It’s quite easy to do bad deals in asset management. Option one, overpay for a private capital business in the aggressive dash for growth. Option two, defensively merge your existing fund manager with a regional peer and botch the integration as you try to make savings.
Rising tariffs and the weakening dollar are casting a shadow on companies’ profit guidance this earnings season, with more damage seen unfolding over the coming quarters.
As chief investment officer of Yale University for more than three decades, David Swensen redefined institutional investing.
The Big Tech stocks are beginning the year’s earnings season with mild optimism. After signs from the White House that President Donald Trump may be softening his scorched-earth tariff plan, the Magnificent Seven stocks have been up more than 6% this week.
A group of ETF traders are betting against a spirited rebound in the stock market, as they pay up for short positions and withdraw money from bullish strategies.
President Donald Trump’s chaotic policies are spurring some investors to “sell America,” but Vanguard Group Chief Executive Officer Salim Ramji said he still believes in the underlying strength of the US economy.
Chief Investment Officer Larry Adam notes with volatility on the rise, maintaining a long-term view is key.
Tax filing season may be over for many, but tax planning is an important focus year-round. Consider post-tax season strategies including optimizing deductions or adjusting retirement contributions. Our Bill Cass shares some tax planning ideas to consider.
I’m not someone who believes you should let offensive things go by. Look for your opportunity and be ready!
As President Donald Trump’s trade war continues, Canadian equities are poised to outperform their US counterparts, portfolio managers argue.
In this video, I break down the No. 1 thing you should focus on for organic growth: ensuring your marketing efforts are strategic, effective, and aligned with your long-term goals.
While many investors have been scared away from tech giants at the center of this year’s equity rout, the companies are likely to continue plowing money into buybacks that will offer at least one source of continuing support for the stocks.
Private lenders led by Apollo Global Management Inc. and Blackstone Inc. are providing a $4 billion loan to support Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of Boeing Co.’s flight navigation unit and other digital assets, according to people with knowledge of the deal.
Theoretical forecasts and earnings announcements may provide initial insights as to the impact of current tariff proposals, although estimates may be imprecise.
For simplicity’s sake, let’s boil down the multiple questions facing Apple today into just one: How much are Americans willing to spend on an iPhone?
With many of the big financial reports out of the way, the S&P 500 blended EPS growth rate for Q1 stands at 7.2%. Thus far only 12% of S&P 500 constituents have released results.
BNY’s Ben Slavin provides an in-depth look at recent ETF trading and flows, and unpacks the latest on the ETF share class structure and product innovation. VettaFi’s Kirsten Chang highlights five noteworthy ETF launches.
Andrew Leigh is a very good storyteller, making “How Economics Explains the World” an easy and fun read. In the hands of someone unfamiliar with basic economic reasoning, it might lead them to pursue economics further. Even if you’re farther along in your economic education, we almost always benefit from relearning things we already know, but in a new light.
No matter what form of compensation you take, it is impossible to eliminate “conflicts” to the extent assumed by the proponents of a new fiduciary standard.
Bitcoin advanced to the highest level since early March, fueling optimism that the biggest digital token is finally breaking free of a longstanding tendency to move in tandem with US tech stocks.
Tesla Inc. investors reeling from one of the stock’s worst-ever quarters are once again looking for Elon Musk to inject excitement back into the firm when it reports results Tuesday, as profits slip and the much-awaited debut of a self-driving car remains months away.
If the US slides into recession, banks will be ready – at least according to commentary on their earnings calls last week.
A global trade war can’t possibly be good news for a city-state whose exports and imports add up to more than 300% of its gross domestic product. Yet there are good reasons to believe that real estate in Singapore may offer a sanctuary to investors fleeing extreme anxiety.
The hype cycle around artificial intelligence (AI) often moves faster than the capabilities it touts.
In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation compares three growth stocks: NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO), focusing on their valuations and market metrics.
A fundamental lesson in finance is a security’s price should be the present value of all future cash flows. Cash flows typically consist of a regular string of dividend payments and an assumed liquidation value at the end of the time horizon.
We’ve expected a recession for more than a year now. Simply put…the Era of Easy Everything is Over. Expanding deficits and easy money (that have lifted the economy since COVID) are no longer with us. At the same time, tariff negotiations have created an unbelievable amount of uncertainty.
