“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” — Mark Twain

Stocks have continued their surprising strength in October, thanks to a potential thaw in the U.S.-China trade dispute. And remember, the S&P 500 Index has been lower in October during a pre-election year only once since 1987. Additionally, over the past 20 years, October has been the third-best month on average for the S&P 500. October has had a bad rap due to some spectacular crashes, but the truth is the month usually is pretty good for stocks.

“The calendar could be about to turn into a bull’s best frien

The debate over the United Kingdom’s (U.K.) withdrawal from the European Union (EU), or Brexit, is reaching another milepost in what could be an action-packed week.

Talks between the U.K. government and the EU have entered “tunnel” negotiation mode, in which all details of behind closed doors talks are expected to remain secret until any deal occurs. This negotiation style allows negotiators from both sides to throw around some of the more unusual proposals without fear of political repercussions.

The clock is ticking to see what emerges on the other side of the “tunnel,” as EU member st

Corporate earnings growth has ground to a halt, but we think better times lie ahead. While tariffs and ongoing trade uncertainty could delay improvement, we remain optimistic that some progress on trade will be forthcoming and earnings growth could pick up over the coming quarters.

Our View

Corporate America is unlikely to deliver much, if any, earnings growth in the third quarter. However, we think better days lie ahead. We expect progress on trade to keep U.S. economic growth at or above the trend for the current economic expansion. The U.S.-China trade conflict is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, but we believe any s

Stocks rallied on trade optimism late in the week, erasing the S&P 500 Index’s 2% loss through Tuesday. U.S. markets’ slide began Monday and intensified on Tuesday as the S&P 500 fell 1.5% following renewed reports that the Trump administration was planning to restrict U.S. investors’ capital flows into China. However, the trade narrative flipped midweek, as investors became increasingly optimistic that both sides may be willing to accept a partial trade deal that would avoid more tariffs in October and December.

Economic data released this week sent mixed signals about the state of domestic inflation. T