Corporate earnings growth has ground to a halt, but we think better times lie ahead. While tariffs and ongoing trade uncertainty could delay improvement, we remain optimistic that some progress on trade will be forthcoming and earnings growth could pick up over the coming quarters.

Our View

Corporate America is unlikely to deliver much, if any, earnings growth in the third quarter. However, we think better days lie ahead. We expect progress on trade to keep U.S. economic growth at or above the trend for the current economic expansion. The U.S.-China trade conflict is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, but we believe any s

Stocks rallied on trade optimism late in the week, erasing the S&P 500 Index’s 2% loss through Tuesday. U.S. markets’ slide began Monday and intensified on Tuesday as the S&P 500 fell 1.5% following renewed reports that the Trump administration was planning to restrict U.S. investors’ capital flows into China. However, the trade narrative flipped midweek, as investors became increasingly optimistic that both sides may be willing to accept a partial trade deal that would avoid more tariffs in October and December.

Economic data released this week sent mixed signals about the state of domestic inflation. T

Equity markets are rallying on Friday over optimism regarding the U.S.-China trade discussions. President Trump is set to meet this afternoon with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, and that has many thinking some type of truce or at least a pause in the trade dispute could be in the works.

Don’t forget, China bought $1.5 billion worth of U.S. soybeans in August, the most since January 2018 when the trade dispute started. It is likely China could buy more in exchange for a delay in current tariffs set to hit October 15.

“If we’ve learned anything from trade discussions over the past 21 months, it is thing

Consumer prices grew at the fastest pace of the cycle for a second straight month in September.

As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, the core Consumer Price Index (CPI), which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.4% year over year last month. Consumer prices increased at a healthy pace, even as year-over-year growth in the core Producer Price Index (PPI) declined for an eighth straight month.

We have yet to see slowing producer price growth weigh down consumer inflation, likely because U.S. companies still have ample pricing power amid solid domestic consumer demand.

“Consumer inf