Energy

The magnitude of the Democratic victories in both the Senate and gubernatorial races was surprising and exceeded what many market participants appeared to be pricing. While the outcome is politically significant, investors should resist the temptation to view it as an immediate economic regime change.

A global tech rout continues to remind investors that volatility can strike at any time. That’s especially true in today’s market environment, where stretched megacap technology valuations and broader equity indices have elevated concentration risk.

Domestic demand for gold bars and coins tends to rise modestly under Democratic administrations. However, elections have not historically had a significant impact on gold’s global performance over the long haul.

Portfolio Manager Denny Fish explains why the market was justified in assigning a higher level of regulatory risk to the AI ecosystem after the midterm elections. But in his view, the secular strength of this theme, along with the massive bottlenecks and geopolitical implications, mean that this historic investment cycle will likely continue.

Franklin Templeton Institute’s Stephen Dover and Larry Hatheway opine on the US stock market’s recent volatility in the wake of the US midterm elections and the path forward for investors.

Traditionally speaking, when one is choosing to lean into a particular sector of the equity market, they’re going to want to lean into the one that’s offering the best performance.

The big story last week? The Federal Reserve paused despite stronger growth and persistent inflation. It was a hawkish pause, with a December hike still the base case, according to Franklin Templeton Fixed Income. Third-quarter gross domestic product showed the US economy's resilience, but also its growing dependence on artificial intelligence investment, and household purchasing power took a hit.

Investors are grappling with an evolving set of risks as 2026 draws to a close. The scale of the AI build-out is influencing more sectors and industries. Rising interest rates are reshaping market dynamics as inflation threats linger.

A stock trading at half its former price is not necessarily a bargain. Perhaps its earnings power has halved or its balance sheet can no longer support the business. Maybe its generous dividend is being financed with borrowed money. A low valuation ratio tells us what we are paying relative to one measure of fundamentals. It does not, by itself, tell us what the business is worth or whether those fundamentals will endure.

The votes have been cast. While control of the House and Senate has been decided, now we wait for the final tallies (and celebrate the end of the political ads — at least for another 20 months or so). We’re not political strategists, but policy does move markets, so it’s important to pay attention.

Amid a rapidly changing world, where China’s rise as an industrial powerhouse has nations around the globe on alert, we believe that American reindustrialization will be an important driver of investment returns in the decade ahead. Standard U.S. equity indexes are poorly positioned to capture the benefits of this generational opportunity due to their global, technology-heavy composition.

If history is any indication, when push comes to shove, the Fed will ultimately choose more easy money despite elevated inflation to support the markets and the broader economy.

October reminded investors that markets rarely move in response to a single factor. The US economy continued to expand at a moderate pace, supported by healthy consumer spending and solid business activity, even as markets contended with higher energy prices, renewed inflation concerns and heightened geopolitical tensions.

Following U.S. midterm results, Paul Eitelman, Chief Investment Strategist, Russell Investments, shares the potential implications for markets and the data center rollout. Views are as of 10:00 am Eastern Time on November 4, 2026.

Equity markets are caught between tighter liquidity conditions and increased geopolitical uncertainty on the one hand, and solid economic growth and corporate earnings on the other. We have consequently reduced our exposure to stocks leading into year end.

Following the U.S. midterm elections, investors will naturally focus on what the results mean for fiscal policy, geopolitics, and the regulatory outlook. But there’s another more immediate way the midterms have already mattered for the economy: The campaigns themselves have provided a meaningful boost to U.S. growth.

As investor interest in Anthropic’s upcoming IPO grows, ETFs are finding new ways to offer exposure to private companies through derivatives tied to perpetual futures. Recent regulatory developments could accelerate the use of these instruments across the ETF industry, but they also introduce new risks and complexities.

We expect the rotation to continue. The earnings bar is high—very high. Any minor misstep has led to punishment, which has led to rotation. Rotation is not a bad thing, and if you are running a diversified equity portfolio, you should be in good shape.

The Federal Reserve meeting last week was largely uneventful. The S&P 500 and the 10-year Treasury yield ending the trading session almost exactly where they stood before the Fed’s announcements. Despite some disagreements within the Fed, there was virtually no forward guidance.

