Beyond keeping party balloons aloft, helium plays a far more serious role in the modern economy. Extracted as a by‑product of natural gas production, it is an essential input across semiconductors, medical imaging, aerospace and defense systems.
The Middle East ceasefire sparked a relief rally last week as markets dialed back the risk of a deep, drawn‑out oil supply shock. Stocks have already erased much of the post-conflict drop. Bonds haven’t gotten the memo: Yields are still elevated, keeping a bit of extra term premium on the table.
Investor anxieties surrounding negotiations between the U.S. and Iran paused a rally on Friday, initially sparked by roughly in-line inflation data and the announcement of a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday night.
The question that is increasingly on everyone’s mind is simple: Is this time different? The answer will hinge squarely on what happens to core inflation, specifically the core Consumer Price Index and the core PCE price index.
If you expect Kevin Warsh to quickly take the helm at the Fed and start cutting rates, you need to adjust your expectations.
The first quarter of 2026 ended with a downpour of volatility as the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 69%. Nonetheless, Goldman Sachs (GS) reported first-quarter 2026 earnings that outpaced Wall Street expectations though a thick fog of uncertainty still lingers in Q2.
Michael Bell of Meketa Capital joins the Alternative Allocations podcast to explore why infrastructure investing is shifting from an institutional-only play to a foundational piece of the modern portfolio and what that means for today's market participants.
In a rapidly shifting geopolitical environment, gold continues to demonstrate both its resilience and its complexity as a financial asset.
For financial advisors, tax season should not be the only time to talk to clients about municipal bonds. However, with April 15 arriving this week, the timing is ideal to examine how muni bond ETFs are rapidly becoming a cornerstone of fixed-income allocations in 2026.
Jason Chura, head of global consulting at Voya Investment Management, outlines a behavioral framework to help advisors project confidence, build credibility, and guide clients through uncertainty.
Over the last few weeks, we have published real-time market commentary as the correction proceeded. The goal was to help investors navigate the more dire outcomes promoted on social media. A largely unexpected outcome was that the S&P 500 outlook changed dramatically in a matter of days.
New ETF launches address concentration and liquidity risks exposed by volatile markets through active and passive strategies.
While artificial intelligence is unlikely to replace financial advisors, it can certainly enhance both the quality and the productivity of advisors who embrace it. I agree that AI will boost productivity, but I wanted to put it through the test now to see how accurate and insightful it was. To do so, I gave Anthropic’s Claude a spin.
Over 6,537 trading days from 2000 through 2025, about 27% fall into the pure beta category. That 27% is sitting in every trailing return anyone’s ever used to evaluate an active manager, quietly diluting the signal.
While tech giants race to invest billions into AI, executives at Apple are quietly sitting on their hands and a mountain of cash. The puzzling question, however, is why Apple isn't following suit. Or is it taking a different approach to winning the AI arms race?
Inflation fears are not new, but the current path is beyond alarming. The U.S. is spending its way into a rampant inflation catastrophe. That is why gold and commodities are being bid up in price and will likely continue to be bid up.
It goes without explaining at this point, that advisors and investors are keeping an extremely close eye on the trajectory of the Federal Reserve’s ongoing fight against inflation. As of now, the battle certainly seems far from over. Fortunately, tools such as bond ladder ETFs can help portfolios maintain their course and mitigate the brunt of inflation.
Sportsbooks profit from customer losses, making them structurally predatory. Kalshi, by contrast, operates as a peer-to-peer exchange: customers bet against each other, Kalshi takes fees from both sides, and the house has no stake in the outcome. It's a financial market, not a casino.
With the Middle East in flames and a fifth of the world’s supplies of oil and gas in limbo thanks to the uncertain status of the Strait of Hormuz, it’s tempting to imagine that a clean-energy world might leave such conflicts behind.
That article digs into the plumbing behind oil shocks and recession, and exposes why, over the years, I’ve learned to distrust the loudest voices in the room.
Wall Street strategists expect the Federal Reserve to take a slow and careful approach to winding down a program meant to help ease pressure in funding markets.
Accelerating earnings are protecting the S&P 500 from deeper losses and masking a broader pullback in US equities, according to strategists at Morgan Stanley.
Intel Corp. has quickly become one of the hottest stocks in the S&P 500 Index thanks to a nine-day surge that has added more than $100 billion in market value.
At its core, the P/E ratio represents how much investors are willing to pay for $1 of a company’s earnings. Carnevale emphasizes that valuation is fundamentally about the cash a business generates over time. By applying a multiple (like a P/E of 15) to earnings, investors can estimate fair value and compare it to the current stock price.
Dividend-paying stocks offer an effective hedge against inflation—as well as solid long-term return potential in other environments when actively sourced from the right parts of the market.