U.S. defensives and international lead.a
In general, European countries have infused so much socialism and regulation into their economies that their economic growth has lagged behind the U.S. As a result, their GDP per capita is a third lower than in the U.S.
On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research, Todd Rosenbluth, discussed the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF overall.
These are scary times. No surprise, the typical advice is to stay the course — that it will all work out fine — but those near retirement should take heed.
As we have learned repeatedly, the Fed will take extensive emergency measures if it perceives liquidity problems. Even above their congressional mandated objective of managing employment and prices, the Fed's top priority is preserving the banks.
Wall Street is already looking past what’s expected to be Corporate America’s slowest gain in quarterly earnings in a year, instead focusing on a number that rarely captures the limelight: capital expenditures.
Banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. can thank the White House’s aggressive disruptions on tariff policy and other issues for record hauls from equities trading in the first quarter, when market volatility began to surge.
The US government hasn’t broken up a company since AT&T in 1982. Now it’s trying to persuade a judge to make Alphabet Inc.’s Google next.
Nvidia Corp. shares are trading near their lowest valuation of the artificial intelligence era, but a growing list of perils has investors cautious about taking advantage of the dip.
In nominal terms, the yellow metal set multiple new all-time highs this week, exceeding $3,300 an ounce for the first time ever on Wednesday. And on an inflation-adjusted basis, gold also notched a new record price, surpassing the longstanding record set in 1980.
Emerging-market (EM) stocks might not seem an obvious choice for anxious investors during a trade war. But history suggests that past volatility peaks have created favorable moments to invest in EM stocks.
The first quarter of 2025 marked a significant departure from the preceding two years, which had been characterized by an improving global economy and correspondingly positive market returns. Market performance in Q1 was dominated by abrupt, short-term policy shifts rather than longer-term economic trends, and tariffs became the foremost concern for market participants.
While the April 2 tariff announcements were more severe than anticipated, Vanguard’s active fixed income managers were well-prepared for the subsequent market reaction.
Less favorable seasonal technicals, increased focus on municipal-specific policy risks, and severe volatility spurred by higher-than-anticipated tariff increases weighed heavilyon sentiment and resulted in deeply negative total returns and significant underperformance versus Treasuries in March and early April.
Stock markets have been rattled by trade war tensions and economic uncertainty driven by US tariff policies. Yet history suggests that equities have usually performed well in the aftermath of peak market volatility.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard or read the word recession in the last week, well, I’d have enough not to be financially worried about one. Add a dollar for every mention of tariffs and I’d be comfortably flushed with cash.
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said she’s keeping an open mind about the direction of interest rates because of uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s policies and how they will affect the economy.
Right now we are in an incredibly complicated environment with regard to U.S. tariff policy gyrations and its whipsawing impact on global equity markets. One thing we can confidently assert is that however the trade negotiations play out, there will be higher tariffs and this will be negative for U.S. growth.
Audiences worldwide turn to Netflix for escapism. Wall Street is doing the same.
LPL Financial LLC announced today that financial advisor Steve Jones of Tenacity Investment Group has joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer, Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and custodial platforms.
This month’s panic-driven selling across municipal bonds — fueled by the boom in ETFs — is proving a mixed blessing for investors in a normally sedate market corner.
One day doesn’t make a trend, but wary small-caps investors may find some comfort in knowing the Russell 2000 Index jumped 8.50% on Wednesday
While we remain open to changes in market conditions, as well as periodic “fast, furious, prone-to-failure” advances that can relieve the oversold “compression” produced by market losses, we are presently on high alert for a possibly abrupt and cascading market and economic dislocation in the weeks ahead.
KKR & Co. is eyeing one of the riskiest deals going right now — buying the owner of London’s creaking water and sewage system, Thames Water. Giving a private equity firm the chance to profit from fixing the mess Thames got into under past private ownership looks bad but makes sense.
Charles Schwab Corp.’s daily average trades exceeded expectations as retail investors rushed to respond to market volatility in the first three months of the year.
Covered call strategies have been around for a very long time, but covered call ETFs have recently enjoyed a massive increase in popularity.
One of the most volatile market weeks in years was sparked by tariff announcements earlier this month. President Donald Trump's 10% universal tariff went into effect on April 5th, followed by his controversial reciprocal tariffs on April 9th.
The month of April will unfortunately go down in financial market folklore as being one of the more noteworthy on record.
