The first presidential debate is tonight, September 29, with millions of people expected to tune in to see how each candidate handles the pressure. With tensions heightened amid an election that may be much closer than the polls currently suggest, any potential mistake could be magnified exponentially.

Stocks moving higher. US stocks opened in the green this morning following last Friday’s rally. The S&P 500 Index was down four consecutive weeks for the first time in more than a year. It hasn’t been down five in a row since six in a row in 2011. There is increasing hope of a bipartisan stimulus relief package…

The recent correction in the S&P 500 Index’s technology sector presents a unique challenge to markets following a historic stretch of outperformance as technology’s share of the market has ballooned in size. Despite September’s weakness in this sector that has dragged the broader market lower, we expect technology leadership to continue given supportive underlying fundamental…

The S&P 500 Index moved higher three days this week, but a 2.4% loss Wednesday pushed this index to its first four-week losing streak since August 2019. Energy, last week’s top performer, gave back over 9% this week and was this week’s worst-performing sector. Technology, the month’s worst-performing sector coming into the week, led with…

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for April came in 86.9, falling more than 30 points from the prior month. The monthly drop was the biggest for the index since 1973, reflecting the severity of the economic impact of COVID-19 containment efforts.

Our everyday lives have changed dramatically over the last few weeks as we work together to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know these efforts are necessary, but they also have come at a cost.