A soft landing looks achievable, barring any shocks. Disinflation while preserving labor market strength is only possible with anchored inflation expectations, so an independent and credible central bank is key. One of the best concepts in the speech for investors to understand is the current data shows an evolving macro landscape. The jury is still out on if the Fed can successfully manage the risks to both sides of their dual mandate.

Every year as the summer months draw near their end, LPL Financial hosts its annual conference for financial advisors. While the conference is an excellent opportunity for advisors to expand upon professional interests, discover ways to enhance their impact on clients, and connect with industry experts — learning is a two-way street.

Like a stubbed toe, pullbacks in the market are inevitable, something investors tend to forget during periods of low volatility.

After the sharp August 5 decline, equities are nearing an attractive entry point. LPL’s Strategic and Tactical Asset Allocation Committee (STAAC) maintains its tactical neutral stance on equities, while actively monitoring signs of bottoming. LPL Research continues to preach patience before buying this dip. Bottoming is a process.

Investors had a healthy appetite for risk so far this year as a so-called potential soft landing has been factored in. We have an economy with rising wages, decelerating inflation, and a Federal Reserve (Fed) on the cusp of cutting rates.

The first half of the year was a challenging environment for a lot of fixed income markets, especially higher-quality markets.

With the release of the LPL Research Midyear Outlook 2024: Still Waiting for the Turn, in this week’s commentary we pull out key themes from the publication and add some context for our views given stocks have continued to rally — with Thursday a glaring exception as stocks sold off, somewhat surprisingly, after a good consumer inflation report.