In terms of whether economic data is either beating or missing economists’ forecasts, it appears conditions may now be a bit better overseas. Driven by some improving COVID-19 trends, the economic backdrop has improved overseas, while high economic expectations have proved to be a more formidable hurdle here in the U.S. This improvement has helped to steady the foundation in many non-U.S. equity markets, and has caused us to improve our outlook for developed non-U.S. stocks.  We believe the improving COVID-19 trends in Europe could be particularly sticky as vaccine distribution becomes more widespread.

For several year

Inflation and tapering have dominated the conversation lately and this week in the latest LPL Market Signals podcast, Ryan Detrick and Jeff Buchbinder dig in and explain why tapering shouldn’t really be much of a surprise, while touching on why the inflation threat remains transitory. They also discuss our outlook for stocks the remainder of this year, along with why developed international could finally be looking like a sustainable investment, after years of underperformance.

Stocks Outlook

After a huge start to this bull market, Jeff pointed out that history would say year 2 would probably be fairly solid as well, b

Mortgage rates are still around all-time lows but they may be headed higher. The 30-year national average mortgage rate hit an all-time low of 2.82% back in February, but with the U.S. economic recovery in full swing, mortgage rates have started to move higher. The Bankrate 30-year national average mortgage rate is currently 3.1%; however, that is still well below the 20-year average mortgage rate of nearly 5%.

“Higher Treasury yields typically mean higher mortgage rates,” according to LPL Financial Fixed Income Strategist Lawrence Gillum. “We expect the 10-year yield to end the year between 1.75%-2.0% so mortga

After one of the best starts to a bull market in history, the rally has started to show signs of fatigue. A strong economic recovery lies ahead as the roepening continues, bolstering a very strong earnings outlook that is helping stocks grow into elevated valuations. However, in the second half of the year, as inflationary pressures build, interest rates potentially rise further, and this bull market gets a little older, the pace of stock market gains will likely slow and come with more volatility.

History Doesn’t Repeat but It Often Rhymes

After a nearly 90% rally off the March 2020 lows, it’s not much of a sur