The year 2025 has been a "baffling" year for markets, with surprising outcomes like gold and silver surging while stocks rose despite global conflicts, proving that "macro is hard."
ClearBridge Investments believes emerging market equities have turned a corner, showing strong performance after years of lagging returns.
Following the 2021–2022 inflation shock, the historic negative correlation between stocks and bonds—the foundation of modern portfolio diversification—temporarily broke, fueling debate over whether the "Greenspan Put" era of Fed-induced market stability has ended.
Equity markets reached new record highs over the past month, reigniting debate over whether we’re in bubble territory. Heightened U.S. equity valuations and concentrated market leadership fuel this concern — but context matters. Markets rarely move in straight lines, and short-term pullbacks, while uncomfortable, are a normal part of the cycle.
Market valuation: Is the market still overvalued?
Join the experts at CoinShares for an educational webcast that covers a broad overview of today's crypto landscape with a focus on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins.
The widespread issue of "Boomerang Parenting" is posing a serious financial threat to Gen X's retirement plans, as they spend an average of $1,384 a month supporting their adult children. Caught between this generosity and their own lagging retirement savings (median balance of only $40k–$50k), Gen X is running out of time to course-correct.
The UK and Japan are responding to investor demand to boost short-term borrowing, a shift in strategy that offers governments lower interest payments but exposes them to potentially costly rates swings at the time of debt rollovers.
The US SEC has issued warning letters effectively blocking the launch of several high-octane ETFs designed to deliver three and five times the daily returns of stocks and cryptos. The regulator is concerned that these leveraged funds—which sought to exceed the current 2x leverage limit—have risk exposures that may violate SEC limits relative to their assets.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. macro trader Bobby Molavi likens the setup for stocks heading into the new year to a boxing match, where the bullish drivers of AI and stimulus measures confront bearish forces including stretched valuations and credit stress.
I am always concerned when partners have disagreements and there is talk about “winning,” which infers those who do not get their way are losers. This is a set-up from the beginning that chips away at collaboration, because one person is trying to show the others that they are right.
Used well, PowerPoint can help build your message while also building your audience’s knowledge and awareness. A good slide presentation can help both parties stay comfortable and focused.
Not all merger agreements are not created equal, and when contemplating a merger, RIA owners should be aware of these differences and the options available. One of the best investments a firm can make may be acquiring the services of an “advisor’s advisor.
In Charles MacKay’s 1841 book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, he highlights how mass human behavior can lead to irrationality: “They go mad in herds while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.”
While the AI-driven rally in US mega-cap growth stocks grabbed attention in 2025, a very different story was unfolding far from Wall Street. Outside the US, from Europe to Japan, value stocks shed their perennial underdog status to stage a dramatic recovery—one that we think may just be getting started.
AI’s buildout is dominated by a handful of companies that are spending on a scale so large, it has macro impact. The challenge for investors is reconciling whether AI will generate revenues of the same order of magnitude as the huge capital spending plans.
A mid-month bout of volatility focused primarily on the AI tech giants gave way to a broader rally in November’s final days amidst renewed expectations the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates in the coming weeks.
High-quality stocks have underperformed sharply across markets in 2025. For instance, in U.S. small caps, companies with negative earnings have outperformed profitable ones by about 20% since Liberation Day, while the Russell 2000’s rally has favored high-volatility, unprofitable names.
Indexed ETFs can provide an easy, cost-effective alternative for fixed income exposure that draws from myriad sources. However, investors could be missing out on the advantages associated with active management. Given the current macro environment, it’s almost a necessity.
Inflation is the number-one public concern in Japan. But one section of the economy is proving to be invulnerable to rising prices: pop idols, YouTubers and cartoon characters.
In this second installment of his F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence, Retire Early) dividend growth series, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and “Mr. Valuation,” walks through the construction of a high-yield dividend growth portfolio designed to support retirement income without selling shares.
Municipal housing bonds are presented as a critical dual solution to America's deepening affordable housing crisis, especially as federal support diminishes. These tax-exempt bonds significantly lower financing costs for developers, making affordable units viable while offering investors compelling tax-exempt income and social impact.
November ended with modest index gains masking a deeper rotation beneath the surface, as markets wrestled with December Fed cut odds, AI fatigue, and how to position portfolios into year end.
As we put the finishing touches on Outlook 2026, here are several other key factors that will drive markets in 2026 that investors will want to keep in mind.
While US investors focus on growth, international markets may remain the best places to find value opportunities in 2026, says Franklin Mutual Series.
The reopening of the US government and the release of delayed economic data did little to calm markets. The long-awaited September jobs report finally arrived last week, showing job gains of 119,000, surpassing expectations but accompanied by downward revisions to previous months and a rise in the unemployment rate.
