ClearBridge Investment's Hersh Cohen comments on the first quarter of 2016 regarding rallying oil prices and investor caution approaching the election. [+] Read More

Federated Investors' Senior Equity Strategist, Linda Duessel comments on the election, market volatility, stabilization in the U.S. Manufacturing sector and more in her Weekly Update. "This was a meeting-packed 5-day mad race crisscrossing North Carolina, with visits in Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington back to Raleigh…then Winston-Salem and finishing in Lake Norman. Everywhere we went the weather was perfect, the food was fabulous and the advisers and end clients were so welcoming. We were there on Tuesday’s primary election date. People were mostly amused by this madcap political season. An adviser in Greensboro suggested that once the nominees are selected, their debate should be pay per view. “It would be unbelievable…huge!” Certainly over the weekend the political rhetoric and menace reached a fever pitch and yet, somehow investors are not concerned. Trump is to blame, MoveOn is to blame, Congress is to blame…take a number. How this isn’t a bigger overhang on stocks is beyond me. [+] Read More

J.P. Morgan's Chief Strategist, David Kelly, addresses the liklihood of a recession in the current, emotionally charged market enviroment. Read the full transcript of his commentary below. "Hello. This is David Kelly. I’m Chief Strategist here at J.P. Morgan Funds. In finance, almost as much as in politics, the most passionate and least reflective voices receive the most attention. A slump in Chinese stocks and the Chinese currency at the start of the year triggered a global stock market selloff. This, together with lower oil prices and some pretty weak numbers on global manufacturing, prompted many loud voices to say that the U.S. is either already in recession or is falling into one with near certainty. These dire predictions, in turn, have frightened many investors who remember the pain of seeing the stock market fall in half in the last two recessions. However, in this emotionally charged atmosphere, there are four key aspects of the current economic and financial environment that investors need to appreciate: [+] Read More

Polen Capital Management's Focus Growth Portfolio was able to outperform the market again in 2015. Read their quarterly commentary to learn how leveraging Alphabet Inc.'s (formerly Google) weak 2014 share price helped them achieve that feat. [+] Read More

Federated Investor's Senior Equity Strategist, Linda Duessel, provides her insight on this year's market volatility in Federated's weekly update, Main Street is Calmer than Wall Street for a Change. "I spent most of the week in San Diego, where I wasn’t prepared for the 80-degree temperatures and blinding sunshine, leaving my sunglasses at home (living in cold and cloudy Pittsburgh, I only associate sunglasses with summertime). Well, a chill adviser gave me hers! It’s all chill here. Walking along the water, there is a young man practicing tai chi—be calm, find your center. He’s not worried. Further along my walk is a tarot card reader having an intense discussion with a couple—I’m not eavesdropping but I think the discussion is personal and not about the markets. And a little further down is a vendor selling dream catchers—ever heard of them? Off to meetings with advisers, one lamented, “What do you tell clients?! They look at the screens and say ‘blankety blank blank.’ ” [+] Read More

The Federated Strategic Value Dividend Q4 Commentary reviews the end of 2015 including an assessment of the uncertainty caused by oil prices, interest rates, manufacturing activity and a slowing China. "Market Overview Concerns over energy, manufacturing and China helped snuff out a budding Santa Claus rally, with the three major domestic equity indexes closing down on the month and the big two—the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones—also down for the year. December’s performance was representative of the entire year, as encouraging news on jobs, autos and consumers once again battled unsettling news on oil prices, manufacturing activity and a slowing China, leaving investors uncertain about the future. [+] Read More

ClearBridge Investments, a Legg Mason company, addresses 2015 market volatility in their 4th quarter market overview and outlook. [+] Read More

Federated Investor's Senior Equity Strategist, Linda A. Duesse discusses oil prices, earnings, election years, the Santa Claus Rally (SCR) and more in her 2016 Outlook. "As an indecisive year draws to a close —the S&P 500 crossed the flat line a in 2015—the market record 26 times remains in a difficult position. While the seasonal backdrop is certainly supportive through January, daily, weekly and monthly momentum indicators are not oversold and continue to weaken. Individuals continue to dump equity funds, market breadth remains narrow, the rally off the August lows failed to generate the internal surge often seen in the early innings of a durable advance, and credit conditions are still suggesting caution, with high-yield spreads ending 2015 at their highest level in nearly 3 years. The macro backdrop isn’t great either. Global growth is slowing, while in the U.S., real GDP remains stuck in a 2%-2.5% rut. Ironically, the ability of companies to make money in this environment may be supportive of this frustrating norm. While the top line of developed-market companies has been rising much slower than in previous recoveries, profits have grown at a very decent pace, a result of operating leverage that has grown steadily over the last quarter century. In other words, companies have learned to generate profits in a low-growth environment and have been successful at expanding margins. One of the key reasons, Empirical Research says, is the improved use of capital, i.e., with returns on capital improving, margins can improve without the capital intensity typical of past cycles. A consequence is that a capital-light business model comes with a capital spending-light recovery, which means the accelerator effect on GDP from that spending will be muted and the recovery is destined to remain sluggish. [+] Read More

Eagle Asset Management's Richard Skeppstrom urges patience in this month's Market Perspective. "When things don’t seem normal, we’re prone to action. Yes, we’ll wait around a bit expecting the familiar to return but we aren’t a patient species: somewhere between dogs and finches. The urge to do something overwhelms caution at some point. I believe we (the markets) are there. We’ve given up on the return of familiar. The genetic playbook is calling for action. Morgan Stanley is feeling it: The company just fired 25 percent of its fixed-income folks. Conclusion: Fixed income is crippled forever or Christmas is the best season for job searches? The epic merger boom: Zero organic growth is bad for my CEO pay or Goldman Sachs deserves more deal fees The U.S. Federal Reserve’s profound dithering over 25 basis points: Evidence of a desire to do something or a Fed out of options? [+] Read More