Stocks have had a historic run amid increasingly negative headlines. Historically, stocks have tended to lead the economy, and while a second-half rebound may be likely, some equity weakness over the coming months is also possible. The historically worst six months of the year have officially started, and combined with technical warnings, that suggests stocks may take a well-deserved break soon.

Technical Warning Signs Grow

In April, the S&P 500 Index had a historic rally off the March 23 lows, gaining more than 31% through April 29. The strength of the move, as well as internal data, suggests that a full retest of the M

The number of COVID-19 tests in the US has ramped up significantly, which is a major step to defeating this terrible pandemic. “We know we need more testing to help quickly isolate those infected, and last week we had more than 300,000 tests on consecutive days for the first time ever,” said LPL Financial Senior Market Strategist Ryan Detrick. “What is even better news is the percentage of positive tests has been trending lower, even as more testing has ramped up.”

As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, in the face of a surge in overall COVID-19 tests per day in the US, the percentage of positive tests has

Index Performance – Week ending 5/8/2020:

S&P 500: 3.50%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: %2.56%
Nasdaq Composite: 6.00%

Equities

US equities exhibited strength this week, as the S&P 500 Index climbed higher and cut year-to-date losses to under 10%. The gains came despite the Friday release of the April jobs report, which showed the unemployment rate rising to a level not previously seen in the post-war economy.

“This recession is unique, but that might not be all bad news,” said LPL Financial Senior Market Strategist Ryan Detrick. “We’ve had to flip a switch o

Economists had braced market participants for massive job losses in today’s employment report, but that does not make the numbers any less eye-popping.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly employment report this morning, revealing that the domestic economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April. This is by far the largest contraction in the history of the data series, which goes back to 1939. To put that in perspective, prior to this month the largest monthly contraction came in September 1945, when the economy lost 1.96 million jobs.

This report is the first one to have a survey window fully capturi