Measures announced so far this year have pushed the effective U.S. tariff rate above 20%. The astonishing jump has raised import taxes to a level not seen in about a century.
CIO Sean Taylor assesses a better-than-expected quarter for emerging markets and takes stock of the drivers that may support the asset class in what could be difficult months ahead for global markets.
If there’s one thing investors have learned in recent days, it’s that there’s no way to guess what America will do next. With its on-again, off-again tariffs, the US administration has demonstrated a rare and reckless willingness to shock markets.
JPMorgan's Jon Maier spoke with VettaFi about active management in the ETFs space approaching investing in the current environment.
If the goal is to use technological platforms to customize and maximize the experience for your clients, it seems many of us still have a way to go.
If your business isn’t strategically managing its digital presence, it could be losing customers without even realizing it. The brands that master GEO and SEO today will be the ones shaping the marketplace of tomorrow.
A three-day rebound in US Treasuries will be tested on Wednesday as investors await commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as well as key data and a bond auction.
Technology stocks sank as new US government restrictions on the export of Nvidia Corp. chips to China and a disappointing report from ASML Holding NV dimmed the outlook for the semiconductor sector, wiping out more than $180 billion in market value for the two companies alone.
Delta Air Lines Inc. and the parent of Frontier Airlines recently yanked earnings guidance for 2025, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon saying that he expects “to see more of that.”
In San Francisco’s financial district, the One Montgomery building evokes the opulence of America’s turn of the 20th century gilded age. With its Tuscan columns, marble staircases and bronze doors, the Renaissance Revival landmark once housed Crocker Bank, named after one of the tycoons who built the western portion of America’s first transcontinental railroad.
Navigating market volatility can be challenging for investors. Our Bill Cass shares several tax planning strategies to consider.
Last week, the S&P 500 was up 5.7%, the strongest week for the market since November 2023.
As we write this, stocks have bounced back as Trump retreated from electronic tariffs from China. Nevertheless, this was a remarkable week for markets with Trump’s tariff policy taking center stage for market stress across stocks, bonds and currencies.
While we continue to feel the U.S. has structural investment advantages, we are mindful that the scope of the current administration's policy shifts may present challenges to our sustained economic momentum.
2025 has marked a striking reversal, with European stocks delivering exceptional returns that have handily surpassed US market performance.
SPY's recent surge of inflows showcases how advisors are using ETFs as crucial vehicles for navigating market volatility.
VettaFi’s Cinthia Murphy looks at several surprising ETF developments from a wild week in the markets. VistaShares CEO Adam Patti highlights the firm’s unique approach to ETFs, which includes the VistaShares Target Berkshire Select Income ETF (OMAH).
The reciprocal reprieve does not alter the tectonic shift in the trade outlook.
Markets have had a wild ride these past couple of weeks, alongside chaotic tariff-related news, with volatility (and its policy triggers) most elevated in the bond market.
After sinking nearly $2 billion into a triple-levered semiconductor fund last week, retail investors are enduring a volatile ride as the Nasdaq 100 swings between gains and losses.
Unlike traditional methods that rely on selling assets, crypto lending 2.0 enables investors to borrow against their bitcoin, unlocking liquidity while preserving the upside potential.
US equities extended a rebound into a third session Tuesday as traders weighed the ongoing global trade war against a slew of positive earnings reports from Wall Street banks.
The "Connelly case "is more than just a legal precedent; it is a call to action for business owners to reevaluate their succession plans and take the necessary steps to protect their interests.
Wall Street on Monday finally caught a respite from the deep selloffs and unusually sharp swings that have raced through markets ever since President Donald Trump unleashed his global trade war.
Portfolio rebalancing helps advisors uncover a new investment plan of action that aligns with a client's long-term financial milestones. It also considers how the current market will impact asset diversification.
Significant government policy shifts, particularly in tariffs and regulatory restructuring, have created uncertainty and volatility. We continue monitoring potential risks like inflation and recession while remaining focused on identifying profitable investment opportunities amidst these changes.
On the evening before his presentation at the Exchange Conference last week, I sat down with Rob Arnott to discuss whether now is the time for smart beta to shine. Arnott is the founder and chair of Research Affiliates and is known as the “godfather of smart beta.”
