By: Jeff Buchbinder, CFA, Equity Strategist, LPL Financial, Jeffrey Roach, PhD, Chief Economist, LPL Financial & Lawrence Gillum, CFA, Fixed Income Strategist, LPL Financial

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, and 4) Inflation. We also celebrate last year’s winner: COVID-19 vaccines. Below we discuss these four factors, how they may influence markets this year, and pick our winner. Good luck to Kansas and North Carolina in tonight’s final.

Read the full commentary here: Weekly_Market_Commentary_4.04.2022