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.
The Chicago Fed's National Activity Index is a monthly indicator designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure. It is a composite of 85 monthly indicators across four broad categories. The CFNAI is a forward-looking indicator that suggests how the economy will likely look in the near term and has been called one of the "most important and overlooked economic numbers". The index is constructed so a zero value for the index indicates that the national economy is expanding at its historical trend (average) rate of growth. Negative values indicate below-average growth, and positive values indicate above-average growth.
Margin debt is the amount of money an investor borrows from their broker via a margin account. Trading with a margin debt can magnify gains because an investor can benefit from the upside of any stock without having to invest 100%, resulting in greater profit. On the flip side, trading with margin debt can also exacerbate losses because if a stock's value were to depreciate, the investor may face a margin call and would need to come up with additional cash to reach the minimum requirement.
BlackRock Inc., fresh off a $28 billion deal spree to transform into a major player in alternative assets, is integrating complex private investments into its ready-made portfolios for individuals.
When a testimonial is shared in a compliant manner, it remains entirely in the client’s own words – free from advisor influence – making it one of the most transparent and credible marketing tools available.
The Federal Reserve has raised some questions with its recent decision to slow the pace at which it’s shrinking its more-than-$4-trillion pile of Treasury securities.
Fort Knox, home to much of the nation’s gold reserves, doesn’t get many visitors. That may soon change: President Donald Trump and his sidekick, Elon Musk, claim there’s a chance someone has stolen the shiny stuff. They want to visit and see it with their own eyes.
Amazon.com Inc. shares are starting to look like a bargain, a word that has rarely been used to describe the stock.
Electronic market makers like Citadel Securities LLC and Jane Street Group have been gobbling up market share from investment bank rivals, but to really get ahead they’ll need a helping hand. They might be about to get it from a surprising source: Some of those same banks.
The truth is, if you’re having to follow up with your prospect, you’ve already lost them. The sale was over at “hello.”
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.
Life’s challenges often force us to become more present, to experience each moment fully. In doing so, I discovered the importance of celebrating small victories – not just the major milestones, but the everyday wins that mark progress.
ETF Prime Host Nate Geraci is joined by Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas, along with VettaFi’s Cinthia Murphy and Todd Rosenbluth, to spotlight the year’s most anticipated ETF event and discuss the industry’s hottest trends.
I suspect many people yawned when the popular online brokerage Robinhood Markets Inc. announced it will offer sports and other prediction market derivatives, starting with betting on the NCAA March Madness basketball games.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are expecting new leadership put in place by the Trump administration to usher in different enforcement priorities and a shift in how firms and individuals pay fines.
The $5 trillion industry is embarking on a campaign to change the way taxes for indebted businesses are tallied. Leading lobbyists want to tack two letters — DA — back to an earnings formula used to help calculate tax deductions, a change potentially worth billions.
The US economy looks set to disappoint this quarter. A number of economists have lowered their forecast for growth in real gross domestic product due to a widening trade deficit and sluggish consumer spending. An uncertain trade war and tepid labor demand have also clouded the outlook for the rest of 2025. Conflating the two would be a mistake, though.
Recently I have realized that cryptocurrency might be something even bigger and stranger than currency. It is not just digital money; it’s a bet on the huge global demand for financial autonomy.
Investors under 40 have little interest in reaching out to humans for financial advice. Rather than collaborating directly with a professional, many investors under 40 prefer a do it yourself (DIY) method that enables them to find stock market information online.
In today’s hyper-competitive environment, delivering an institutional-caliber portfolio isn’t just table stakes – it’s a fiduciary mandate that exceeds the scope of an individual advisor. Here is a checklist to help advisors evaluate whether their current approaches align with institutional best practices.
Though you may not agree with my view on all seven of these terms, it may be beneficial for you and your clients to at least consider them.
The world is a risky place, and high-yield debt spreads to safe US Treasury securities are close to historic levels of stinginess, signaling complacency in markets — at least on the surface. But legendary investor Howard Marks says that’s the wrong way to look at it and long-term investors should consider allocations to credit.
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.
This article highlights several SimpleVisor tools we use to track sector and factor rotations. These models help us better forecast tomorrow’s possible rotations and try to stay a step ahead of the market.
Recently, downside-protected ETFs have garnered a lot of investor attention. These products are long the stock market – via different indexes – and use options to create downside-protected payoffs.
Quantitative easing has created serious inflation threats. The only way out is to increase tax receipts and reduce government spending, neither of which is in the Fed’s purview. Otherwise, serious inflation lies ahead, regardless of Fed actions.
