As a result of the Senate runoffs in Georgia, Democrats are poised to take control of the US Senate, which would give them a majority in both houses of Congress. This will shift the policy outlook moderately to the left, but majorities are still razor-thin, giving moderates heavy influence. We also envision a potential move toward increased bipartisanship, which may help bring more clarity to policy in 2021.

Georgia On Our Mind 

Assuming the Georgia Senate races play out in line with the current vote count, Democrats will soon have control of both chambers of Congress as well as the presidency, at least until mid-term

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Stocks Open Modestly Lower as Investors Reassess Risk Sentiment.

• The US dollar traded higher with demand supported by higher Treasury

• European stocks pulled back from a 10-month high in midday trading as Germany underperforms.

• Asian markets were mixed overnight as China underperformed; Japan’s market was closed for a holiday.

Daily Insights

Updates to LPL Research’s 2021 Policy Outlook

A Democratic majority in the Senate may impact several areas of the market.

• The overall impact for stocks is neutral to slightly negative as prospective tax increases coul

Index Performance

US and International Equities

This week, we gained clarity on the makeup of Congress with the Georgia US Senate runoff. Democrats will now have control of both chambers of Congress, though with only a razor-thin majority.

“There have been some concerns about stocks given a blue wave,” explained LPL Research Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick.  “Actually, stocks have done well with this scenario.”

In fact, the S&P 500 Index gained 6 out of the past 7 times this occurred, with the only loss being 1994, where the S&P 500

The differences in strength between the stock market and real economy were laid bare this week as the stock market surged to new highs while the jobs market continued to deteriorate and remains well short of its February peak.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly employment report on January 8, revealing that the domestic economy lost 140,000 jobs in December, falling well short of Bloomberg-surveyed economists’ forecasts for a 50,000 gain. It should be noted, though, that strong revisions to prior months—adding 135,000 jobs—somewhat offset December’s shortfall. Both the unemployment rate