Headlines had oil selling at -$37.63 per barrel at close on Monday, April 20. The negative sign in front? Sellers had to pay buyers $37.63 to take the oil off their hands. Except this wasn’t the price of oil. It was the price of a useful financial instrument, called a futures contract, in this case…

The huge equity rally continued last week, with the S&P 500 Index up another 3%, on the heels of adding more than 15% in the previous week. The gain during the past two weeks of 15.5% was the greatest since October 1974. Taking it a step further, the 15 trading days ending April 14 saw…

The fastest bear market decline ever and accompanying disruptions in credit markets in March provided a tough test for exchange-traded funds (ETFs). With a big assist from the Federal Reserve (Fed), which announced it would purchase fixed income ETFs, and increasing optimism around an economic rebound, fixed income ETFs seem to be functioning normally again.

Stock returns get all the headlines, and with US equities entering their first bear market since 2008, there is good reason for that. However, fixed income may account for a significant portion, or even a majority, of many investors’ portfolios, making bond returns just as important for those investors.

With the major stock market indexes all entering a bear market this month, it’s no surprise that stocks have stolen most of the spotlight. However, actions taken by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to support what may be considered the safest part of the bond market, US Treasuries, may actually have more lasting implications for investors’…

Weekly new jobless claims were reported this morning, and to no one’s surprise they rose to levels thought unimaginable just a few weeks ago. As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, 3.3 million people filed new claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending March 21, almost 5 times the previous high of…