Stocks are off to a rocky start this year, with the S&P 500 Index beginning a correction almost immediately at the turn of the calendar year. The benchmark index fell nearly 12% from its January 4 record closing high through its intraday low on January 24, roughly double the worst pullback it saw in all of 2021. But is the volatility over, or is there more to come? Today’s blog takes a technical-focused look at key levels for the S&P 500 and what we will be looking for to call the all-clear.

First up, the chart. As shown in the LPL Research Chart of the Day, the post-correction rally reached its high point on Februa

Should we be surprised at inflation surprises at this point? The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most well known measure of inflation, climbed 7.5% over the last year through January, its highest reading since 1982, according to data released this morning by the Labor Department. The Bloomberg-surveyed economists’ consensus was for a reading of 7.3%, and while small in absolute terms this is a meaningful upside surprise. As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, the three-month annualized run rate for inflation is still running higher than the one-year number, as it has 18 of the last 19 months. Seeing that reverse will be an important sign

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve (Fed) has been supporting financial markets by buying $120 billion of U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) each month. Currently, the Fed is in the process of reducing (tapering) the amount of asset purchases but is still adding to its balance sheet. However, meeting minutes from the December 2021 Fed policy meeting indicated that the Fed may begin to reduce the size of its balance sheet in 2022. Balance sheet runoff, or quantitative tightening (QT) as it’s also called, is how the Fed plans to reduce the size of its balance sheet. Currently, as bonds mature,

The near-10% correction in the S&P 500 Index and even larger drawdown in the Nasdaq have gotten a lot of attention this year. What hasn’t gotten as much attention—and maybe surprising to some—is the relative resilience in equity markets outside the U.S. In our special Winter Olympics edition of the Weekly Market Commentary, we hand out medals to the U.S., developed international, and emerging markets. Who do we think will get the gold? Read on to find out.

U.S. Has Been Skiing Uphill

It’s been a rough start to the year for U.S. stocks with some stiff headwinds. The path of the S&P 500 in Janu