As markets focus on an impending attack on Syria, Jeff Kleintop, Chief Market Strategist at LPL Financial, highlights how the stock market has a track record...

As markets focus on an impending attack on Syria, Jeff Kleintop, Chief Market Strategist at LPL Financial, highlights how the stock market has a track record of bottoming out days before a military strike. Most military conflicts have prompted a common pattern in the stock market: impending war acted as a negative from when the US committed to action until action began; once action began, markets rebounded, says Kleintop. The historical pattern suggests that if a strike on Syria begins soon, then the S&P500 may have bottomed last week after a 4.6% pullback from its peak in August. However, he notes that the recent pullback was due to both foreign policy concerns as well as domestic economic factors. As such, Kleintop warns of another volatile month where investors should expect 5-10% pullbacks more frequently as part of a return to normal market volatility. (VIEW LINK)