monetary accommodation were provided to markets after the COVID-19 shutdowns. Inflationary pressures are runnin...

March 7, 2022
Downshift in U.S. Market Growth But Still Above Trend

March 7th, 2022: We currently expect the U.S. economy to grow 3.7% in 2022. The risks are to the downside since the Fed may err on tightening too fast, the recent commodity spike may trickle down to the U.S. consumer, and supply and demand imbalances may last longer than exp...