Approximately 80% of all S&P 500 companies have reported fourth-quarter earnings as of today, and of those, 75% have reported earnings per share (EPS) above estimates. That’s well above the 10-year average, according to FactSet.
There's been a lot of focus, especially in the media, around things like renewable energy and electric vehicles. But if you think about the challenge of reducing emissions, we're going to have to do that across a diverse set of solutions, including things like heating and cooling, manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture.
There is some conventional wisdom as it pertains to how interest rates affect stocks. For example, the real estate and utilities sectors are viewed as negatively correlated to 10-year Treasury yields. That explains why those sectors struggled last year.
January’s US inflation print came as an unwelcome spoiler for financial markets, dealing what looks like the final blow to hopes of a March interest-rate cut, sending bond yields back up and triggering a major one-day correction in equities.
The not-so-secret ingredient that’s been fueling gains for big tech since its fourth quarter has definitely been artificial intelligence (AI). The lack of AI tailwinds for Tesla could be pushing the company’s stock down further.
We are in the early days of an AI-driven productivity boom.
Stephen Dover, Head of Franklin Templeton Institute, recently hosted a discussion with Michael Buchanan, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Western Asset Management, and Brendan Circle, Portfolio Manager, Franklin Income Investors. The group considered the current market environment as it pertains to cash in client portfolios. Has cash reached a tipping point?
In the face of still elevated inflation, the U.S. consumer remains a force to be reckoned with. Obviously, that’s a plus for the consumer discretionary sector and ETFs such as the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Consumer Discretionary ETF (RSPD).
Japanese stocks were standout performers in 2023 after years of stagnation and deflation left Japan an unloved investment destination. Can the positive momentum continue in 2024? BlackRock’s Belinda Boa believes it can and sees the makings of a rags-to-riches story with staying power ― and abundant investment potential.
Many midstream companies provide guidance for the year ahead, but a select group also offer EBITDA growth guidance or targets for the next few years. Visibility to future EBITDA growth provides important context for dividend growth.
The consumer price index (CPI) for January showed that core inflation held steady at a rate of 3.9% last month, a small setback in a trend of moderating inflation in the U.S. Healing in global supply chains and a rebalancing of the U.S. labor market have helped to dramatically tame inflation over the past year.
Big tech’s strong fourth-quarter rally behind artificial intelligence (AI) has been well-documented, but the big question was whether it could sustain the run. So far it has, with the Direxion Daily Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Automation Index Bull 2X ETF (UBOT) up almost 50% over the past three months.
Companies supporting efforts to create a more secure and stable world could provide equity investors with an attractive source of long-term returns.
The just-concluded Exchange conference brought together more than 1,800 people on-site in Miami. The advisor and ETF community came together to learn from one another and industry experts.
Over the past two years, we have had to revise a lot of numbers upward: the Fed hiked rates more than we expected, inflation has been sticky and growth has far exceeded expectations.
The coming 12 months are shaping up as the year of the interest-rate cut. After racing ahead with the most aggressive tightening campaign in decades during 2022 and 2023, central banks around the world are poised to begin easing monetary policy as inflation continues to retreat.
China's economy has disappointed most expectations over the past year. China's need to rebalance from investment to consumption is coming when tensions with the U.S. are elevated. This could create continued volatility. We believe China does have the levers to alleviate some key challenges.
Critics of the Federal Reserve argue that the acceleration of US inflation in early 2021, and the rapid disinflation of recent months, had nothing to do with monetary policy, because the sources of above-target price growth were all on the supply side. This view is both right and too simple.
Earnings haven’t been consistently rewarded in equity markets recently. That could change faster than you think.
Capital markets pondering when and how fast rate cuts come may invoke anxiety in fixed income investors expecting yields to fall. If they’re willing to extend their exposure to higher duration, they can attain the higher yields they seek.
Franklin Templeton’s Tony Davidow sits down with Jackie Klaber, Head of Alternative Investments at Rockefeller Capital Management, to discuss approaches to allocating to alternatives, and ways to better understand the role alternatives play in a portfolio.
In such a troubled year, investors increasingly turned to alternative strategies to augment or enhance their existing core exposures. With more equity income funds coming online, how do the top ETFs in the category stack up?
Two seasoned investment professionals bring us up to date on the intersection of commercial real estate and bank lending.
One of the major benefits of municipal bonds is that the interest earned is exempt from federal income taxes. The appeal of earning money that you do not have to pay taxes on understandably piques the interest of many investors.
