On April 20th, futures for crude oil's U.S. benchmark (WTI) went into negative territory - meaning for the first time in history, producers would pay traders to take oil off their hands.

Last weekend, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other major oil-producing countries agreed to slash production as oil prices had fallen about 50% from their January peak. 

Watch a recording of our webinar: Special Markets Update 2020 #6

The week started out with a bang as stocks soared in value on Monday with each of the benchmark indexes posting sizable gains.

This Q1 Market Review features world capital market performance and a timeline of events for the past quarter.

In the current market environment, the value of your holdings may be fluctuating widely — and it's natural to feel tentative about further investment.

Watch a recording of our webinar: Special Markets Update 2020 #5

Stocks continued to rally at the beginning of last week amid hopes of enhanced testing for COVID-19. But by the end of the day Wednesday stocks slid, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting their largest single-day declines since March 18.

Watch a recording of our webinar: Special Markets Update 2020 #4

Stocks opened the week as they closed the previous one — in a tailspin. However, aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve late in the day, coupled with the hope of a massive aid package from Congress, helped push stocks higher during early trading Tuesday.

On March 20, 2020, the Department of Education announced terms for student loan relief for tens of millions of borrowers in response to COVID-19.

Watch a recording of our webinar: Special Markets Update 2020 #3

The longest bull market in history lasted almost 11 years before coronavirus fears and the realities of a seriously disrupted U.S. economy brought it to an end.

Following the Fed's latest interest rate cut last weekend, stocks opened markedly lower on Monday, prompting the third circuit breaker in the last six sessions as trading was halted only seconds after the opening bell. 

Watch a recording of our webinar: Special Markets Update 2020 #2

The run of positive weekly market gains ended last week as benchmark indexes lost value.

Watch a recording of our webinar: Special Markets Update

While it apparently took a day to take effect, the Fed's decision to reduce the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points quelled the massive rush to sell stocks and brought some investors back to the market.

If recent volatility is causing you to consider cashing out of your stock holdings, it may be worthwhile to pause and put recent events into perspective, using history as a guide.

Panicked investors continued a major sell-off last week, pushing stocks to double-digit losses.