If Trump is successful in ending — or at least significantly changing — the current global economic structure, the economy and geopolitics will change dramatically. Initially, this will be highly challenging from an investment perspective.
This may be the beginning of the long-awaited U.S. stock market crash, but even if it isn’t those near retirement need to protect themselves from sequence-of-return risk that can ruin the rest of their lives.
As with all decisions involving uncertainty, we want to find the answer which maximizes your expected risk-adjusted return, not your base-case or expected return. This means that we have to go beyond the industry standard and explicitly account for risk in our analysis.
Meta Platforms Inc. heads to court on Monday to defend claims it is an illegal monopoly and should be broken up. The Federal Trade Commission, even without former President Joe Biden’s antitrust hawk, Lina Khan, at the helm, seems to be going full steam ahead — despite Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s attempts to wine and dine the president into a change of heart.
President Donald Trump pledged he will still apply tariffs to phones, computers and popular consumer electronics, downplaying a weekend exemption as a procedural step in his overall push to remake US trade.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG issued another round of bullish calls for gold, with stronger-than-expected central bank demand and the metal’s role as a hedge against recession and geopolitical risks underpinning expectations for even higher prices in 2025.
Credit investors are looking to pounce on new opportunities resulting from the wild swings in global financial markets triggered by the US-China trade war.
After starting the year on a high note with the S&P 500 index of U.S. Large Cap stocks posting an all-time high on February 19th, equities retreated during the second half of the quarter, officially falling into correction territory (down 10 percent) on March 13.
Large Cap Growth
Active Fund Management Isn't Dead Just Yet
It’s quite easy to do bad deals in asset management. Option one, overpay for a private capital business in the aggressive dash for growth. Option two, defensively merge your existing fund manager with a regional peer and botch the integration as you try to make savings.
The Dollar’s Slide Is Raising Red Flags for Corporate Earnings
Rising tariffs and the weakening dollar are casting a shadow on companies’ profit guidance this earnings season, with more damage seen unfolding over the coming quarters.
Yale Signals That Private Equity May Have Peaked
As chief investment officer of Yale University for more than three decades, David Swensen redefined institutional investing.
AI Was Already Clouding Tech Earnings. Then Tariffs Hit
The Big Tech stocks are beginning the year’s earnings season with mild optimism. After signs from the White House that President Donald Trump may be softening his scorched-earth tariff plan, the Magnificent Seven stocks have been up more than 6% this week.
Bearish ETF Alarms Blare After a $373 Million Short Bet
A group of ETF traders are betting against a spirited rebound in the stock market, as they pay up for short positions and withdraw money from bullish strategies.
Vanguard CEO Says US Exceptionalism ‘Absolutely’ Hasn’t Peaked
President Donald Trump’s chaotic policies are spurring some investors to “sell America,” but Vanguard Group Chief Executive Officer Salim Ramji said he still believes in the underlying strength of the US economy.
Tariffs, Policy Uncertainty Weighs on Economic, Investing Outlooks
Chief Investment Officer Larry Adam notes with volatility on the rise, maintaining a long-term view is key.
Tax Planning Should be a Focus for All seasons
Tax filing season may be over for many, but tax planning is an important focus year-round. Consider post-tax season strategies including optimizing deductions or adjusting retirement contributions. Our Bill Cass shares some tax planning ideas to consider.
Take Well-Timed Action for the Biggest Impact
I’m not someone who believes you should let offensive things go by. Look for your opportunity and be ready!
Portfolio Managers See Canada Stock Market as Long-Term Winner
As President Donald Trump’s trade war continues, Canadian equities are poised to outperform their US counterparts, portfolio managers argue.
Want to Drive Organic Growth? Focus on This
In this video, I break down the No. 1 thing you should focus on for organic growth: ensuring your marketing efforts are strategic, effective, and aligned with your long-term goals.
Tech Giants to Plow $500 Billion Cash Hoard Into More Buybacks
While many investors have been scared away from tech giants at the center of this year’s equity rout, the companies are likely to continue plowing money into buybacks that will offer at least one source of continuing support for the stocks.
Apollo, Blackstone Lead $4 Billion Loan for Boeing Unit
Private lenders led by Apollo Global Management Inc. and Blackstone Inc. are providing a $4 billion loan to support Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of Boeing Co.’s flight navigation unit and other digital assets, according to people with knowledge of the deal.