Ever since the pandemic – when surging housing demand collided with a decade of underbuilding – housing affordability has become an increasingly important political issue and a larger focus for policymakers.
Today, I freely confess that I don’t have that 2007 certitude. I can certainly see a crisis coming in our future, but the timing, severity, and circumstances around it are cloudy at best. I can make an argument for numerous outcomes.
Over the past year, markets have been shaped by rapid advances in AI, elevated geopolitical tensions – especially involving Iran – and persistent uncertainty around global trade. In environments like this, successful investing rarely comes from chasing headlines or reacting emotionally. It’s about discipline, staying anchored to fundamentals and executing a clear long‑term game plan.
Benefit Street Partners believes private credit has faced scrutiny recently and there are four horsemen of the apocalypse charging toward private credit investors, but three are phantoms. One, however, is real.
During Exchange 2026, experts and thought leaders from firms across the country gathered. They shared different approaches and ideas for tackling the market’s biggest challenges.
A ceasefire in the Middle East is the latest twist for investors who have grown increasingly reactive to each new headline. Volatility has surged: prior to the ceasefire, the VIX had roughly doubled this year and averaged 25 in March—about 67% above year-end levels—underscoring just how uncertain the path forward has been.
While recent market performance reflects optimism over potential geopolitical de-escalation, underlying economic data reveals a complex landscape of intensifying price pressures and cooling growth.
Franklin Templeton Institute examines the evolution of private credit, its risk/return characteristics, and why commercial real estate debt represents a viable alternative to traditional fixed income options.
In environments of geopolitical stress, diversification* is tested, and investors may need to think more wholistically about the assets included in their portfolio.
The general field called “credit” has seen massive innovation over the course of my career. An Oaktree colleague asked me about the developments that brought the credit sector to where it is today. I came up with the following list.
The traditional 60/40 portfolio is undergoing a structural renovation, but the fixed income sleeve is proving difficult to stabilize.
Bond traders held onto wagers that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates once this year after data confirmed that US inflation quickened in March as the Iran war led to higher gasoline prices.
Late last month, Blackstone Inc. announced the first inbound Gulf private equity deal since Iran started attacking Middle Eastern hubs, while Citigroup Inc.’s top boss fired off a 600-word memo underlining the bank’s enthusiasm for its business in the region.
US equity futures stalled after a seven-day rally as investors weighed whether a fragile truce between Washington and Tehran can hold, and oil headed for its biggest weekly loss in nine months.
By at least one metric in the $9.5 trillion foreign-exchange markets, demand for the dollar is ebbing amid the tenuous ceasefire between the US and Iran.
Private markets benefited enormously from the post-Great Financial Crisis era of ultralow interest rates that stretched through much of the 2010s and into the early 2020s. Amid regulatory change and muted returns in traditional fixed income during this time, investors were increasingly pushed into alternative areas of capital markets in search of yield.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduces enhanced tax benefits but adds significant complexity. Our Bill Cass explains why strategic planning around key income thresholds is critical to maximize deductions and ensure tax-efficient financial outcomes.
Just last week news broke that SpaceX had confidentially filed to go public, meaning the financials of the company are not disclosed until later. SpaceX is reportedly eyeing a June 2026 listing, and is targeting a staggering $1.75 trillion valuation, seeking to raise between $50 billion and $75 billion. If successful, this would comfortably unseat Saudi Aramco as the largest IPO in history.
The first quarter of the year has offered an early reminder that markets rarely move in straight lines. After the extraordinary enthusiasm that carried investors through 2025, much of it centered on the promise of artificial intelligence, the new year has quickly reintroduced elements of uncertainty.
U.S. headline employment rebounded strongly in March, posting the largest monthly gain since late 2024. The jobs rebound, which was broad-based across industries, was a welcome sign after February’s data showed a sharp decline not usually seen outside of recessions.
Energy-driven inflation and geopolitical risk increase the likelihood of higher-for-longer interest rates, which listed infrastructure has several mechanisms for passing through to earnings.
The famed economist John Maynard Keynes said almost a century ago that “markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” He was referring to the unpredictable nature of investor sentiment: an amorphous, hard-to-define concept that nonetheless plays a major role across various asset classes.
While Wall Street obsesses over the Magnificent Seven, a handful of under-the-radar forces may shape the next leg of this market, for better and for worse.
AI’s rapid growth is driving demand not only for electricity but also for the clean water needed to run its physical infrastructure. As data centers expand, rising water intensity is straining supplies and testing long-term sustainability. In our analysis, these pressures create both risks and opportunities for active investors.
The idea that this would be enough for “new UMG” to almost double the current one’s valuation doesn’t add up at a time when artificial intelligence is creating doubts about the industry’s future. And it’s unlikely on its own to tempt dominant shareholders such as French tycoon Vincent Bollore. The proverbial fat lady has yet to sing.
