Midyear Outlook 2025: Pragmatic Optimism, Measured Expectations
We started 2025 on a high note, although we acknowledged that “no market environment is ever permanent, and that change is always potentially around the corner.” Well change did come, and with it, volatility, perhaps in part because we assumed President Trump’s policies would simply mirror those of his prior term. The impact of policy…
Navigating Market Volatility During the Iran Crisis
In our2026 Outlook: The Policy Engine, we listed several risks to stocks that could prevent the S&P 500 from achieving our forecast for high-single-digit returns in 2026 (to a fair value target range of 7,300–7,400).
Weekly Market Performance — March 6, 2026
LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of March 2, 2026. Capital markets faced a challenging start to March as geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran, rising oil prices, and renewed inflation concerns pressured global equities and bonds…
Managed Futures: Current Positioning and Geopolitical Risks
Managed futures strategies, also known as Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) or trend-followers, are designed for environments where macro shifts drive persistent price trends across equity, bond, commodity, and currency markets…
Iran Escalation: How Markets Have Reacted to Geopolitical Events
As with the recent escalation in the Middle East, financial markets are constantly exposed to unpredictable events — from geopolitical conflicts and terror attacks to political transitions, corporate crises, and systemic financial shocks…
Risk-On Appetite Strong in 2026: Fund Flows Recap
With February behind us, we conducted a deeper dive into exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows over the month and year-to-date (YTD) periods. Flows measure the net movement of cash into and out of investment vehicles, such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETF).
How LPL Research Thinks About Dividends
Dividend strategies, a.k.a. equity income strategies, have outperformed to start the year, owing to the value-led cyclical rotation we are seeing in domestic equity markets. Looking beyond current performance, this week, we ask and answer the question “How should I think about dividend stocks or building an equity income portfolio?