2020 Was a Good Year for Stock Investors Despite Unprecedented Challenges.

After being down more than 30% at the March 2020 lows, the S&P 500 Index ended the year with a solid 18.4% total return. Last year marked the first time the index ended a year positive after being down at least 30% during that year. Gains were driven primarily by the emerging economic recovery taking hold, bolstered by massive stimulus, and the remarkably fast COVID-19 vaccine development that encouraged market participants to begin to price in the end of the pandemic.

We Take a Look at Some of the Asset Class and Sector Winners and Lose

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LPL Research Condemns Violence in Washington, DC

LPL Research condemns the violent actions at the US Capitol Building on Wednesday and hopes for healing in our nation’s political and societal divides. We fully support a peaceful and orderly transition of power on January 20.

Daily Insights

Stocks Open Higher

• US stocks opened higher after Congress officially certified President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.

• The S&P 500 Index opened higher, while the Nasdaq 100 led early gains after Wednesday’s underperformance.

• European markets are mixed in mid

Well, we can officially say goodbye to 2020. Although there still will be many challenges in 2021, we do see much better times ahead. Just how amazing was it? “2020 will go down in history as the first year to ever be down 30% at one point and still finish in the green,” explained LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick. “We’ve had some wild years for investors, but never one that was quite the roller coaster of 2020.”

As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, after a nearly 34% correction, the S&P 500 Index closed up more than 16%. There are many charts that can sum up last year, but this

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2020 in 20 Charts

2020 was a historic year in many ways, which made it hard to highlight just a few charts. So in honor of 2020, we picked 20 charts that show how amazing–and devastating—2020 really was. Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick reviews 2020 in 20 charts in this YouTube video.

Daily Insights

S&P 500 Index Modestly Lower After Georgia Run-Off Election

• Nasdaq 100 is firmly lower this morning.

• 10-year Treasury yield is trading above 1% for the first time since March 2020.

• European stocks are firmly higher in midday trading.

&bull