The sharp rebound from the March lows has pushed most major equity indexes back to record highs. This upside momentum has been fueled in part by signs of de-escalation with Iran and growing expectations that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen soon. While the geopolitical environment remains fluid on a day-to-day basis, markets appear to be assigning a higher probability to a relatively near-term U.S. exit from the Middle East, alongside a normalization in global supply chains that could ultimately pressure oil prices lower.

Heading into month-end, the S&P 500 is up 9.2% as of April 29, putting it on pace for its strongest Apri

With big tech earnings season kicking off in earnest this week, investors will split their attention between analyzing the latest signals on artificial intelligence (AI) spending plans and the seemingly never-ending peace negotiations with Iran (along with the still closed Strait of Hormuz). While LPL Research will be doing the same attention splitting exercise, we also wanted to take a step back and review two somewhat longer-term performance trends that we find instructive. First, we review the oft-debated asset allocation decision of U.S. versus international equities (and further between developed international equities and emerging marke

With the proverbial ceasefire negotiation can kicked down the road for the second time in a week, the U.S. and Iran remain in a stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz. While equity markets have bounced back this month, seemingly moving on to the more upbeat fundamental and macro backdrop, and crude oil futures have dropped off their March highs, the physical supply squeeze for oil may be somewhat underappreciated by investors. Entering 2026, crude oil over supply was expected to be a headwind for energy prices, but damage to the energy infrastructure and production cuts in the Middle East have accelerated uncertainty around the supply crunch spa

The “American Industrial Renaissance” is an investment theme investors and allocators alike have probably been pitched several times, or at the very least heard about. Supply chains for manufactured goods have evolved to become more complex, while U.S. manufacturing employment as a share of total employment has steadily declined, leaving policy makers to grapple with the ramifications of a shrinking manufacturing base. Facing effects ranging from structural employment shifts to fragile supply chains to national security, over the last decade, Washington has been both vocal and active about bringing manufacturing back stateside.&nb