Early Impacts of the Trade War
Theoretical forecasts and earnings announcements may provide initial insights as to the impact of current tariff proposals, although estimates may be imprecise.
What Would You Be Willing to Pay for an iPhone?
For simplicity’s sake, let’s boil down the multiple questions facing Apple today into just one: How much are Americans willing to spend on an iPhone?
Magnificent 7 Earnings Out this Week will Shed Light on Big Tech’s Tariff Concerns
With many of the big financial reports out of the way, the S&P 500 blended EPS growth rate for Q1 stands at 7.2%. Thus far only 12% of S&P 500 constituents have released results.
BNY’s Ben Slavin on ETF Trading, Flows, Share Class Structure, & Innovation
BNY’s Ben Slavin provides an in-depth look at recent ETF trading and flows, and unpacks the latest on the ETF share class structure and product innovation. VettaFi’s Kirsten Chang highlights five noteworthy ETF launches.
Is Economics About Everything? A Review of ‘How Economics Explains the World'
Andrew Leigh is a very good storyteller, making “How Economics Explains the World” an easy and fun read. In the hands of someone unfamiliar with basic economic reasoning, it might lead them to pursue economics further. Even if you’re farther along in your economic education, we almost always benefit from relearning things we already know, but in a new light.
Separating ‘Fiduciary’ From ‘Compensation’
No matter what form of compensation you take, it is impossible to eliminate “conflicts” to the extent assumed by the proponents of a new fiduciary standard.
Bitcoin Rallies 20% During Market Turmoil to Diverge From Tech
Bitcoin advanced to the highest level since early March, fueling optimism that the biggest digital token is finally breaking free of a longstanding tendency to move in tandem with US tech stocks.
Tesla at Risk of a ‘Throwaway Year’ Without a New Narrative From Earnings
Tesla Inc. investors reeling from one of the stock’s worst-ever quarters are once again looking for Elon Musk to inject excitement back into the firm when it reports results Tuesday, as profits slip and the much-awaited debut of a self-driving car remains months away.
As US Recession Looms, Banks Brace for Worse
If the US slides into recession, banks will be ready – at least according to commentary on their earnings calls last week.
Singapore Property May Be a Good Place to Hide
A global trade war can’t possibly be good news for a city-state whose exports and imports add up to more than 300% of its gross domestic product. Yet there are good reasons to believe that real estate in Singapore may offer a sanctuary to investors fleeing extreme anxiety.
Agentic AI: The New Frontier of Intelligence That Acts
The hype cycle around artificial intelligence (AI) often moves faster than the capabilities it touts.
Are These 3 Growth Stocks a Buy at Today’s Prices?
In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation compares three growth stocks: NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO), focusing on their valuations and market metrics.
The Trade-Off in Covered Call Strategies
A fundamental lesson in finance is a security’s price should be the present value of all future cash flows. Cash flows typically consist of a regular string of dividend payments and an assumed liquidation value at the end of the time horizon.
Near Zero Q1, Uncertainty Ahead
We’ve expected a recession for more than a year now. Simply put…the Era of Easy Everything is Over. Expanding deficits and easy money (that have lifted the economy since COVID) are no longer with us. At the same time, tariff negotiations have created an unbelievable amount of uncertainty.
Quarterly Recap Q1 2025
U.S. defensives and international lead.a
Europe Can’t Hide Behind America Anymore
In general, European countries have infused so much socialism and regulation into their economies that their economic growth has lagged behind the U.S. As a result, their GDP per capita is a third lower than in the U.S.
SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY)
On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research, Todd Rosenbluth, discussed the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF overall.
A Warning to Baby Boomers and Others Regarding the China-U.S. Trade War
These are scary times. No surprise, the typical advice is to stay the course — that it will all work out fine — but those near retirement should take heed.
Swaps & Basis Trades Signal Mounting Liquidity Problems
As we have learned repeatedly, the Fed will take extensive emergency measures if it perceives liquidity problems. Even above their congressional mandated objective of managing employment and prices, the Fed's top priority is preserving the banks.
Investors Want to Know What Firms Are Spending More Than Earning
Wall Street is already looking past what’s expected to be Corporate America’s slowest gain in quarterly earnings in a year, instead focusing on a number that rarely captures the limelight: capital expenditures.
