TORONTO, ONTARIO and CHICAGO, ILLINOIS and NEW YORK, NEW YORK--(Marketwired - Aug 21, 2014) - All eyes are on the stock market today as the Standard & Poor's 500 hit a record high, surpassing its previous high of 1987.98 on July 24.

Since the S&P's low, hit in March 2009 in a month the economy lost more than 800,000 jobs, the S&P 500 has rallied about 190 percent, or more than 21 percent per year compounded. U.S. large caps have expanded by more than 75 percent since the peak of the tech bubble in December 1999. Since 1928, months before the market crash and the ushering in of the Great Depression, the S&P 500 has grown at an annualized rate of nearly six percent.

BMO experts in the U.S. are available to provide their analysis during what is turning out to be an historic week for U.S. financial markets. Specific areas they can address include:

  • Could continued stimulus by the Fed lead to even higher gains in the weeks and months ahead?
  • Are better-than-expected corporate earnings the new norm?
  • What direction are interest rates headed and when?
  • Wither the bond market?
  • Where's the smart money going?

BMO experts who are available include:

  • Jack Ablin, Chief Investment Officer, BMO Private Bank
  • Brent Schutte, Senior Investment Strategist, BMO Global Asset Management