Boris Johnson is still the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (U.K.) after the British public voted Thursday to give his Conservative party a clear victory.

After a contentious campaign dominated by the prospect of the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union (E.U.), or Brexit, the Conservatives gained a large majority of Members of Parliament (M.P.), campaigning to “get Brexit done,” beating out the opposition Labour Party, who advocated a second Brexit referendum.

This parliamentary majority for the Conservatives could signal an end to much of the gridlock that has occurred recently in the U.K.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) officially tied a bow on 2019 with another policy pivot.

On December 11, the Fed announced it would leave rates unchanged, concluding a string of three 25-basis point (0.25%) rate cuts from July to October.

Investors expected the Fed would leave rates unchanged after Fed Chair Jerome Powell clearly messaged the end of rate cuts at the previous meeting. What was more interesting, though, was policymakers’ rate projections, illustrated on the updated “dot plot.” As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, policymakers now expect the fed funds rate to stay unchanged through the end

The core Consumer Price Index (CPI), which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.3% year over year in November, just below a cycle high of 2.4% growth last reached in September 2019.

Inflationary pressures have recovered noticeably since slowing earlier this year, as shown in the LPL Chart of the Day.

Core CPI has increased at least 2.3% year over year for the past four months, the first time that’s happened since September 2008. That momentum may seem concerning, but it’s a manageable pace in our view.

“Inflationary pressures have been a sign of economic strength recent

The Federal Reserve’s (Fed) final policy meeting of 2019 starts today and will conclude tomorrow with the release of the Fed’s policy statement, updated economic projections, and a press conference by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. After lowering its main policy rate at each of its last three meetings, the Fed is widely expected to pause as it gauges the impact of the recent cuts and the state of the economy.

It was a little less than a year ago, on December 19, 2018, that the Fed announced the fourth rate hike of 2018 and the ninth of the current expansion. Markets roundly jeered the move. The S&P 500 Index, already do