Cryptocurrencies

Infrastructure has long been valued for its defensive characteristics, income potential and ability to protect against inflation. Essential assets such as electricity networks, pipelines, railways, airports and toll roads typically benefit from high barriers to entry and predictable revenues.

In this episode of the Money Metals Midweek Memo, host Mike Maharrey considers how artificial intelligence could affect trust, cybersecurity, and investors’ access to their money. He also discusses silver’s sharp correction, the long history of gold jewelry, and ways listeners might use precious metals as a physical store of value.

The economy appears to be settling into a new equilibrium. Economic growth has moderated to a sustainable pace. While inflation has picked up over the last few months, there does not seem to be a fundamental shift in the underlying trend.

The AI investment boom has become one of the largest sources of demand in the U.S. economy. Announced annual capital spending across large U.S. technology companies points to more than $1 trillion in desired investment, up dramatically from only a few years ago.

Franklin Templeton plans to launch two ETFs Thursday that use stock dividends to buy bitcoin instead of more shares.

The Federal Reserve decided to wait for more data rather than raise rates at its October meeting. Two policymakers dissented, favoring a rate hike of a quarter percentage point.

The credit market had become more discerning. Companies with greater leverage, more uncertain cash flows, or business models requiring enormous amounts of capital appeared to be more scrutinized.

Founded in 2019 with backing from Japanese investment holding company SoftBank, SB Energy began as a U.S.-based utility-scale renewable energy developer. Today, SB Energy has three lines of business—power, data centers, and solutions.

The Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the mid-term elections, while setting the table for a likely rate move in December.

Income ETF strategies have exploded in popularity in recent years. Historically, investors have looked to bond coupons to add durability to their portfolios. The explosion of ETF popularity, launches, and adoption, however, has seen some intriguing options join the fray. The Goldman Sachs Municipal Income ETF (GMUB), which hits its three-year ETF milestone next year, represents just such a strategy.

The human brain has a remarkable ability to adjust what it considers to be normal, oftentimes very quickly. Experiencing or achieving something that might have previously seemed like a long shot can quickly shift our mindset to expect that outcome over and over again. While yields have been very attractive for the past few years compared to the past several decades, we recently experienced a spike even higher across a range of fixed income products.

US midterm elections take place on Tuesday, November 3. Currently, the Republican party is in control of the House and the Senate. This vote will essentially be a referendum on the Republican party’s body of work. It’s likely the composition of either the House or the Senate will change.

Keynes’ influence is still very much alive. As one point of evidence, Robert Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University, champions of what is now known as “The New Keynesian Theory,” were recognized with this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics.

Higher yields do not automatically make longer-duration bonds attractive, as persistent inflation, resilient growth, and heavy debt issuance could maintain upward pressure on yields in the near term.

Geopolitical tensions are already driving demand for energy exposure through rising oil and gas prices. Combining this cyclical strength with long-term AI momentum creates a strong potential for noticeable returns.

Ken Griffin told a room full of investors recently that we are “almost certainly” in an AI bubble. He may well be correct in that assessment, and there are plenty of media narratives that support that view.

Rick Polsinello, Christian Galipeau Discuss high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.

The Middle Eastern waters might be calm enough to allow for energy shipments to recover toward pre-war levels, but Asia-Pacific (APAC) economies are not yet in calm waters. Tight petroleum product supplies and higher shipping costs leave the region vulnerable to further shocks.

The bond market is flashing levels not seen in nearly two decades. The 10-year Treasury yield is hovering near 5%, while real yields — measured by Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) — are at their highest since before the 2008 financial crisis.

Last year, U.S. charitable giving hit a record $617.20 billion, according to Giving USA. That’s the first time it’s ever topped $600 billion. Individuals gave $394.2 billion of that, foundations gave $117.15 billion, bequests added $62.19 billion and corporations contributed $43.67 billion.

This marks the first peak week of Q3 earnings season, with 1,885 companies expected to report and overall S&P 500 EPS growth holding at a robust 29.5%

In a world that must fund trillions of dollars of sovereign debt not just in the US but all over the world. Plus, other “normal” business investments which will be even more hundreds of billions, if not trillions. And that brings us to the thrust of today’s letter: who will get access to this money and what are the returns going to be?

In late October, VettaFi hosted an interactive virtual event featuring market leaders from State Street Investment Management, Janus Henderson, and Horizon. During the presentation, advisor sentiment polls revealed a decisive shift in how many are approaching their fixed income allocation. Higher yields have restored bonds as a compelling asset class. However, advisors were looking for tools beyond a traditional index-based bond ETF.

The S&P 500 has been a reliable index for building exposure to U.S. stocks for years, and for good reason. It’s a valuable barometer for investors who want to make sure they are tracking large-cap U.S. equities.

Narratives are almost always wrong: clever stories that explain the past and say nothing about the future. One may be right. AI may become the dominant technology of the century and render much of the present economy obsolete.

The third quarter of 2026 emphasized an increasingly divided macro regime for financial advisors and institutional allocators alike. On one end, broad market hopefulness drove steady capital deployment into broad-market beta, while on the other end, raised rate volatility and geopolitical tension forced strategic pivots across fixed income, real assets, and systematic strategies, according to BlackRock’s Q3 earnings call, released October 14.

Earlier last week, a supertanker loading crude in the Gulf of Oman was fixed at $1.01 million a day for a voyage to Asia, with another deal reportedly agreed at $1.16 million.

If you only looked at the price of gold in September, you’d be forgiven for believing the bull market had run out of steam. The yellow metal fell 6.3% during the month, and some in the financial press were quick to say it had failed as a safe haven.

Societal angst about AI continues to grow. Whether it’s concern about misalignment or potentially misdirected investment, the AI-may-be-bad narrative is gaining traction. In stark contrast, the AI trade in financial markets was alive and well in September of 2026.

Markets await a possible Fed rate hike as Congress weighs Trump's dividend proposal, a limited fall session, and a Senate vote on crypto regulation.

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.

Early this week, I was in Los Angeles at the All-In Summit along with about 4,000 others, including tech investors, money managers and entrepreneurs. The ticket wasn’t cheap, but it was well worth it.

In August, a flurry of ETF-related deals were announced and expected to close by early 2027. Goldman Sachs is buying NEOS Investments. T. Rowe Price plans to add F/M Investments. Victory Capital is acquiring First Eagle.

This week's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision was largely in line with expectations. While many market participants and Federal Reserve (Fed) members anticipated another rate increase later this year, we remained in the camp that viewed the move as likely the last increase before the Fed adopted a wait-and-see approach, allowing geopolitical developments to stabilize and recent inflationary base effects related to the US-Iran war to fade.

Catherine LeGraw and B.J. Brannan of GMO's Asset Allocation team discussed the role of liquid alternative strategies in today's investment landscape. 

Silver has already demonstrated that it can make large moves in both directions, and volatility is likely to remain part of the picture. But after the recent correction, the technical setup is becoming considerably more constructive.

Janus Henderson Investors today announced two senior investment appointments that will further deepen the firm’s leadership across its global equities franchise.