“Better late than never.”

It took a while, but the S&P 500 Index finally made a new all-time high, coming all the way back from the vicious 34% bear market in less than six months....Read more.

One of the most difficult questions for investors to answer right now is how can the US economy be struggling so much while the stock market keeps churning higher? Even harder to answer questions are: When will that gap close and what will be the catalyst that starts to close it? We highlight some differences between the stock market and the economy in an attempt to explain the disconnect.

This isn’t like any recession we’ve ever seen, as it was sparked by a horrible pandemic and happened because people were told to stay inside. The impact was the worst contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) last quarter that anyone who is reading this has ever seen.

Recent real-time economic data is slowing, and this could pause the stock market rally. Gold is at an all-time high and may stay there. It’s a busy week for earnings reports, and we’re looking for upside.  Read more here.

Stocks continue to gain on hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine, but many economic data points still show weakness. Value-style stocks had a good showing against growth recently. And Q2 earnings may have hit a trough. We look at the winners and the losers.  Read more.

It's that time of year again, when we are pleased to share LPL Research’s Midyear Outlook 2020: The Trail to Recovery.  It provides investment insights and market guidance for the year ahead, taking into account the unprecedented 6 months we've just experienced.  Read more here.

2020 is an election year, and as we get closer to November, we expect this to replace COVID-19 and the recession at the top of investors’ minds. The makeup of Congress may influence stock market performance, and how stocks and the economy perform prior to the election may forecast who will win.

Here’s an idea for a delicious and fun snack to help you enjoy the holiday.  Wishing you and yours a safe, socially-distanced, and happy July 4^th!

Nearly four months ago, in late February, the 10-year Treasury yield broke to its lowest level ever, undercutting the record lows from 2016 of 1.32%. Over the following two weeks, as fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic intensified, interest rates experienced an unprecedented collapse, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note eventually trading as low as 0.31% on March 9 (Bloomberg).

Among developed markets, we maintain our preference for US equities over international, but the bout of strong performance for the MSCI EAFE Index relative to the S&P 500 Index in late May through early June and the latest weakness in the US dollar are noteworthy.