Last week the S&P 500 rose 1.2 percent and the NASDAQ gained 2.1 percent, hitting a fresh record close earlier in the week, while the Russell 2000 fell 0.8 percent. The bigger story, however, was in rates. The 10-year Treasury yield pushed through 5.2 percent, its highest level since June 2006, and the two-year briefly topped 4.9 percent, its highest in over two years.

Assessing the wall of worry. Here, we assess the market's growing wall of worry, explain why these worries warrant attention, and justify our continued constructive intermediate-to-long-term stock market outlook.

Economic data from last week continued to paint a picture of a robust U.S. economy with an accelerating pace of growth. After a strong durable goods report showed business fixed investment continuing to rise on the back of ongoing AI data center buildouts, the Atlanta Fed’s GDP Now estimate for third-quarter real economic growth remained at an elevated 5 percent.

Some employer retirement plans allow after-tax contributions that can be converted to Roth assets. Learn how a mega backdoor Roth strategy works and key considerations for retirement planning.

From social media and AI tools to financial professionals and workplace resources, defined contribution (DC) plan participants are drawing retirement insights from an expanding portfolio of sources, according to our latest survey. But more content doesn’t necessarily mean better outcomes. We think plan sponsors are well positioned to help participants cut through the noise.

Globalization is being reorganized around security and resilience, creating uneven risks and opportunities across markets.

Yields have pushed higher with some points on the curve reaching yield levels not seen since the mid-2000s. While it is nearly impossible to pinpoint a specific catalyst for any move in the financial markets, below are a few of the factors that have helped push interest rates higher.

Higher-for-longer interest rates are forcing buyout firms to face facts. Struggling since 2023 to sell companies purchased in the long decade of ultra-cheap debt before the Covid pandemic, they’ve tried to placate investors with clever financial engineering to help keep some money turning over.

Across the world, nations are dealing with rising costs from energy and debt service. These costs are compounding as time goes on.

It’s a complicated economic environment to retire in, with high costs and significant geopolitical and policy uncertainty. Still, people want and often may need to retire. However, thanks to innovation in the asset management world, investors have an increasing array of options.

Given that the Federal Reserve raised interest rates earlier in September, inflation data that was already crucial has taken on a new meaning. These reports could now serve as a barometer for what is to come from the central bank.

The financial industry is being pulled between two powerful forces: bottom-up financial technology is enabling seamless integration, while top-down geoeconomic statecraft is promoting fragmentation. So much for the conventional wisdom that finance will simply become smoother, cheaper, and more globalized over time.

The bond market has become the central story for investors. The remarkable development over the past several weeks is not rising inflation expectations but rising real interest rates. Real rates have increased roughly 40 basis points in just three weeks, one of the sharpest moves I can remember over such a short period. Meanwhile, longer-term inflation expectations have actually edged slightly lower.

Compared to a decade ago, midstream operators boast improved fundamentals, lower leverage, and robust free cash flow generation. Coupled with surging natural gas demand and a constructive production outlook in response to global geopolitical shifts, these fee-based business models offer compelling yields and a remarkably defensive posture.

With more than 100,000 advisors planning to retire in the next 10 years and an overwhelming majority of independent RIAs facing major challenges in succession planning, making your firm as attractive as possible, whether you’re looking to acquire or to be acquired, is quickly becoming much more than a good idea; it may soon be a survival tactic.

With a process and an approach in place, you should move toward a final solution more easily. All you can do is set it up to be as open and fair as possible, with someone holding the absolute final say once the decision is made.

Finance leaders can use agentic AI to boost budget visibility, develop more accurate forecasts efficiently, and find insights in data that would typically require extensive manual effort. With the right platform and a careful approach to governance, finance functions can start reaping the benefits of augmentation within months.

Ken Griffin is donating $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University, most of it to establish a new campus in Miami, in the largest single gift committed to a US university.

Stock-market risks are everywhere. But you’d be hard pressed to tell anything was wrong by looking at the surface of major US equity gauges.

Banks in the US have plenty to celebrate these days, from record profits and higher stock prices to a strong economy and easier regulation. One thing they don’t need is an added discount on their deposit insurance — a crucial buffer that should be reinforced when times are good.

Has the stock market bubble quietly burst already? Even though the S&P 500 Index has mostly treaded water for the past four months, Wall Street analysts have continued to boost their earnings estimates.

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan, has a simple pitch to voters. Imagine, he says, a health-insurance plan with “no premium, no copay, no deductible — just healthcare when you need it.” El-Sayed and other proponents call the idea Medicare for All.

Bond markets continue to adjust to a more hawkish policy environment following the Federal Reserve’s recent 25-basis-point rate hike.

Financial markets continue to grapple with a fundamental question: If inflation remains above target after years of restrictive monetary policy, is interest-rate policy still aimed at the right problem?

