The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) May 2–3, 2017 meeting signaled that the Fed is likely to continue tightening monetary policy and may begin to normalize (reduce) its balance sheet toward year-end. The unwinding of the balance sheet by the Fed and the strategy it employs to accomplish this will be material to global markets. Despite [...]
Interest rates affect homeowners and credit card holders. But they also can have an indirect impact on the stock market. Interest rates generally refer to the Federal Reserve’s funds rate — the cost that banks are charged to borrow money from other U.S. banks. The Fed controls interest rates mostly as a way to ensure [...]
We are pleased to introduce our LPL Research Midyear Outlook 2015, with the insights and guidelines to put together portfolio strategies for the rest of 2015. Few things can dampen the excitement of seeing the delivery of a long-awaited package on the porch than three words—“some assembly required.” Like any complex assembly, whether it’s a [...]
How long will it last? Who wins & loses from it? On the New York Mercantile Exchange, a barrel of light sweet crude is currently worth well under $60. Prices have dropped more than 25% in a month and almost 45% year-over-year. What is behind this freefall? How long will prices keep dropping, and who [...]
Remember that the major indices don’t represent the entirety of Wall Street. The S&P 500 is up about 10% YTD, why aren’t I? If your investments are lagging the broad benchmark, you may be asking that very question. The short answer is that the S&P is not the overall market (and vice versa). Each year, [...]
Here's a brief excerpt from the full research report from LPL Research: Since the wind-down of the Great Recession in early 2009, the latest economic expansion has certainly delivered the goods and rewarded investors’ mailboxes with six consecutive calendar years of positive gains for stocks. “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” has kept a [...]
Retiring? Saving for retirement? Here’s some good news. Are 90% of articles written about retirement pessimistic? Sometimes it seems that way. Repeatedly, we are reminded that most baby boomers haven’t saved enough for the future. There’s no denying this, but the media is giving short shrift to other, more positive developments that may be improving [...]
Here we are in the Fall of 2014. Get the LPL Research Market Outlook for the remainder of the year. Want to Review Your Strategy for Generating Income in Retirement? 2014 Investment Outlook for clients Like the video? Download the printed version: LPL's Outlook 2014: The [...]
Wall Street Trading: What don’t we know about the way the markets work? In a perfect world, the financial markets would be entirely transparent and without mysteries. In this imperfect one, we have financial markets reliant on high-speed trading and dark pools, both of which are imperfectly understood. Thanks to the bestselling Flash Boys: A [...]
Can stocks keep their momentum once the Federal Reserve quits easing? “Easing without end” will finally end. According to its June policy meeting minutes, the Federal Reserve plans to wrap up QE3 (Quantitative Easing) this fall. Barring economic turbulence, the central bank’s ongoing stimulus effort will conclude on schedule, with a last $15 billion cut [...]
