The bull market continues to defy the skeptics and is now nearing a major milestone. On August 22, 2018, this bull market can overtake the bull market of the 1990s as the longest ever. From tariffs to

Last week we had the pleasure of joining just over 3,500 LPL advisors at our Focus 2018 national conference in Boston. Many of you reading this were likely among them. The conference is an excellent o

Active management may be poised for a comeback. During the past several years, it’s been difficult for active managers to outperform equity benchmarks. There are a number of reasons for that, in

Second quarter earnings season is underway and may be another good one. Consensus estimates are calling for a 21% year-over-year increase in S&P 500 Index earnings for the quarter, setting up a se

Second Half Rally?

The current environment looks favorable for strong earnings and stock gains. We do expect volatility, but steady economic growth provides a strong backdrop and the potential for

Capital investment is accelerating, a trend we believe should continue. One of the most encouraging aspects of the U.S. economy currently is that capital spending is accelerating just as some tailwind

When will value have its day in the sun? The growth style’s historic run of outperformance has continued this year, despite the emergence of several drivers that have traditionally served as cat

Post Italy “crisis,” are European stocks attractive? With last week’s news that Italy has formed a government, securing the country’s place in the Eurozone at least in the shor

Small caps are having a strong year, with the Russell 2000 Index up nearly 6% year to date, versus about 2% for the S&P 500 Index. We came into this year expecting small cap outperformance, and af

We continue to prefer emerging market (EM) equities in tactical asset allocations. EM equities have given back strong early-year gains, pushing the MSCI EM Index into negative territory year to date o