LPL Research

Several new readings on inflation last week confirmed that price pressures remain manageable, supporting a continued gradual path of rate hikes for the Federal Reserve (Fed).

We share our perspective on the sell-off and discuss where stocks may go from here.

This client letter addresses the recent market volatility. Although it can be difficult to experience these declines and volatility may continue in the near term, the underlying fundamentals of the economy and markets are positive and we see potential for a year-end rally.

Overall, economic reports released in September—mostly reflecting economic activity in August—indicated solid U.S. economic growth without significant inflationary pressures, though wage gains bear monitoring.

We expect global growth to slow in 2019 but remain strong enough to continue to support the broad global economy and markets.

U.S. economic and earnings growth continue to stand out globally and support our positive view of U.S. equities.

In this latest client letter, we look back on the strong growth and stock gains from the third quarter, and discuss key factors to watch as we kick off the last three months of the year.

We’ve just wrapped up the best quarter for the S&P 500 Index since the fourth quarter of 2013, despite a variety of challenges.

While the Fed raised its policy rate last week, the more important meeting outcome was the Fed’s guidance on future policy.

When the Dow hits a fresh record high after a long drought, as it did last week, it tends to be followed by above-average performance.