LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of March 2, 2026. Capital markets faced a challenging start to March as geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran, rising oil prices, and renewed inflation concerns pressured global equities and bonds…
Macro Market Movers
Managed Futures: Current Positioning and Geopolitical Risks
Managed futures strategies, also known as Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) or trend-followers, are designed for environments where macro shifts drive persistent price trends across equity, bond, commodity, and currency markets…
Iran Escalation: How Markets Have Reacted to Geopolitical Events
As with the recent escalation in the Middle East, financial markets are constantly exposed to unpredictable events — from geopolitical conflicts and terror attacks to political transitions, corporate crises, and systemic financial shocks…
Risk-On Appetite Strong in 2026: Fund Flows Recap
With February behind us, we conducted a deeper dive into exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows over the month and year-to-date (YTD) periods. Flows measure the net movement of cash into and out of investment vehicles, such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETF).
Assessing the Impact of Developments in Iran: Watch Energy
Over the weekend, the United States and Israel conducted a coordinated series of missile and drone strikes against Iran, targeting several high-value military installations in an effort to hinder Iran’s nuclear development efforts…
Weekly Market Performance — February 27, 2026
LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of February 23, 2026. U.S. stocks fell for the week as concerns about AI’s disruptive impact drove a broader risk‑off shift. Technology and banks weakened, while defensive sectors held up better.
Continuation Funds: What They Are and Why They Matter
With traditional private equity investment exits facing difficulty over the past few years — albeit improving somewhat recently — private equity sponsors have increasingly relied on the use of continuation funds…
Competitors to the Greenback Are Less Significant
Let’s develop a scenario to explain the importance of foreign exchange (FX) markets and specifically, the dominance of the U.S. dollar. Say, for example, Thailand, one of the world’s major rice exporters, engages in trade with Brazil, the second‑largest cotton exporter…
When Mega Caps Waver and Small Caps Surge
Every market cycle has its own character, but certain patterns appear frequently enough that they deserve attention. This is especially true when evaluating early-year rallies in small caps…
Eight Takeaways from the Supreme Court’s Tariff Ruling
On February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are illegal.