In this video The Most Powerful Growth Stock, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and known as “Mr. Valuation,” examines NVIDIA through the lens of growth, valuation, financial strength, and long-term return potential. He explains why growth investing is still value investing when a company’s future earnings justify the price being paid.

There is more than one reason the 10-year Treasury yield is 5.23% today. Most importantly, the Fed has stopped anchoring interest rates at artificially low levels. Fear of inflation is likely another. However, both of those are related to the massive government debt the US has created.

I’m writing this week from London, the start of a four-country tour of Europe to see clients. I typically don’t have a lot of free time while on these journeys, but I did sneak away on the weekend for an economics field trip.

AI-related borrowers have accounted for nearly a quarter of nonfinancial U.S. dollar (USD) supply year-to-date, yet spreads for non-AI issuers have not widened meaningfully. Instead, hyperscaler spreads have widened, suggesting the market is absorbing the AI supply shock at its source.

On September 23, Invesco launched the Invesco Nasdaq International Innovators 100 ETF (QQI), a fund that seeks to track the performance of the Nasdaq International Innovators 100 Index.

Retail investors buy corporate bond ETFs expecting steady coupons and ballast against stock market volatility. Traditionally, fixed-income portfolios were anchored by defensive issuers like banks, industrials and utilities.

A recent VettaFi webcast explored advice on navigating retirees' behavioral tendencies in decumulating assets in retirement.

Join Fidelity for a product due diligence session exploring how the Fidelity Yield Enhanced Equity ETF (FYEE) captures derivative opportunities in today’s unique market environment.

In his latest insight, Richard Bernstein, Global Head of Macro & Customized Investing, examines why the Fed’s actions tend to lag the economic cycle, how deglobalization may limit its flexibility, and what a potentially longer period of tighter monetary policy could mean for investors.

For three years, clients have been asking me when the economy will get back to normal. I have started answering that this current flat economy may be the newest redefinition of normal, one of many I’ve seen in 40-plus years of writing about money.

When during the calendar year should retirees take their required minimum distributions (RMDs)? Take the RMDs early and eliminate the chore? Wait until December to maximize tax-deferred compounding? Or spread the distributions throughout the year? Advisors often start with too narrow a view of what clients are trying to optimize.

Only 30% of Americans believe they’ll be able to retire comfortably — an amount retirement plan participants now estimate is $1.2 million, a recent survey by Schroders found. 33% of plan participants said that their credit card debt was higher than their retirement savings.

The confusion surrounding a proposed civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia hasn’t exactly disappeared: The White House is still claiming it depends on the country normalizing relations with Israel, even if that’s not part of the written agreement.

Morgan Stanley has set up a Digital Asset Lab to test technologies including stablecoins, tokenization and decentralized finance applications as the Wall Street bank explores how blockchain-based systems could be used across its business.

Starting Tuesday, OpenAI will convene its annual developer conference. The timing isn’t ideal.

Oil fell as top exporter Saudi Arabia boosted flows through a key pipeline, overshadowing concerns over a US-Iran stalemate.

As bond yields have risen, mortgage rates are again facing upward pressure, extending the U.S. housing market's post-pandemic affordability challenges. Beyond mortgage rates, trends in wage growth, taxes, and insurance costs also continue to shape the affordability outlook.

Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.

In the first quarter of this year, as the Strait of Hormuz closed and oil prices exploded, Berkshire Hathaway made a couple of moves that might have flown under people’s radars.It cut its stake in Chevron by roughly a third. Then it bought an airline.

Understanding why investor optimism wins over a full market cycle is one of the most underrated edges an investor can own, and it has almost nothing to do with waving pom-poms. 

The financial markets are navigating a storm. The Treasury yield sell-off intensified this week, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield up to an intraday high of 5.20%, its highest level since 2007.

Decided to go independent? Here's how to design your RIA's client model, exit plan, technology, and compliance foundation before you file paperwork or sign a custodian agreement.

I’m talking about the cash I have sitting here that I desperately want to get into the market. Earlier this year, I got a chunk of money from selling a house. I have no desire to own another home (that’s a story for another time.) Instead, I used some of the money to pay off some debt. The rest is just sitting in my savings account earning absolutely nothing.

Before evaluating whether a long-short strategy belongs in a portfolio, we think it helps to understand what's actually happening under the hood. Let's start at the beginning.

A snowball effect of asset values can similarly empower wealth effects: the tendency for consumers to spend more as the value of their investments rises. Wealth effects are surprising at first glance: household investments may be illiquid and tend not to produce substantial cash flow. However, a rising net worth builds a consumer’s confidence in their ability to afford purchases.

The BlackRock Model Portfolio Solutions team made significant allocation shifts during the week ended September 24, 2026. The team recently managed over $300 billion and often causes shockwaves in the ETF industry.