The rise of generative AI has triggered a global race to build semiconductor plants and data centers to feed the vast energy demands of large language models. But as investment surges and valuations soar, a growing body of evidence suggests that financial speculation is outpacing productivity gains.

When it comes to inflows, it seems like ETFs are content with beating themselves. After a record 2024 that saw inflows amass just under $1.14 trillion, ETFs did it again by edging past that level today. And they’re not done. State Street Investment Management is projecting total inflows could end the year at $1.4 trillion.

I recently penned an article on “Money Supply Growth,” which elicited a very thoughtful response from Garrett Baldwin via Substack. He argued that labeling Federal Reserve operations as “money printing” is not rhetoric, but rather a reality. He points to Ben Bernanke’s 2010 interview, where Bernanke described how the Fed marks up digital accounts.

Everywhere I go, people ask me what’s next for the economy. My answer depends on what they mean by “next.” Today I’ll review some of the alternate employment and inflation data to see where we stand. There’s a lot we know and a lot we don’t know… but for the big decisions, we probably know enough.

Last week’s economic data sent mixed signals. Consumer sentiment plummeted to a near-record low on economic anxiety, and the manufacturing sector continued its long contraction.

As year-end approaches, it’s a good idea for taxpayers to get a sense of their projected income for the year. This can drive important decisions on whether it might make sense to reduce or increase income (if possible) based on current circumstances.

One of the most prominent characteristics of the financial markets that I’ve detected over the years is their tendency to obsess over a single topic at a given point in time. Today it’s the recent string of episodes in sub-investment grade credit.

As the Federal Reserve continues to cut rates, the yields on money market funds are on a decline. For investors who prioritize safety, liquidity, and enhanced income, low duration bond strategies present a compelling solution. These strategies offer a balanced approach to navigating the current financial landscape.

The age-old question in fixed income is when should I go long duration? Over the last two years, this has been an ongoing query for investors. More recently, with the Federal Reserve resuming rate cuts, it has come back on the front burner for sure.

The recent fun and games involving the NBA and the gambling indictments are certainly amusing on their own merits, but do they say something else?

2025 has not been just a story of U.S. resilience. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has weathered storms and stayed firmly on course.

Actively managed ETFs, particularly those of the fixed income variety, are among the fastest-growing ETF segments today. That growth has been facilitated in part by advisors moving away from higher-fee mutual funds and issuers converting popular mutual funds to the ETF wrapper, among other factors.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to be a transformative technology that impacts how we all live and do business. With some creativity, and time for current offerings to improve, it is not difficult to imagine how in the future these systems could enhance or even replace much of the work that we humans are currently doing.

After the Fed’s latest rate cut, markets are grappling with mixed signals—slowing inflation meets a still-hawkish central bank. Meanwhile, tech’s outsized gains and surging cloud investment highlight a market driven by innovation as much as policy.

After implementing the first interest rate cut of the year, the prospect of further easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve could make fixed income investors nervous.

With an economy exceeding $1.1 trillion and a proven record of conservative budgeting, New York City stands apart as both a global capital and a dependable municipal credit. Let’s look at 10 reasons why we believe NYC’s fiscal health and credit strength may continue.

MPLX (MPLX) has reported third-quarter 2025 financial results that aligned with market expectations. MPLX has recently announced positive updates for investors, including a 12.5% increase in its unitholder distribution and a strategic new opportunity to support data centers in Texas.

After the first rate cut of 2025 and the prospect of more rate cuts to come, the capital markets are now wondering at what pace the U.S. Federal Reserve will institute them. For fixed income investors looking for options that balance credit quality and yield, municipal bonds should be considered.

For many crypto investors, it’s fine to focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum. After all, those two assets combine for nearly $2.7 trillion of the crypto universe’s total market capitalization of $3.75 trillion. “Dominant” doesn’t begin to underscore the status of bitcoin and ether.

Amid headline-grabbing AI funding rounds, managers are focusing on specialist infrastructure and supply-chain bottleneck companies with clear order-book visibility and strong pricing power. These include semiconductors and components.

The ongoing U.S. government shutdown has policymakers – and investors – operating without much of the timely official data that usually inform their decisions. This could have a tangible impact on Federal Reserve policy in particular.

We often hear about the Fed chair, but who are the governors at the Fed and what is their role? Recent events have raised the profile of other Fed interest rate voters.

U.S. tech equities driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) theme have been a prime catalyst for market gains this year. Have valuations exceeded their underlying fundamentals? If so, one potential avenue to diversify tech exposure is the Invesco China Technology ETF (CQQQ).

The all-ETF portfolio is becoming a reality, as product offerings have evolved into a comprehensive tool kit for total portfolio construction.

There is (another) framework for a deal with China. That is a positive for risk markets. There is increasing evidence of waning tariff effects on company earnings and outlooks. That is a positive for risk markets. The interaction of the two is by far the most intriguing.

Chuck begins by reminding viewers that investors tend to be about two-and-a-half times more sensitive to fear than to greed. When stocks are expensive, investors often ignore the overvaluation.

