With 20% of S&P 500 Index companies having reported first quarter results so far, earnings season has been a mixed bag. In our April 13  earnings preview, we noted that S&P 500 Index earnings for the quarter were expected to decline 10% year over year, based on FactSet’s consensus estimates from analysts. That number is minus 15% now, largely due to weaker-than-expected results for the financials sector so far. Meanwhile, estimates for the second quarter have fallen from an expected 11% decline on April 1 to a 31% decline as of Thursday, as analysts have updated numbers to factor in what they have learned from companies and

One month ago today the S&P 500 Index bottomed after a vicious bear market. Was this the ultimate bottom? We’ll have to wait and see, but what we do know is the rally we’ve seen over the past month is nearly as historic as the drop coming into it was.

“We recently had the best 20-day rally for the S&P 500 since March 2009 and one of the best ever,” explained LPL Financial Senior Market Strategist Ryan Detrick. “Looking back at the previous best 20-day rallies, one thing is consistent: very strong returns going out a year.”

As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, the 10 previo

With 22 million jobs lost in the past four weeks, a record drop in retail sales, and huge drops in industrial production and housing starts, it is safe to say we are likely in a recession. Even the Federal Reserve (Fed) in the recent Beige Book said that “economic activity contracted sharply and abruptly.” We highly doubt the Fed would say that if they didn’t believe the economy was in a recession.

Here’s the catch; the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) makes the official call on the recession start date, and it might be a while before it is official.

Contrary to popular belief, a re

Headlines had oil selling at -$37.63 per barrel at close on Monday, April 20. The negative sign in front? Sellers had to pay buyers $37.63 to take the oil off their hands. Except this wasn’t the price of oil. It was the price of a useful financial instrument, called a futures contract, in this case a contract for delivery of oil in May at a particular price. The nearest futures contract in date is often used as a proxy for the price of oil, since it trades regularly and usually tracks the price of oil well. But on Monday, quirks in the futures market created an artificial price that, while historic and capturing the extreme stress we&rs