Insights

The economy continues to surprise to the upside, inflation is coming back to earth, and the Federal Reserve is likely done hiking rates. All these positive drivers have combined to allow stocks to soar this year, with the S&P 500 up more than 15% so far.

The market’s impressive run off the October lows continued last week. The S&P 500 officially closed up more than 20% from its low set on Oct. 12. In the face of continued skepticism, stocks have progressively moved higher. Now with stocks up 20%, they have officially entered a new bull …

Breakout Confirmed We’ve been expecting stocks to continue their trend higher, but the S&P 500’s move above 4,200 was important. The S&P has closed above this level for two consecutive weeks now, suggesting the strength it has shown in 2023 is legitimate and more gains could be ahea …

The Dow Jones Industrial Average celebrated a birthday last week. The Dow began trading on May 26, 1896, and what a ride it has been. The Dow has weathered depressions, recessions, two 100-year pandemics, wars, famines, inflation, deflation, and many more challenges. However, through good t …

One of the top questions we’re receiving lately has to do with the impending debt ceiling drama and what it could all mean. Here are some common questions and answers regarding this excitement out of Washington.

Surprisingly, stocks continue to trend higher in the face of a constant barrage of negative news in the media. As we explain more below, the economy is presenting many positive signs that suggest a recession is unlikely, and stocks likely are sniffing this out. In fact, last Thursday the S& …

Stocks fell for the second consecutive week, but the losses were quite manageable. In the face of banking and economic concerns, stocks are holding the line. Stocks tend to lead the economy, so just because the economic headlines are poor now doesn’t mean they will be in the future. Stocks …

In the face of more regional bank crashes and numerous worries about the economy, the stock market continued to hang tough. In fact, stocks have rallied late for two consecutive weeks. Stocks continue to defy the negative sentiment and look ready to move higher. A common narrative is only f …

Equities closed out April in strong form amid better-than-expected earnings and resilient economic data. The S&P 500 posted a gain of 1.6%, pushing its year-to-date gains to 9.2%. Not a bad way to start the first four months of the year, despite all the recession calls and the banking c …

Stocks have had a great start to 2023, and the economy continues to surprise to the upside. In particular, China is showing improvement. If one of the world’s largest economies is quickly advancing, what does that do for the odds of a U.S. recession? Our base case has always been the U.S. w …

Looking for some Q2 insights? Watch our on-demand webinar: Outlook ’23: Q2 Update with Carson’s Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick and Director, Investment Platform Sonu Varghese.