Ratings are an important organizing principle in credit markets, often relied upon as a summary metric of default risk. While they offer a broad categorization, investors in credit markets must rely on much deeper analysis to measure and price the actual default risks involved.
The cost of housing remains a hot-button topic with both Millennials and Gen-Z. Plenty of articles and commentaries address the concern of supply and affordability, with the younger generations getting hit the hardest.
As the U.S economy continues to expand at a nice rate of speed, the eurozone is stuck in a pitstop. Though the common currency region was able to avoid a technical recession last year, preliminary estimates show that activity stagnated in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Market folklore provides an easy, but inaccurate guide for investing in today's interconnected and complex market. Indicators based on economic or market behavior may be preferred.
The latest January release of the ClearBridge Recession Risk Dashboard shows another indicator move from red to yellow. Jeff Schulze of ClearBridge Investments shares his insights on what this could mean for the recession outlook in the United States and the overall state of the economy.
A new approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) research could ease investors’ frustrations with sourcing and evaluating the data required for objective credit analysis. Thanks to a surge in company reporting, ESG metrics can now be quantified and incorporated into analyses that were historically rooted in fundamental research alone.
When ETF investors want real estate exposure, they’re not relegated to just the residential market. That’s imperative in the current market environment. The ALPS Active REIT ETF (REIT) provides this flexibility.
Broadly speaking on both counts, ESG funds posted solid returns last year. But many investors pulled capital from these products with some actively managed funds being the most afflicted by outflows.
In studies, 90% of drivers think they are above average. We believe that 100% of the people who pick stocks for a living think they will be above average.
The start of 2024 has been marked by record issuance both in the public and private business sectors. In terms of the latter, green bonds are also hitting the market, as in the case of plastics maker Dow Inc.
Investors who stay too long in cash may find they’ve missed out.
Investors waiting on small-cap equities and related ETFs may be encountering a “Waiting for Godot” moment. That’s because it feels like a while since small-caps have offered good reason to peer away from large-caps.
When it comes to taxes, it's always best to be prepared for any future changes that could either benefit or hurt your clients. This year's inflation-related adjustments to tax brackets and standard deductions could give some of your clients more flexibility to manage their capital gains.
Once again, as we have argued several times before, if the Fed, once after having achieved its 2% target and remained at the target for several years, decides that a different target may be more effective for conducting monetary policy, they may decide to change the target.
We see the usual mess and risks in the world as you do, but we also are seeing more than enough interesting things in which to invest capital.
Municipal bonds posted negative total returns as the market reassessed macro expectations. Seasonal supply-and-demand dynamics were supportive, albeit less so than in prior years.
Yesterday, before the Super Bowl kicked off, VettaFi hosted an ETF game show at the Exchange conference in Miami. As part of the ETF Study Hall, we brought together the ETF community to help share information about some equity, fixed income, commodity, and even spot bitcoin ETFs.
High yield bonds are off their highs of 2023, but even now, with all-in yields around 8%, the asset class remains competitive with equities for total return potential with significantly better downside protection, according to Payden & Rygel’s Jordan Lopez and Nick Burns.
Of course, the market peaked in January 2022, just four months later, at 4796.56. Fast forward 2-full years of returning investors to breakeven, and the market is again approaching that magical round number of 5000.
In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs, a.k.a. Mr. Valuation and Professor Nathan Mauck will analyze Meta Platforms Inc. (aka Facebook) and its recent initiation of a dividend.
High yield did well across multiple sectors in the U.S., according to the BondBloxx Fixed Income Monthly Update for January.
Chinese equities are extremely cheap and priced for bad news. We believe this environment may present opportunities for active managers.
Closed-end funds (CEFs) are relatively under the radar compared to peers like exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds. Closed-end funds are generally desirable for two reasons: 1) high income; and 2) premium/discount mechanism.
Most of us associate 529 accounts with college savings. They’re flexible, allowing you to transfer assets to anyone, including yourself, for the express purpose of furthering the education of your beneficiary. But did you know that a 529 can be a powerful estate planning tool?
A data-dependent Federal Reserve is keen to hold interest rates until it gets additional confirmation inflation is cooling. This could keep the window open for prospective bonds investors seeking value opportunities.
Franklin Fixed Income CIO Sonal Desai discusses why the recent acceleration in productivity growth might prove durable, leading to higher potential returns on real investment and a higher equilibrium interest rate.
