Category: Commentary

After one of the worst starts to a year ever, equities have bounced back and the S&P 500 is now nearly flat for the year. Over the past four weeks, the S&P 500 is up 8.4%, for the best four-week … Continue reading →

Equities close the week strong. Stocks raced out of the gate on Friday and never looked back. Financials (+2.7%) led the rally as investors cheered European Central Bank’s (ECB) rate cuts and guidance from President Mario Draghi. Strength in WTI … Continue reading →

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve released its Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States, reporting on fourth quarter 2015 data. Also known as the flow of funds report, it looks at various national balance sheets, among other interesting data points. The … Continue reading →

Wall Street little changed on Thursday. Stocks ended flat after a seesaw session induced by claims data and European Central Bank (ECB) stimulus measures. The dollar initially rallied on the news, but quickly reversed course to close 2.4% off of … Continue reading →

We talked about crude oil on February 17, and noted at the time it was the longest bear market and most oversold the asset had been since 1983. Since then, crude oil has gained 21% in an impressive reversal. We’ll … Continue reading →

Oil rises to three-month high, stocks cautiously follow. Energy stocks led the broad market higher on Wednesday, albeit on low volume as investors took a wait-and-see approach to key upcoming central bank meetings. Energy was boosted by a 5.4% rise … Continue reading →

Seven years ago today, the S&P 500 hit its 666 low, and since then we’ve seen one of the longest and strongest bull markets ever. For the sake of argument, we will say the bull market is still alive. Although … Continue reading →

U.S. equities stumble on China, oil. Global growth concerns overshadowed markets as Chinese trade data revealed a surprise 25% drop in exports. WTI crude oil reversed its gains from the previous session and the energy sector followed suit, both tumbling … Continue reading →

Last week, we listed LPL Research’s biggest worries. Today, we’ll take the other side of that and look at reasons to be optimistic. “Bullish March Madness office pools.” “Crisis forces political and economic leaders to finally make hard choices.” “The … Continue reading →

Indexes mixed despite continued gains in oil. A 5.5% increase in oil prices wasn’t enough to lift stocks on Monday, as the broad indexes showed signs of exhaustion to begin the week. WTI crude oil’s move helped energy stocks, which … Continue reading →