The broad markets experienced volatility in the 3rd quarter with concerns over the impact of energy prices on inflation as well as CapEx spending by hyperscaler companies in the AI space driving technology stocks. The price of WTI Crude oil rallied sharply during the quarter by nearly 30%.

A few years back, I compared two island-nations whose leaders came to power in 1959. At the time, Cuba was by far the wealthier of the two—rich in sugar, tobacco and tourism—while Singapore was a sleepy former colonial outpost with almost no natural resources.

With the one constant being that gold fell again, this time by 6.6%, October’s price action is a mirror image of what happened in markets in September. In September, tech and momentum led the charge higher, with anything value- or rate-related leading the selloff. October was the exact opposite.

The stock market doesn’t wait for GDP. The ratio of consumer discretionary stocks to consumer staples has fallen about 19% from its late-2025 peak, suggesting the so-called “smart money” has been quietly moving out of what people want and into what people need for most of this year.⁵

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.

The Fed held rates steady at its October meeting but kept the door open to further tightening, with two dissenting votes and hawkish rhetoric signaling that the pause is a skip, not a stop.

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 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.

After overshooting projections for years, AI capex is slowing down. The shift doesn’t spell the end of the AI trade but a move to a more mature, predictable cycle that favors higher-quality borrowers.

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.

Gold has traditionally been one of the most popular ways for investors to gain commodity exposure, but its recent weakness highlights the differences across various commodities. While precious metals have struggled, energy and certain agricultural commodities have seen stronger returns. Existing diversified strategies are also giving investors more ways to access commodities beyond traditional gold funds.

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.

Economic data that continued to show a strong U.S. economy, housing aside, took a back seat this week as investors once again focused on potential risks to future growth: rising energy prices, sticky inflation, and most importantly, questions about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

There was very little macroeconomic news last week, but there was certainly no shortage of action in the markets. We saw an extraordinarily sharp rotation out of growth and into value, with both the Russell Value Index and the S&P Value Index reaching all-time highs even as the Nasdaq suffered one of its largest recent selloffs. That is a dramatic divergence, but historically it is not unprecedented.

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.

The next two weeks bring an unusually crowded lineup of potential market-moving catalysts, including a Federal Reserve (Fed) policy meeting, the busiest stretch of third-quarter 2026 earnings season, the Treasury’s Quarterly Refunding Announcement and the midterm elections.

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.

Our Director and Head of Canadian Investment Strategy BeiChen Lin sees two main forces behind this week’s more cautious market tone: higher energy prices and renewed questions around artificial intelligence investment.

With the U.S. midterm elections mere weeks away, it can be easy to get swept up in the headlines and questions about what different outcomes might mean for markets.

Emerging markets continued to deliver strong year-to-date returns in 2026, although the third quarter served as a reminder that the path higher is rarely linear. After a powerful first-half rally led by artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and other growth-oriented sectors, markets experienced a broad correction in July before stabilizing through the remainder of the quarter.

A broad retreat in technology shares set the tone for the week. The S&P 500 fell 1.9 per cent and the NASDAQ dropped 4.5 per cent, while the Dow rose 0.7 per cent as investors rotated out of tech and into more defensive sectors.

Markets look calm on the surface, but AI-driven shifts in capital allocation, earnings quality, and funding needs are reshaping risks and opportunities beneath the index level.

Higher bond yields may offer retirees more income potential, but a diversified approach that balances income, risk, and spending needs remains important.

Middle Eastern oil exports are approaching pre-war levels, but oil prices certainly aren’t. Brent remains above $100 a barrel, as the concern increasingly is not just how much oil is flowing today, but how much is left in reserve if supplies are disrupted again.

US stocks have continued to climb, but the gains have been far from uniform. In most sectors, a majority of companies have trailed the index. For investors, we believe the divide between a resilient index and uneven stock-level outcomes makes selectivity and fundamental research more important.

Last week saw a further deterioration in the inflation outlook, while the Federal Reserve (Fed) appears increasingly reluctant to tighten again immediately. The September headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.6% month/month (m/m) and 3.7% year/year (y/y), while core inflation increased 0.3% m/m and accelerated to 2.6% y/y from 2.4%.

Earnings now have become the central market focus this week. Bank results have been somewhat mixed, and the market will need confirmation that profits outside the largest technology companies are strengthening. I still do not believe the overall equity market is excessively valued, but investors should expect continued volatility between growth and value as expectations for AI spending shift.