Stephen Dover, Head of Franklin Templeton Institute, recently sat down with Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Portfolio Manager Josh Lohmeier and Western Asset Portfolio Manager Mark Lindbloom to discuss the fixed income landscape—and why they believe 2024 will be a good year for fixed income investors.
It’s possible that a 2024 recession could be avoided, but we see recessions risks as remaining elevated in most developed markets. We believe there is limited upside for equities amid expensive valuations and recession concerns. Government bond valuations, however, look attractive in the U.S., UK, Canada, Germany and Australia.
When it comes to commercial real estate, a lot of attention is obviously paid to offices. But it's not the only sector facing strains.
Jeremy Grantham is a famous bubble hunter, quick to point out speculative excess on Wall Street and beyond.
Jeremy Grantham will be a keynote speaker at Exchange, joining an exceptional roster of luminaries, thought leaders, and industry titans.
American consumers are becoming more frugal this holiday season.
The winter holiday season is here, and I wanted to join in the festivities. Recently, advisors have become more comfortable turning to active ETFs to help them and their clients navigate the uncertain market environment. Actively managed ETFs have gained traction in 2023.
The yield on the 10-year note ended December 8, 2023 at 4.23%, the 2-year note ended at 4.71%, and the 30-year at 4.31%.
The S&P 500 posted its highest close of the year on Friday and now sits just 4.01% below its record close from January 3, 2022. A late week rally led the index to its sixth consecutive week of gains as it finished 0.2% up from last Friday. The index is currently up 20.40% year to date.
Join the experts at Exchange Traded Concepts and VettaFi as they unpack the possibilities of AI as more and more businesses begin to adopt it.
There is a general belief that there are four big indicators that the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee weighs heavily in their cycle identification process. This commentary focuses on one of those indicators, nonfarm employment. November saw a 199,000 increase in total non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate fell to 3.7%.
Investing in “smart beta” was the rage in the early 2000s, as small-cap-value stocks vaulted over large-cap-growth stocks. But like all supercharged investment strategies, it didn’t last. Factors premiums have not materialized since the financial crisis. For most of the last decade, value has underperformed growth, driving the underperformance of the largest category of smart-beta strategies. We’ll go over the case for and against factors in this interview with long-term investment adviser, Rick Ferri.
Against the odds, the Federal Reserve’s effort to guide the US economy to a soft landing — reducing inflation without causing a recession — seems to be working.
It should be no surprise that Bitcoin sold for over $44,000 this week, more than double its March 13 price. Going back to 2014, it has taken the cryptocurrency an average of nine months and 21 days to double; the milestone came 28 days early this time.
Artificial intelligence holds far-reaching consequences for modern economies. Many of the jobs we are asked to do will change; a lot of them might disappear altogether.
Stock markets will suffer in the first quarter of 2024 as a rally in bonds would signal sputtering economic growth, according to Bank of America Corp.’s Michael Hartnett.
Consumer sentiment soared in December, erasing all declines from the past four months, according to the preliminary report for the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. The index came in at 69.4, up 8.1 (13.2%) from the November final. This morning's reading was above the forecast of 62.0.
A tough year for banks has left shares cheap, but Wall Street analysts are still hesitant to declare it’s all-clear for the sector as concerns over credit markets loom.
Bond traders who powered a ferocious rally in the $26 trillion US Treasury market are about to find out if they’ve gotten ahead of themselves.
The latest employment report showed 199,000 jobs were added in November, more than the expected addition of 180,000 new jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7%.
History shows that returns are greatest when capital is scarce. But investors need to also realize that risks escalate when there is a glut of capital.
The weekly leading economic index (WLEI) is a composite for the U.S economy that draws from over 20 time-series and groups them into the following six broad categories which are then used to construct an equally weighted average. As of November 24th, the index was at 9.465, down 1.270 from the previous week, with 3 of the 6 components in expansion territory.
The capital markets are already pricing in rate cuts ahead of 2024, causing yields to fall. One way to continue supplementing income amid a potential drop in yields is to diversify income using a pair of active exchange-traded funds.
Although some volatility may continue, we believe interest rates have peaked. We expect lower Treasury yields and positive returns for investors in 2024.
As of late Monday, bitcoin had surged nearly 14% over the past seven days. That’s exceeded 42% for the first time since May 2022.