The Dark Side of Surging Bank Trading Revenue
Banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. can thank the White House’s aggressive disruptions on tariff policy and other issues for record hauls from equities trading in the first quarter, when market volatility began to surge.
Google, DOJ Go Back to Court to Fight Over Search Monopoly Fix
The US government hasn’t broken up a company since AT&T in 1982. Now it’s trying to persuade a judge to make Alphabet Inc.’s Google next.
Nvidia Investors Balk at Beaten Down Valuation as Risks Mount
Nvidia Corp. shares are trading near their lowest valuation of the artificial intelligence era, but a growing list of perils has investors cautious about taking advantage of the dip.
Analysts See Gold at $4,000 as Faith in the U.S. Dollar Tumbles
In nominal terms, the yellow metal set multiple new all-time highs this week, exceeding $3,300 an ounce for the first time ever on Wednesday. And on an inflation-adjusted basis, gold also notched a new record price, surpassing the longstanding record set in 1980.
Why Does Volatility Often Lead to Strong Emerging Equity Returns?
Emerging-market (EM) stocks might not seem an obvious choice for anxious investors during a trade war. But history suggests that past volatility peaks have created favorable moments to invest in EM stocks.
Tariff Tremors, Market Rotations, and the Imperative of Optimization
The first quarter of 2025 marked a significant departure from the preceding two years, which had been characterized by an improving global economy and correspondingly positive market returns. Market performance in Q1 was dominated by abrupt, short-term policy shifts rather than longer-term economic trends, and tariffs became the foremost concern for market participants.
Fixed Income Remains Key to Long-Term Diversification
While the April 2 tariff announcements were more severe than anticipated, Vanguard’s active fixed income managers were well-prepared for the subsequent market reaction.
2025 Muni Outlook: Stay Invested and Remain Nimble
Less favorable seasonal technicals, increased focus on municipal-specific policy risks, and severe volatility spurred by higher-than-anticipated tariff increases weighed heavily
on sentiment and resulted in deeply negative total returns and significant underperformance versus Treasuries in March and early April.
Gauging the Fear Factor: From Volatility Peaks to Equity Returns
Stock markets have been rattled by trade war tensions and economic uncertainty driven by US tariff policies. Yet history suggests that equities have usually performed well in the aftermath of peak market volatility.
Are Dividend Cuts on the Horizon in 2025?
If I had a dollar for every time I heard or read the word recession in the last week, well, I’d have enough not to be financially worried about one. Add a dollar for every mention of tariffs and I’d be comfortably flushed with cash.
Fed’s Hammack Sees Wide-Ranging Possibilities for Economy, Rates
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said she’s keeping an open mind about the direction of interest rates because of uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s policies and how they will affect the economy.
Our Thinking on the Markets
Right now we are in an incredibly complicated environment with regard to U.S. tariff policy gyrations and its whipsawing impact on global equity markets. One thing we can confidently assert is that however the trade negotiations play out, there will be higher tariffs and this will be negative for U.S. growth.
Netflix Defies Big Tech Slump as Wall Street Seeks Tariff Haven
Audiences worldwide turn to Netflix for escapism. Wall Street is doing the same.
LPL Financial Welcomes Tenacity Investment Group
LPL Financial LLC announced today that financial advisor Steve Jones of Tenacity Investment Group has joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer, Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and custodial platforms.
ETFs Highlight Ease of Trading in Three-Day Selloff for Munis
This month’s panic-driven selling across municipal bonds — fueled by the boom in ETFs — is proving a mixed blessing for investors in a normally sedate market corner.
Small-Caps May Yet Have Their Redemption Day
One day doesn’t make a trend, but wary small-caps investors may find some comfort in knowing the Russell 2000 Index jumped 8.50% on Wednesday
An Abrupt and Cascading Dislocation
While we remain open to changes in market conditions, as well as periodic “fast, furious, prone-to-failure” advances that can relieve the oversold “compression” produced by market losses, we are presently on high alert for a possibly abrupt and cascading market and economic dislocation in the weeks ahead.
KKR Will Have to Fight for Private Equity’s Smelliest Deal
KKR & Co. is eyeing one of the riskiest deals going right now — buying the owner of London’s creaking water and sewage system, Thames Water. Giving a private equity firm the chance to profit from fixing the mess Thames got into under past private ownership looks bad but makes sense.
