The Federal Reserve (Fed) surprised markets over the weekend by holding its March 17-scheduled meeting a few days early and introducing a wide range of provisions. Those provisions are intended to add liquidity, increase credit availability, lower the cost of borrowing, and eventually support the economy’s recovery from the impact of COVID-19.

Usually, Fed actions are fundamentally about setting the level of interest rates, and the Fed certainly made a statement there. As shown in our LPL Chart of the Day, the Fed lowered its policy rate a full 1% to a range of 0 – 0.25%, the first time the Fed has made a move that la

The longest bull market ever ended this week as the COVID‐19 (coronavirus) outbreak continued to spread and containment efforts further disrupted the US and global economies. US stocks fell 27% from the February 19 closing high through the March 12 closing low, based on the S&P 500 Index, marking the fastest 20% decline from a record high in history. US stocks were down between 8% and 10% for the week despite Friday’s rally amid optimism around additional response from policymakers in addition to aggressive actions from global central banks.

No equity index was spared in the downdraft, but it is notable that the large

The S&P 500 Index’s historic slide continued yesterday, culminating in nearly a 10% loss for the day, and leaving the benchmark index officially in bear market territory, just 16 trading days after setting a record high on February 19. In addition, the S&P 500 has now moved more than 4% each day this week, leaving investors and professionals alike wondering when this volatility could end. While nobody knows for sure, one thing we always look for at market bottoms are signs of extremes, both from a sentiment and price perspective.

From an anecdotal sentiment perspective, certainly fears of COVID-19 have reached the m

The historic volatility continues, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average officially setting its fastest move from a new all-time high to a bear market (down 20% from the highs) in the 124-year history of the index. It took only 19 days for this to take place, which is far and away the new record.

Not to be outdone, the S&P 500 Index is set to close down 20% from all-time highs today, doing this in only 16 days. Again, as of the time we are writing this blog, the S&P 500 is in bear market territory, but there always could be a chance for a late-day rally.

“From major