On this week’s edition of Market Week in Review, Global Chief Investment Strategist Paul Eitelman assessed the health of the U.S. economy amid the ongoing government shutdown.
This year several new funds have debuted, each designed to meet the changing needs of today’s diversified portfolios.
As the Fall gets into gear, more and more investors and advisors will be considering their end of year tax bills. While markets saw plenty of uncertainty and upheaval so far in 2025, many will be facing significant tax implications on their gains.
Often pitted against each other, gold and Bitcoin are both benefiting from the effects of the current “debasement trade.” In turn, this creates investment opportunities to capture upside in ETFs that offer exposure to cryptocurrencies.
NVIDIA’s $100 billion partnership with OpenAI signals a paradigm shift, as demand for AI compute infrastructure surges beyond even the boldest forecasts.
Already off to a fine start due in part to the government shutdown headlines, bitcoin and BRRR could be in style this month and over the course of the fourth quarter with the help of favorable seasonality.
The fourth quarter is typically – seasonally – positive for U.S. equities. An ongoing government shutdown is not a strong backdrop for markets, but major indices remain close to record highs, waiting for new data for direction. It looks like a good time to be cautiously optimistic, or to get a little defensive, maybe add a little gold, and steer clear of highly valued stocks.
There’s a concerning undercurrent running through the US labor market. The unemployment rate has been steadily climbing. That’s unusual. Typically, when unemployment goes up, it spikes.
The European Union (EU) has a problem. For decades, member states enjoyed a tall glass of peace dividend lemonade under the shade of the U.S. security umbrella. Unfortunately, that era has ended.
September was a powerful month for ETF flows, despite volatility, fiscal deficit concerns, and a shifting macroeconomic backdrop.
Many investors have moved to add significant foreign equities exposure this year, rewarding them with strong performances and returns.
The U.S. Federal Reserve instituted its first interest rate cut of the year, which could force investors to reassess their fixed income portfolios to plan for further monetary policy changes. Given this, it’s an opportune time to consider using more flexible active funds in order to mute any rate cut noise.
Since the recovery from the global financial crisis (GFC), the S&P 500 has delivered one of the strongest and longest bull markets in U.S. history, with 16.2% annualized returns.
While the Consumer Price Index is closely followed, these five under-the-radar inflation gauges can provide more insight into inflation's trajectory.
Separately managed accounts, paired with systematic tax management, had the power to capture losses in the third quarter—even when the market was up.
The recent US government shutdown likely triggered immediate ripple effects across the workplace and has implications for retirement savers.
To make an allocation to any asset class, it’s essential to understand not just the return potential but also the underlying riskiness. In hard currency emerging debt, the primary risk is sovereign default.
Gold has climbed steadily higher over the past year. And the August attempt to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook seemed to catalyze what has since been a steep price rally.
In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and known as Mr. Valuation, takes a deep look at FactSet Research Systems (FDS) — time to buy? The company that provides data to FAST Graphs itself.
There has been a lot of hype surrounding artificial intelligence, and AI stocks have helped propel the stock market to record highs. Meanwhile, gold stocks have quietly outperformed AI chip stocks.
With official economic data on pause during the government shutdown, investors are left with limited visibility. Kevin Flanagan explains how markets are leaning on private sources and Fed signals to fill the gap.
For years, mainstream investment gurus have steered clients away from gold. But with the yellow metal gaining more than 87 percent since January 2024, it’s getting hard to ignore the yellow metal.
The full impact of U.S. import tariffs on the broader economy has yet to be felt and may not happen for some time—or even at all. Economic distortions from tariffs are still filtering through the global economy, but so are offsets such as fiscal and monetary stimulus, as well as spending on artificial intelligence (AI).
The US government shut its doors on October 1. Republicans and Democrats couldn’t agree on a spending bill, so non-essential portions of the government are closed until further notice.
This article breaks down the five main reasons financial advisors overwhelmingly prefer using crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rather than recommending direct purchases of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other tokens.
For starters, much has been said about equity valuations, and stocks are definitely trading at elevated multiples. However, the forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of the S&P 500 has yet to reach dotcom era levels, and in fact remains below December 2020 levels because earnings were depressed coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. T
Higher yields earlier in the year opened a window for meaningful tax loss harvesting. Investors who acted captured valuable tax savings, while those who waited saw opportunities diminish as yields retraced lower through the end of the third quarter.
All of that data center activity requires huge new amounts of electricity, but with most renewables slowing down, nuclear energy stocks could be poised to benefit. That presents a notable opportunity in the nuclear energy ETF NUKZ.
October 8 marks World Financial Planning Day, a global celebration highlighting the power and purpose of financial planning.
The balance of risks to the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate (price stability and maximum employment) prompted the central bank to lower its policy rate in September in an effort to bolster the economy and employment.
The market is in a funny place. September was a strong month for financial markets, its typical negative seasonality notwithstanding.
In 2006, Andrew Fire and Craig Mello shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of RNA interference (RNAi), which they published in 1998. Since then, the potential of a technology capable of silencing disease-causing genes has been a very attractive proposition.
As a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the lifetime exclusion for gifts and estates will increase permanently to $15 million next year with annual inflation adjustments to follow.
Doug Drabik discusses fixed income market conditions and offers insight for bond investors.
Fixed Income Portfolio Managers Brent Olson and Tom Ross consider current credit spread levels and offer reasons why they could remain rangebound for some time.
Markets surged to record highs in 3Q 2025 as the Fed’s first rate cut reignited optimism, with AI-driven market growth and broader participation leading gains, but a cooling labor market and fiscal uncertainty set the tone for a more selective, year-end investment positioning in 4Q
Labor markets are not keeping pace with young adult populations.
American companies continue to buy back their shares at a record pace in 2025. This has not only padded balance sheets but it’s helped drive the stock market rally that’s persisted since the April 8 trough.
When bear market losses occur, headlines talk in percentages: “The market dropped 20 %.” Investors nod. A 20 % decline sounds manageable, historical, and expected.
In big news for the energy infrastructure space, Targa Resources Corp. (TRGP) has announced significant new investments in its Permian Basin operations. The announcement includes a new natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline and incremental natural gas infrastructure.
Many investors have turned to MLPs over the years for their income, which makes the outlook for distributions a perennial focus for investors. With MLP yields currently elevated relative to long-term averages and a flattish near-term outlook for U.S. energy production, the distribution outlook is particularly topical.
Three things to watch this month from Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Equity: China's Golden Week, tariffs on India and the likelihood of a year-end market rally.
We believe corporate America will follow up an outstanding second quarter earnings season with another good one in the third quarter.
With equity markets reaching new heights, the market’s expectation that the US Federal Reserve will cut rates to head off a labor-market slowdown is itself creating a policy challenge for the central bank.
Emerging markets investing has had an overall positive year in 2025. Entering the year, with many U.S. investors underweight foreign equities, some market watchers anticipated big opportunities abroad.
With the global economy proving more resilient than expected, we upgrade equities to overweight.
No one, that we know of, is saying Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t an amazing new technology that will have an important impact on life, investing, and the economy.
Markets digested a quiet jobs Friday without the official payrolls report, but the signal from the other indicators was clear enough: the labor market is slowing at the margin but not falling off a cliff.
The office real estate sector is working through a difficult cycle.
Defined contribution (DC) plans form the backbone of retirement security for millions of Americans. And while stocks often steal the spotlight for their growth potential, bonds play a crucial role in managing risk, providing diversification, and delivering reliable income—especially as participants approach retirement.