Schwab Trading Tops Estimates as Customers Cope With Volatility
Charles Schwab Corp.’s daily average trades exceeded expectations as retail investors rushed to respond to market volatility in the first three months of the year.
A Deep Dive into Covered Call ETFs
Covered call strategies have been around for a very long time, but covered call ETFs have recently enjoyed a massive increase in popularity.
Washington: What to Watch Now
One of the most volatile market weeks in years was sparked by tariff announcements earlier this month. President Donald Trump's 10% universal tariff went into effect on April 5th, followed by his controversial reciprocal tariffs on April 9th.
The Fed Can Use the “Alphabet” if Need Be
The month of April will unfortunately go down in financial market folklore as being one of the more noteworthy on record.
Looking Back on the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs
Measures announced so far this year have pushed the effective U.S. tariff rate above 20%. The astonishing jump has raised import taxes to a level not seen in about a century.
Domestic Drivers in Tariff Headwinds
CIO Sean Taylor assesses a better-than-expected quarter for emerging markets and takes stock of the drivers that may support the asset class in what could be difficult months ahead for global markets.
The Financial Crisis of 2025? Better to Be Ready
If there’s one thing investors have learned in recent days, it’s that there’s no way to guess what America will do next. With its on-again, off-again tariffs, the US administration has demonstrated a rare and reckless willingness to shock markets.
JPMorgan’s Maier Sees Paradigm Shift to Active Management in ETFs
JPMorgan's Jon Maier spoke with VettaFi about active management in the ETFs space approaching investing in the current environment.
Making It Personal: Improve Your Online Presence With Smart Data Usage
If the goal is to use technological platforms to customize and maximize the experience for your clients, it seems many of us still have a way to go.
Competing in the Digital Age: How GEO & SEO Are Reshaping Your Brand’s Future
If your business isn’t strategically managing its digital presence, it could be losing customers without even realizing it. The brands that master GEO and SEO today will be the ones shaping the marketplace of tomorrow.
US Bond Traders Seek Cues From Powell on Next Move After Rout
A three-day rebound in US Treasuries will be tested on Wednesday as investors await commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as well as key data and a bond auction.
Nvidia Curbs and ASML Warning Spur Global Tech-Stock Rout
Technology stocks sank as new US government restrictions on the export of Nvidia Corp. chips to China and a disappointing report from ASML Holding NV dimmed the outlook for the semiconductor sector, wiping out more than $180 billion in market value for the two companies alone.
Baffled C-Suites Are a Fresh Hurdle for Markets
Delta Air Lines Inc. and the parent of Frontier Airlines recently yanked earnings guidance for 2025, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon saying that he expects “to see more of that.”
Billionaires and CEOs Bet on Cheap San Francisco Real Estate
In San Francisco’s financial district, the One Montgomery building evokes the opulence of America’s turn of the 20th century gilded age. With its Tuscan columns, marble staircases and bronze doors, the Renaissance Revival landmark once housed Crocker Bank, named after one of the tycoons who built the western portion of America’s first transcontinental railroad.
Six Tax Planning Ideas for Navigating Market Volatility
Navigating market volatility can be challenging for investors. Our Bill Cass shares several tax planning strategies to consider.
Looking at the Economic Data and Volatility in the Bond Market
Last week, the S&P 500 was up 5.7%, the strongest week for the market since November 2023.
Resilience or Recession? Markets on Edge
As we write this, stocks have bounced back as Trump retreated from electronic tariffs from China. Nevertheless, this was a remarkable week for markets with Trump’s tariff policy taking center stage for market stress across stocks, bonds and currencies.
Equity Outlook: American Exceptionalism Reexamined
While we continue to feel the U.S. has structural investment advantages, we are mindful that the scope of the current administration's policy shifts may present challenges to our sustained economic momentum.
From Magnificent 7 to European Revival
2025 has marked a striking reversal, with European stocks delivering exceptional returns that have handily surpassed US market performance.
SPY’s Trading Volume Highlights Advisor Enthusiasm Toward ETFs
SPY's recent surge of inflows showcases how advisors are using ETFs as crucial vehicles for navigating market volatility.
Volatile Markets Spark Unexpected ETF Stories
VettaFi’s Cinthia Murphy looks at several surprising ETF developments from a wild week in the markets. VistaShares CEO Adam Patti highlights the firm’s unique approach to ETFs, which includes the VistaShares Target Berkshire Select Income ETF (OMAH).
