Bonds Are Back… But it May be Bumpy And That is Normal

Posted by Lawrence Gillum, CFA, Fixed Income Strategist Tuesday, February 28, 2023 Bond investors experienced the worst year ever for core bonds last year (as per the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index), -so the prospects of another year like 2022 could be hard to fathom. The good news is we don’t think we’ll see another year like […]

February 28, 2023

What Can March Seasonals Tell Us About the Outlook For Stocks?

Posted by George Smith, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, Portfolio Strategist Thursday, March 2, 2023 As a rough February for the markets draws to a close, with a 2.3% decline in the S&P 500 Index, we look at what clues seasonality data may give us for stock market performance over the coming months. Turns out that while, historically, […]

March 2, 2023

Supply Chain Stability Comes at a Cost

Posted by lplresearch Thursday, March 2, 2023 As the long-term effects of the pandemic continue to unfold, one trend that has been adopted by multinational companies is to repatriate their supply chains in an effort to avoid future disruptions. In both the U.S. and in developed international countries, companies are increasing their focus on supply chain […]

Buybacks are Back

Posted by Adam Turnquist, CMT, VP Chief Technical Strategist Friday, March 3, 2023 Key Takeaways: Background Share repurchases were cast into the spotlight this week after Warren Buffet pushed back against recent political criticism of corporate buyback programs. The “Oracle of Omaha” penned a rebuttal in his closely watched annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders where […]

March 3, 2023

S&P GICS Sector Changes Coming March 17

Posted by Jeffrey Buchbinder, CFA, Chief Equity Strategist Wednesday, March 8, 2023 On March 17, S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI will make changes to GICS sector classifications. These changes don’t happen very often so they are noteworthy when they occur. Some of the more recent changes included the reconstitution of the communication services sector, which […]

March 8, 2023

Are Airlines Ready for Takeoff?

Posted by Adam Turnquist, CMT, VP Chief Technical Strategist Friday, March 10, 2023 Key Takeaways: Background After a turbulent descent during the pandemic, the airline industry is finally showing signs of recovering. The transition of consumer spending from goods to services has helped revive travel demand. This trend likely has staying power. According to LPL Research […]

March 10, 2023

Three Implications of the Latest Inflation Release

Posted by Jeffrey J. Roach, PhD, Chief Economist Tuesday, March 14, 2023 Overview First, Fed Will Likely Focus on Price Stability Mandate Over Growth Investors should expect the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to focus on the inflation portion of the dual Congressional mandate for price stability and full employment, i.e., the growth component of the […]

March 14, 2023

Taking A Closer Look at the Fed’s New Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP)

Posted by Lawrence Gillum, CFA, Fixed Income Strategist Wednesday, March 15, 2023 Those of us who lived through the Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual (to sadly only name a few) financial collapses are shuddering at the thought history may be about to repeat itself. Thankfully, as we wrote about in Monday’s blog, there are […]

March 15, 2023

Three Takeaways from the Fed Decision

Posted by Jeffrey J. Roach, PhD, Chief Economist Thursday, March 23, 2023 Overview First, a Pause was Discussed but Eventually Dismissed In days prior to the meeting, committee members considered pausing the rate hiking campaign due to uncertainty with some regional banks. The run on deposits at some banks in the U.S. created a bit of […]

March 23, 2023

Munis Bounced Back in March; Seasonality Tailwind

Posted by Lawrence Gillum, CFA, Fixed Income Strategist Wednesday, March 29, 2023 After one of the weakest February’s on record, the municipal market is on track for its strongest March performance since 2008, as it benefits from a flight to safety amid turmoil in the banking industry. The Bloomberg Municipal Index is up nearly 2% (so […]

March 29, 2023