Clark Allen, Head of Product at Horizon, discusses the firm’s ETF entrance earlier this year and how its model portfolio business shapes product development. Mike Hagopian, Institutional Portfolio Manager at Fidelity, highlights the firm’s actively managed Enhanced ETF lineup, which aims to deliver outperformance and offer a thoughtful alternative to traditional passive investing.
Join us and the experts at Swan Global for a break down how active options strategies can enhance income, manage downside risk, and provide a strategic edge when repositioning portfolios for an uncertain 2026.
Let me introduce you to an approach I call the "Book of Life" methodology, a research-based strategy that transforms how new advisors build both their knowledge and their networks.
Three powerful demographic shifts — rising wealth, forward-thinking attitudes, and longer lifespans — are reshaping retirement. The emerging financial force of the future is women, and advisors who adapt now will lead tomorrow’s client relationships.
Financial wellbeing is not simply about income or net worth. Nor is it about happiness. It’s about a person’s ability to function financially with security, agency, and sustainability. Emotional enjoyment doesn’t override that, and wealth doesn’t guarantee it.
Boeing Co. expects to generate cash on an annual basis in 2026, marking a significant turnaround in the planemaker’s finances as it prepares to boost monthly production rates and pushes ahead with certification for the much-delayed 777X jetliner.
For two decades, the playbook for Big Tech was fairly simple and extremely successful: Create disruptive innovations, deliver blinding growth rates and keep a lid on spending.
Here’s how Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin treasury company Strategy Inc. is supposed to work: The firm raises funds to buy Bitcoin; that buying drives up the price of Bitcoin; the share price of Strategy follows suit. Rinse and repeat
The decision to attend college was a no-brainer during the second half of the 20th century. It almost assured higher earnings and job security. Tuition wasn’t even very expensive. None of this is true now.
If there’s one thing Democrats and Republicans have agreed on in recent years, it’s to ignore the rapidly deteriorating finances of Social Security and keep its unsustainable benefits intact. The longer they dither, the worse the problem will get.
The US dollar (USD) has weakened over the last few months, fueling strong emerging-market (EM) stock and bond returns in 2025. Now, with more clarity around tariffs and the record-long US government shutdown resolved, will the greenback strengthen and flip the script on EM? We don’t think so.
In today’s complex financial landscape, taxable US institutions face unique challenges in balancing their investment objectives with tax efficiency. They simply cannot afford to overlook the impact of taxes on their portfolios.
Rob Tayloe discusses fixed income market conditions and offers insight for bond investors.
In the ten years prior to the onset of COVID, the consumer prices index rose at an average annual rate of 1.7%. Since the onset of COVID the overall CPI has risen at a 4.2% annual rate. Inflation peaked at about 9.0% back in 2022 but is still hovering between 2.5 and 3.0%, which is above the Federal Reserve’s official target of 2.0%.
State Street Investment Management (SSIM) has been the investment advisor for the Select Sector SPDR ETFs since 1998. It will now take over the distribution and marketing for these funds. The move brings 11 ETFs in-house under the SSIM umbrella to unify its product offerings and enhance the investor experience.
US Federal Reserve officials would rather “stick to their knitting” than confront the complex forces that are reshaping the economy. Unless the next Fed chair shakes the institution out of its complacency, continued policy-induced volatility and intensifying political attacks are all but guaranteed.
The recent Thanksgiving week provided a crucial snapshot of the changing economy, highlighted by a shift in holiday shopping to early online sales and a significant drop in the 10-year Treasury yield below 4%.
Yields on the bond market have incrementally adjusted to introduce a new variable: a fiscal premium. Yet, this is not a new form of risk; it represents a new form of information. Investors still believe they will get repaid; they just believe they are entitled to a higher return to facilitate it.
No matter how long you delay taking Social Security, it likely won’t cover all your living expenses. But that doesn't mean you should take it early.
History shows that the starting points of technological revolutions are not invariably followed by large stock market selloffs. The historical precedent we draw from Carlota Perez's 2002 book, "Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital," coupled with the macrohistory.net data, provides some guidance.
The Benetton family’s holding company Edizione is setting up an alternative investment firm with about €3 billion ($3.5 billion) in assets under management as it seeks to grow its private markets.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $2 billion to buy Innovator Capital Management, a deal that combines the bank with an issuer of a relatively new type of exchange-traded fund that has caught the attention and ire of some on Wall Street.
In today’s markets, mentioning the “B-word” will get you thrown into the “permabear” camp, and everyone immediately assumes you mean the end of the world: death, disaster, and destruction. Yes, bear markets have terrible short-term impacts, but they also allow the system to reset for healthier growth in the future.
My friend David Bahnsen wrote a brilliant analysis in his weekly Dividend Café of the private credit market a few weeks ago and it really took off. I got his permission to share it with you today. This is a basic primer on the risks in the private market and something as an investor you should be familiar with.