A Week of Whiplash
The reciprocal reprieve does not alter the tectonic shift in the trade outlook.
Upside Down(side): Markets' Wild Rides
Markets have had a wild ride these past couple of weeks, alongside chaotic tariff-related news, with volatility (and its policy triggers) most elevated in the bond market.
Leveraged ETF Traders Endure Volatile Ride After Chip Bet
After sinking nearly $2 billion into a triple-levered semiconductor fund last week, retail investors are enduring a volatile ride as the Nasdaq 100 swings between gains and losses.
Crypto Lending 2.0: Unlocking the Potential of Bitcoin Without Selling It
Unlike traditional methods that rely on selling assets, crypto lending 2.0 enables investors to borrow against their bitcoin, unlocking liquidity while preserving the upside potential.
S&P 500 Rises as Traders Parse Earnings and Tariff Developments
US equities extended a rebound into a third session Tuesday as traders weighed the ongoing global trade war against a slew of positive earnings reports from Wall Street banks.
The Connelly Case Is a Wake-Up Call for Business Owners
The "Connelly case "is more than just a legal precedent; it is a call to action for business owners to reevaluate their succession plans and take the necessary steps to protect their interests.
Bond Rebound Relieves Markets Dazed by Week of Trade Turmoil
Wall Street on Monday finally caught a respite from the deep selloffs and unusually sharp swings that have raced through markets ever since President Donald Trump unleashed his global trade war.
How Advisors Can Assist Clients in Rebalancing Their Portfolio Over Time
Portfolio rebalancing helps advisors uncover a new investment plan of action that aligns with a client's long-term financial milestones. It also considers how the current market will impact asset diversification.
Muhlenkamp Quarterly Market Commentary – April 2025
Significant government policy shifts, particularly in tariffs and regulatory restructuring, have created uncertainty and volatility. We continue monitoring potential risks like inflation and recession while remaining focused on identifying profitable investment opportunities amidst these changes.
Is It Time for Smart Beta to Be Smart?
On the evening before his presentation at the Exchange Conference last week, I sat down with Rob Arnott to discuss whether now is the time for smart beta to shine. Arnott is the founder and chair of Research Affiliates and is known as the “godfather of smart beta.”
Trump’s Economic Revolution: Unraveling a Blessing & a Curse
If Trump is successful in ending — or at least significantly changing — the current global economic structure, the economy and geopolitics will change dramatically. Initially, this will be highly challenging from an investment perspective.
The Q1 Stock Setback & Target Date Fund Investors — More of the Same to Come
This may be the beginning of the long-awaited U.S. stock market crash, but even if it isn’t those near retirement need to protect themselves from sequence-of-return risk that can ruin the rest of their lives.
Where Did I Put My Investments?
As with all decisions involving uncertainty, we want to find the answer which maximizes your expected risk-adjusted return, not your base-case or expected return. This means that we have to go beyond the industry standard and explicitly account for risk in our analysis.
Meta’s Hopes of a Tech Antitrust Reprieve Are Dashed
Meta Platforms Inc. heads to court on Monday to defend claims it is an illegal monopoly and should be broken up. The Federal Trade Commission, even without former President Joe Biden’s antitrust hawk, Lina Khan, at the helm, seems to be going full steam ahead — despite Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s attempts to wine and dine the president into a change of heart.
Trump Warns Tariffs Coming for Electronics After Reprieve
President Donald Trump pledged he will still apply tariffs to phones, computers and popular consumer electronics, downplaying a weekend exemption as a procedural step in his overall push to remake US trade.
Goldman Puts $4,000 Gold on the Agenda as Hunt for Havens Grows
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG issued another round of bullish calls for gold, with stronger-than-expected central bank demand and the metal’s role as a hedge against recession and geopolitical risks underpinning expectations for even higher prices in 2025.
Oaktree, TCW and Sona Spot Opportunity in Market Turmoil
Credit investors are looking to pounce on new opportunities resulting from the wild swings in global financial markets triggered by the US-China trade war.
Tariffs Add Another Challenge for Investors to Consider
After starting the year on a high note with the S&P 500 index of U.S. Large Cap stocks posting an all-time high on February 19th, equities retreated during the second half of the quarter, officially falling into correction territory (down 10 percent) on March 13.