Stock market news

The quarterly market outlook offers our perspective on recent activity in the capital markets. The Edward Jones Investment Policy Committee offers its viewpoints on the U.S. economy, stocks, the bond market, international markets and asset classes, as well as a special topic of interest to investors each quarter.

These aren’t short-term predictions. Rather, this is Edward Jones’ perspective on market and economic topics, designed to help you make decisions affecting your long-term financial strategy. As you read through each topic, you'll find specific actions you can discuss with your financial advisor.

After a year (2022) in which nothing seemed to go investors' way, 2023 has, so far, been the polar opposite. Stocks are up handsomely while interest rates are down. Last week brought a heavy dose of fresh information on what we'd consider to be the two critical drivers for the market this year: the Fed and the labour market. The outcome was another up week for the market – its fourth in the first five weeks of 2023. While this recent rally is both welcome and reasonable, we don't think it should be viewed as confirmation that the coast is clear. Given what we learned last week, here are our latest thoughts on several popular takes that prevailed heading into this year: