Markets pushed to new highs again last week as investors looked past headline inflation noise and focused on improving breadth beneath the surface.
Several dynamics have converged to drive silver higher, including spillover effects from the gold bull market, steady industrial demand, surging investment demand, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty. However, one factor is the key driver – there isn’t enough metal.
We are in the midst of a tech-led investment boom supporting what some think is a transformational technology. The annualized pace of U.S. productivity growth was 5% in the third quarter of last year, well above the long-term average.
Bitcoin and other digital tokens, once touted as the uncontrolled and decentralized future of money, have proved to be lucrative tools for fraudsters, terrorists and rogue regimes.
After rising to its highest level in four years during the last quarter of 2024, the Late Earnings Report Index, our proprietary measure of CEO uncertainty, has now recorded five consecutive quarterly readings below the historical benchmark as companies prepare to report their Q4 results.
The MSCI Emerging Markets index rallied more than 30% in U.S. dollar terms, easily outpacing the S&P 500 and other developed market benchmarks. And many are expecting that broader outperformance to continue in 2026 – thanks to a combination of macro developments, valuations and AI exposure.
The champagne has gone flat. After months of planning the great breakaway, signing independence paperwork, and celebrating freedom from wirehouse constraints, newly minted registered investment advisors (RIA) owners face a sobering reality. They've traded a boss for a back-office burden that's quietly strangling their growth.
Are you ready for the next evolution of the ETF market? In this episode of ETF Prime, host Nate Geraci is joined by industry heavyweights Cinthia Murphy (VettaFi) and Matt Bartolini (State Street Global Advisors) to break down the biggest trends, risks, and opportunities for investors in 2026.
Join Bitwise’s crypto experts for a webcast examining how advisors’ approaches to crypto are evolving and where growth opportunities are emerging.
In order to develop prudent spending plans for clients that are consistent with their spending goals, advisors should employ reasonable client-specific LPP assumptions. The three-step process and tools highlighted in this article can help advisors get started.
For advisors breaking away to start their own practice, there’s no avoiding the risks that come with entrepreneurship — but in the current economic climate that includes high inflation, market volatility and heightened uncertainty — advisors need to be doubly prepared when going out on their own.
Gaining recognition in the media and on third-party websites can feel daunting. However, you can learn from financial advisors who have established a strong off-site strategy that increases the likelihood of appearing in AI-generated answers.
Interest rates do not exist to punish borrowers. They exist to price risk. When lenders are told they can’t charge more than 10 percent, even when the market risk calls for a higher rate, they don’t suddenly become more generous.
Wells Fargo & Co. is moving the headquarters for its wealth-management business to West Palm Beach, becoming the first big bank to run that operation from the heart of the wealth boom in South Florida.
Netflix Inc. reached an amended, all-cash agreement to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s studio and streaming business as it battles Paramount Skydance Corp. to acquire one of Hollywood’s most iconic entertainment companies.
As earnings season picks up steam, expectations remain high. Analysts forecast fourth-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth of about 8%, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, with investors focused on themes including artificial intelligence spending, oil-market volatility and tariff risks.
OpenAI is ruling out the more obvious downsides for users of its free and $8-a-month ChatGPT Go tiers who will start seeing ads. Advertisers won’t influence the chatbot’s answers but rather post banners with images at the bottom of the screen.
I have a confession, shameful as it may be for someone who has spent decades studying retirement policy and advising individuals and institutions on how to save for and think about retirement: When I bought my apartment a few years ago, I raided my retirement account for the down payment.
AI productivity gains will demand active solutions, not government gifts. Skill development, apprenticeships, employer-based training, wage insurance, and mobility support. These tools address displacement directly, while UBI does not.
Today, we continue my 2026 economic and market forecast. Last week, I described our current environment as The Bipolar Economy, and noted that the real goal here isn’t to tell you what will happen. It’s to help you know what could happen so you can be prepared.
Despite the influx of tariff revenue, the federal government continues to run a massive budget deficit. The December budget shortfall came in at $144.75 billion, a record for the month. That was 68 percent higher than December 2024.
The U.S. and global economy remain on solid footing. We don’t believe recent geopolitical developments pose a systemic risk to markets at this time
We expect another generally good year for bond returns this year, but even the best-laid plans can go awry when circumstances change. Here are four risks to our outlook.
For investors navigating an uncertain macro landscape, avoiding the wrong narratives may matter more than predicting the right numbers.
The biggest concern for the Federal Reserve (Fed) today is the weakness in employment over the last year, and especially during the second half of the year. This weakness was behind its decision to resume interest rate cuts in September of 2025.
Precious metals surged out of the gate to begin 2026, not dissimilar to how they closed out 2025. Gold has already made two record highs this year alone, is currently trading above $4,600 per ounce, and is up over 6% in 2026.
As the second half of January begins, the U.S. economy presents a picture of cooling inflation and resilient consumer activity.
One of Liz Ann’s key messages for investors is to have a good plan for your portfolio. A good plan isn’t driven by FOMO. It’s not driven by getting too concentrated in what’s working, because what worked last year might not work moving forward. I’ll let you read the transcript or watch our conversation to hear, firsthand, what makes a good investment strategy.
Join the experts at REX Shares for an educational webcast covering a thematic approach to investing in drones.
There’s a lot of buzz about the opportunity in US small cap stocks this year. There’s a confluence of factors that seem aligned just right for the segment, chief amongst them earnings growth expectations.
Silver has been on a tear, rising fourfold in the last few years. To help investors assess whether silver is in a bubble, we take a new approach by examining a recent phenomenon: the recurring pattern of micro-bubbles.
The 10-year Treasury note’s yield is headed for a fifth straight week of minimal change, rivaling its longest stretch of inertia in the past two decades.
President Donald Trump and the governors of several US Northeastern states agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction that would compel technology companies to effectively fund new power plants.
JPMorgan Asset Management has a new superlative: The firm now hails as the world’s largest issuer of actively managed exchange-traded funds.
Global credit markets are running at their hottest in two decades, prompting some of the world’s biggest money managers including Aberdeen Investments and Pimco to warn against complacency.
Big banks’ share traders are raking it in right now. Sure, stock market indexes have been flying high, but it’s been far from certain in recent years that traditional Wall Street firms would reap the benefits with electronic market makers storming the zone.
While the breaking news regarding the Fed receiving subpoenas from the Department of Justice will no doubt garner the lion’s share of Fed-related headlines in the days and weeks ahead, we wanted to roll the clock back and delve into what the markets should be looking at in terms of upcoming traditional monetary policy decisions.
Taking time away due to illness is never ideal. Upon return to school or work, we are greeted with all the tasks we did not complete while incapacitated. The recovery may feel worse than the disease.
Major tax legislation passed in 2025 represents the most sweeping changes to the tax code since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017. In addition to extending current tax brackets and rates and introducing new tax deductions, the law creates new savings accounts for minors known as Trump Accounts.
Nominal thinking in investing, a form of the "money illusion" bias, is the failure to account for inflation's erosion of purchasing power. The primary problems with this approach are overestimating real returns, misjudging true wealth, and making poor long-term investment decisions based on misleading nominal figures.
Another strong year for US equities in 2025 reminds us that tax loss harvesting has the potential to contribute substantial value to direct indexing portfolios—even during bull markets.
EMs are entering 2026 from a position of renewed strength. A weakening U.S. dollar, improving fundamentals, and broadening country and sector leadership have created a favorable backdrop for investors—and we believe
It’s a brave new world for educational savers — and none too soon. In 2025, lawmakers outdid themselves by expanding ways families can help their children or grandchildren obtain a degree or certificate.
Following strong 2025 returns, high quality fixed income continues to offer attractive yields and global diversification at a time of stretched equity valuations and tight credit spreads.
Last year, gold rose by over 64 percent, setting 53 new record highs along the way. Silver gained just under 148 percent. Platinum’s price increased by 125.9 percent. Palladium was up just over 80 percent.
Portfolio Managers Benjamin Wang and Zoey Zhu explain how a historic valuation discount in small caps versus large caps combined with quality’s worst performance in 30 years creates a noteworthy setup in 2026.
Investors have flocked to the evolving income ETFs space in recent years. The arrival of the ETF rule in 2019 helped launch countless new and intriguing ETF offerings aimed at adding income to investor portfolios.
Municipal bonds enter 2026 as a compelling option for investors: attractive yields, strong fundamentals, and structural changes that continue to reshape the market. After a volatile 2025, marked by Treasury market dislocations and record muni issuance, the outlook for this year suggests more stability — and opportunity.
This video looks at the long term trends of household net worth using the Q3 2025 Z.1 release from the Federal Reserve.
With large cap growth companies showing signs of frothy valuations, investors could be looking elsewhere to add that extra shot of growth. Thematic ETFs can do just, focusing on niche sectors that may not get the fanfare on financial news sites.
