A U.S.-China trade truce wasn’t enough to spark global manufacturing activity in October.

Manufacturing activity around the world remains sluggish despite trade progress, according to preliminary Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for October. As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, manufacturing PMIs for the Eurozone, Germany, and Japan remained near multi-year lows in October.

U.S. and China relations have improved this month as both sides became increasingly optimistic before face-to-face talks earlier this month. On October 11, the United States announced that it had reached a ve

The U.S. dollar, also known as the greenback, is heading for its biggest monthly loss since January 2018, and we could be due for a more prolonged period of weakness after more than 10 years of strength.

As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, the recent drop has brought the U.S. Dollar Index down to the 200-day moving average near 97.5. If the dollar breaks below that level, we could see another 1–2% of downside, possibly down to summertime lows.

“Sentiment on the dollar had become overly optimistic this summer,” said LPL Financial Senior Market Strategist Ryan Detrick. “From a co

“Everything is awesome, when you’re living out a dream.” The Lego Movie

As the S&P 500 Index continues to flirt with new record highs, something under the surface is taking place that is making 2019 extremely special. Or dare we say, “awesome”.

First, let’s look back at last year. 2018 was the first year since 1969 in which both the S&P 500 (stocks) and the 10-year Treasury bond (bonds) both finished the year with a negative return. Toss in the fact that gold and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil were both down last year, and it was one of the worst years ever for a d

The United Kingdom’s (U.K.) withdrawal from the European Union (E.U.), or Brexit, is stumbling along, and another delay looks increasingly likely.

The U.K. Parliament’s “Super Saturday” voting session last weekend failed to deliver a decisive outcome as members of parliament (MPs) voted only for an amendment that stated that they would be able to fully scrutinize the proposed deal prior to any vote on whether to approve it.

This delay forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to send a letter to the E.U. to request a three-month extension to the October 31 deadline, a move he had been adamant t