Our portfolio managers field some tough questions on Matthews Asia Dividend’s performance, its positioning and what they believe are its unique strengths for investors.
In early October, gold was valued at around $1,820 according to Kitco. That is fairly close to its low for the calendar year. Its previous low came in late February, at $1,811.
As of Q3 2023, the latest Fed balance sheet indicates that household net worth has risen 154% since reaching its 2009 low. However, when adjusted for inflation, household net worth has increased by only 77% since the 2009 trough.
There are many ways investors can add floating rate credit exposure to a portfolio that vary based on the underlying borrower, structural features and risk profile.
Pop Quiz! Without recourse to your text, your notes, or a Google search, what line item is the largest asset in Uncle Sam's financial accounts?
The universe of small cap companies has tremendous growth potential. Investors who can capture exposure to successful companies early in their lifecycle may see strong, long-term returns.
Join the experts at VettaFi and Goldman Sachs Asset Management to learn about a strategy that brings a high conviction, active approach to core small cap investing.
Optimal investment decisions in active management result from the careful interpretation of data. However, investors who allocate their money to active managers potentially face the risk of human bias in the decision making process. AI has potential to provide advisors with a distinctive approach to active management that seeks to provide both diversification and idiosyncratic alpha.
Join experts from QRAFT and LG AI Research for a livecast as they delve into the capabilities AI can potentially offer investors portfolios.
As of last week, Morningstar Direct calculated that 391 new ETFs had begun trading in 2023. That's significantly higher than the 311 that had debuted by the final week of October in 2021, the year ETF launches set a record of 475.
Active strategies are playing a key role in that record-breaking pace. Despite holding about 6% of total assets, actively managed ETFs still added almost one-third of total flows in September. Nearly 75% of the launches so far this year have been active ETFs.
AllianceBernstein (AB) launched its first ETFs into that intensely competitive marketplace. My guest, Noel Archard, is here to discuss the competitive dynamics of the ETF industry and his strategy to gain market share in the advisor intermediary channel.
Is a stock market correction coming before the Santa Claus rally at the end of the year?
A year ago, I’m pretty sure I had little idea what artificial intelligence (AI) was and what it could become. While there were a few related ETFs, AI was just another one of the long-term investment themes.
Early last year, critics — and there were many — said the Fed was woefully behind the curve on inflation, and that the only way it could win the battle was to push the economy into a damaging recession by raising interest rates very high, very fast.
Would you gamble your life savings on a few hands of blackjack? Probably not.
Homebuyers have suffered some severe whiplash in recent months. After all, when mortgage rates hit 8% in late October, it was reasonable to think the housing market would stay on ice throughout the winter.
The sizzling global bond rally stalled on Thursday ahead of a key US jobs report, with a slump in Japanese debt adding to the nerves of Treasury traders already fretting that yields had dropped too far.
Stock investors are turning to roughed-up corners of the market from small caps to value shares as they seek out bargains with the S&P 500 Index riding a five-week winning streak and soaring almost 9% since the start of November.
The Treasuries market took another leg higher on Wednesday, as a slowdown in private-sector job creation further encouraged traders to bet on US interest-rate cuts ahead of broad labor-market data due Friday.
US mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in almost four months last week, spurring the biggest demand for refinancing since February.
The notoriously saturated $7.7 trillion ETF industry is this year poised for the second-highest number of closures, as the pandemic-era day trading boom fizzles out.
In the week ending December 2, initial jobless claims were at a seasonally adjusted level of 220,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure. The latest reading is lower than the forecast of 222,000.
Both supply and demand of workers will prevent a surge in unemployment rates.
The recent rate pause by the Federal Reserve is bringing optimism to the capital markets that interest rates may finally head lower. In turn, it’s pushing yields down. Conversely, bond prices rallied in November, which should help bring investors back to the market.
Investors need to understand the potential physical damage from natural hazards before they can assess their financial implications.
Insurance is making national headlines in 2023 as major providers retreat from writing new policies in large parts of the country and renewal premium prices skyrocket.
The real world and the digital world are converging every day and becoming increasingly interconnected, and where the two intersect is described by some as “phygital.”
Markets improved last month across the board as interest rates pulled back on signs of slowing growth. U.S. markets were up by high-single to low-double digits, while international markets were also up by high-single digits.
