The Changing of the Guard

Kevin Warsh, the new chair of the Federal Open Market Committee, has an initiative to modernize the way policy is developed, and he has established five task forces to evaluate the current process and deliver

Coming into 2026, we expected inflation to move closer to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) 2% target, the Fed to cut rates by roughly 75 basis points (bps), and Treasury yields to drift lower. Instead, the first half delivered three stress tests in

Alternatives Gain Importance as Market Complexity Rises

As highlighted in LPL Research’s Midyear Outlook 2026, Policy, Buildouts & Bottlenecks, investors continue to navigate a market environment shaped by evolving policy dec

LPL’s Midyear Outlook 2026 has arrived. While much of the report provides the types of content you might expect from LPL Research, such as forecasts for GDP, earnings, and interest rates, this edition of the publication is unique in its focus o

Over the first half of 2026, markets faced some expected — and unexpected — tailwinds and headwinds, ranging from geopolitical developments, blockbuster corporate earnings, increasing artificial intelligence (AI) scrutiny, resilient econo

As market watchers prepared for America’s 250th birthday celebration, global equity markets delivered a strong finish to the second quarter. The S&P 500 printed its best quarterly return since 2020 amid high profile economic data and rotati

The second quarter wraps up today, and it was a good one. With the S&P 500 having returned more than 14% (including dividends) with just one trading day left, it will almost certainly end up being the best quarter for the index since the second q

The second quarter is winding down and what a quarter it has been with the S&P 500 up 12.6% quarter to date, while the Nasdaq-100 and Russell 2000 are both up over 20%. Despite some twists and turns, the path of least resistance for stocks broadl

As client portfolios have grown in complexity —incorporating a mix of active and passive strategies, multiple managers, and a heightened focus on tax efficiency—the structure used to implement those portfolios has become increasingly impo

Following last weekend’s announcement of a deal between the U.S. and Iran to bring the war in the Middle East to an end, markets rallied and oil prices dropped. This reaction is logical given that elevated oil prices have contributed to acceler