Last week's economic reports painted a stark picture of rising inflationary pressures and plummeting consumer confidence.

Today I’ll try to cut through some of this fog and look at why the US has a trade deficit. As you’ll see, it is a built-in, necessary feature of our money. Plus, it is time to start watching for a recession. Let’s jump in.

We were in the camp that the new administration was using the threat of tariffs as an instrument to negotiate deals with other countries, especially with our largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico.

The substantial shift in U.S. trade policy will put a significant dent in growth in major markets.

On the latest edition of Market Week in Review, Senior Investment Strategist and Head of Canadian Strategy, BeiChen Lin, discussed the latest tariff developments. He also revealed key watchpoints for upcoming U.S. and Canadian employment reports and finished with a preview of U.S. first-quarter earnings season.

On March 18, 2025, Jensen Huang stepped onto the stage at Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in San Jose with the presence of a man who knows he's about to redefine the trajectory of an industry—again. His message was clear: AI has hit an inflection point, and if you're not paying attention, you're already behind.

Uncertainty dominates the day, with market volatility sparking investor questions not seen in years. With this in mind, we’ve put together a concise cheat sheet covering key topics on everyone’s radar.

As investors have flocked to defined outcome funds or buffered outcome ETFs, certain questions have arisen, principally around buffered ETF performance and pricing.

History suggests a rebound could be in order.

Longtime Investor Alert readers have often seen me say that government policy is a precursor to change. What this means is that, when policymakers act—whether through subsidies, sanctions, tariffs or regulations—markets can sometimes respond swiftly and dramatically. We’re seeing that play out right now in real time, especially in the copper market.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation will compare Home Depot (HD) and Lowes (LOW). We are going to decide which one is the better one for your portfolio.

US President Donald Trump’s focus on “reciprocal tariffs,” rather than balanced trade, does not suggest that his administration intends to use tariffs strategically to cut the country’s chronic trade deficit. But Democrats must stop dismissing outright a policy tool that they themselves embraced under Biden.

How recent market volatility has contributed to a sharp reversal in global equities.

We’ve written quite a bit on tariffs already this year, and appropriately so. Developments on this front have been significant and are of global consequence.

While systematic investing often relies on models and financial data, Pozharny emphasizes that Bridgeway’s process is differentiated by its acknowledgment of unknowns and its method for adjusting ratings based on external events. The team grades stocks on a scale from A to F, with adjustments made when externalities—such as leadership changes, regulatory shifts, or geopolitical risks—threaten to undermine model assumptions.

As the first quarter comes to a close, there is one word that has become the new go-to term to describe the investment backdrop: uncertainty.

Portfolio Managers John Kerschner, Nick Childs, and Jessica Shill discuss the AAA CLO ETF landscape and highlight the most important considerations for investors.

When you grow up with a father who worked in the brokerage business, you hear a lot of stories.

VettaFi examines free cash flow yields for midstream MLPs and corporations using 2025 estimates and compares with energy and the S&P 500.

Investing requires more than just understanding global markets. Geopolitical risk matters, from China to Russia to Europe and more.

While we sympathize with consumers who have had difficult interactions with the healthcare system, we believe that much of the antipathy toward health insurers is misplaced. Their role as middlemen is a vital and increasingly important one in a U.S. healthcare system that struggles to balance between the incentives of providers and consumers.

The canal is a vital and valuable trade route.

When dealing with digital assets it’s important to keep records and consult a tax professional. Our Bill Cass explains the taxation rules around cryptocurrency.

Since May 2020, inflation (CPI) has gone from a low of 0.1% to a high of 9.1% and back to 2.8%. It is no wonder why any investor might at least pause in this period of uncertainty.

The global economy is undergoing an unprecedented wave of industrial and infrastructure expansion, driving relentless demand for commodities across energy, metals and agriculture.

Over the last couple of weeks, the market sell-off eclipsed 10% on an intraday basis, sending investor sentiment plummeting to levels usually seen during more significant declines and previous bear markets.

The parallels between the AI narrative driving the current market and the dot-com bubble of a quarter century ago raise important concerns for investors.

For taxable investors with sizable gains in their brokerage accounts, the decision when to realize that capital gain is intensely personal—depending of course on individual circumstances, while also factoring in market return expectations and the prevailing tax structure.

Changing market narratives in the third quarter led to ongoing market volatility.

Inflation uncertainty makes it tricky to foresee the Fed's next moves. In moments like these, it may be time to turn to active fixed income.

Last year was a record for S&P 500® stock buybacks, led by the now “Lag 7” companies, though the SPX buyback yield dropped to a 2-year low.

In 2024, the S&P 500 delivered a total return of 25%, while gold finished the year up 27%. This marks the first time in recent financial history in which gold and stocks achieved gains exceeding 25% within the same calendar year.

Without a robust regulatory framework that incentivizes stablecoin issuers to register in the United States, stablecoin activity will migrate to countries with weaker rules, increasing the likelihood of financial instability. Fortunately, the US can still head off these risks and reap the technology’s benefits.

This week, and according to many, Federal Reserve (Fed) officials jumped onto the uncertainty bandwagon, along with consumers and businesses, waiting for more policy clarity from the Trump administration.

The time is right to let the Fed's balance sheet level off.

Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting at a Commonwealth conference. I love spending time and sharing ideas with our advisors. They are the best in the business.

As policy uncertainty grows, we consider how tariffs and other government actions might impact inflation, interest rates, and market sentiment.

Morale has taken a quick turn for the worse since the middle of February.

The stock market sell-off appears to be signaling a recession. However, we believe the bond market disagrees.

First, the market is rallying on news that the targeted tariffs that Trump is planning to introduce on April 2 may be more limited than initially feared. Let’s hope that is the case.

Happy National Countdown Day! Yes, you read that right—today is a day to celebrate the excitement and sometimes anxious anticipation that comes with planning for an upcoming event.

Whenever political questions arise, we always encourage a broader view: politicians don’t control the economy, and policy changes rarely move markets. But the past month has raised serious questions over that assertion.

It has been an interesting correction. The average retail investor was “buying the dip” despite having an extremely bearish outlook.

Emerging markets offer the potential for long-term diversified investment returns but they can endure challenging periods of volatility and uncertainty. Head of Portfolio Strategy David Dali maps out the issues to consider when constructing and managing a portfolio for emerging markets.

It’s been a rough start to the year for US equity investors. Yet the volatility hasn’t been too far out of the ordinary in historical context.

In spite of severe polarization on so many issues, there is at least one thing that Americans agree on across the entire political spectrum, left, right, and center. That is: At some point in the past sixty years, or so, something major went wrong with the US economy and it is still causing problems today.

On April 2, the U.S. is preparing to announce additional tariffs on a wide range of imports and countries. Here's the assessment of those policies, and their possible impacts.

n this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation, is going to take a deep dive into Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE), two of the biggest pharmaceutical companies out there.

With a name reflecting its expertise in smart indexing, Indexperts is carving out a balanced strategy that recognizes market realities.

Green bond issuers tend to excel at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, per a Bank for International Settlements study.