Though many AI-related stocks continued to struggle, including Advanced Micro Devices despite solid earnings, indexes rebounded early as a private jobs report exceeded forecasts.

It’s been a good year for international equity ETFs. As a category, broad exposure funds tapping into both developed and emerging market equities have delivered outsized gains relative to U.S. markets this year, as well as much sought portfolio diversification.

The Federal Reserve’s (Fed) balance sheet runoff — commonly referred to as quantitative tightening (QT) — is set to conclude on December 1. Since initiating QT, the Fed has reduced its balance sheet by over $2 trillion, largely through the drawdown of its overnight reverse repo program (O/N RRP).

It's been a minute since we’ve touched on traditional stock splits. Our last look at this type of share-price engineering came in Q2, when reverse ETF splits were happening all around us. For individual investors, when a company’s management team chooses to split its stock, it can have more impactful implications for longer-run returns.

Wall Street excels at creating catch phrases. The latest one is the “debasement trade.” JP Morgan analysts coined the term earlier this year. Thanks to macroeconomic and geopolitical factors such as lower interest rates, rising fiscal deficits, trade policies, and global geopolitical tensions, concern is rising about the debasement or devaluation of fiat currency.

Big tech names performed strongly last week, carrying the S&P 500 into positive territory. Fears of an AI bubble are making investors wary of the breakneck pace of capital expenditures. Amazon’s (AMZN) stellar earnings after Thursday’s close indicate the capex boom is pressing on, however.

Even with the government shutdown casting a shadow over Washington D.C., equity markets have continued their upward march, fueled by a trifecta of positive surprises: cooler-than-expected inflation, another rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) and easing trade tensions.

Open enrollment is a crucial time to review and choose employee benefits. It's an opportunity to make informed decisions that can significantly impact your financial and health well-being.

High concentration makes it hard for diversified active portfolios to outperform. While the mega-caps include great businesses, active strategies may avoid or underweight popular stocks over concerns about valuations, business models and interrelated risks, or because of regulations on weighting individual holdings.

Often framed as rivals, private and liquid credit should instead be viewed as powerful complements for both issuers and investors. We believe these two markets are settling into a symbiotic coexistence, as the distinctions blur between the likes of direct lending and broadly syndicated loans.

When it comes to taking financial advice, humans still prefer their own kind. That's crucial in helping to meet an advisor shortage.

In their latest article, Why Hold Expensive Slow-Growing Stocks? An Alternative Framework for Value and Growth Indices, Chris Brightman, Campbell Harvey, Que Nguyen, and Omid Shakernia, argue that traditional style-box construction forces investors to hold stocks that are neither true “value” nor true “growth”—notably, expensive, slow-growing companies that have historically underperformed.

Before we started some recent home renovations, neighbors offered advice: stay patient. Construction projects feature weeks that feel like no progress has been made, and days that feel like everything has changed at once.

China’s “anti-involution” policy to tackle deflation, announced in 2024, is still in its early stages. Some effects are already visible, but compared with China’s last deflation fight in 2014–2015, the policy may take longer to work, in our view.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell caught everyone's attention when he cast doubt on a December rate cut. It’s easy to see why. Standard Fed logic is simple: 2, 3, 4.

German officials announced a massive stimulus program in early 2025. The results have been underwhelming so far, but we believe the economic boost to Germany and Europe is still coming.

Amidst ongoing US policy unpredictability and signs of a softening labor market, the US economy and markets have continued to demonstrate notable resilience. A long-awaited Federal Reserve interest rate cut, and strong corporate earnings supported equity and credit markets - yet policy shifts, elevated stock valuations, and ongoing geopolitical tensions continue to pose potential headwinds.

Q3 Earnings growth continues to improve, with 64% of constituents reporting thus far, S&P 500® EPS growth for Q3 2025 accelerated to 10.7%

LPL Research reports on Fed rate cut, U.S.–China trade truce, strong earnings, and AI spending scrutiny amid narrowing market breadth and volatility risks.

Advisors may sometimes feel like they’re venturing out to solve the world’s personal financial problems alone. They don’t have to feel that way when they’re recommending active funds with the requisite expertise and experience behind them. Vanguard active ETFs can offer that.

Every month, TMX VettaFi publishes hundreds of articles across our ETF-focused websites. Reviewing the pieces that capture our readers’ attention provides a clear picture of prevailing advisor and investor sentiment. In October, five articles stood out. They primarily focus on the surging themes of AI, international equities, and alternatives.

Advisors are using exchange traded funds to expand beyond public markets to private markets to modernize 60/40 portfolios.

Investors who watched the robotics space peak back in 2021 may see the current rally with apprehension. Back then, the narrative of a China-driven logistics and e-commerce boom sent robotics stocks to dizzying heights. What followed was China’s economy first slowing down, and then a pandemic-fueled demand shock. The sector fell hard.

Following this year’s impressive rally in gold (the best year for the metal since 1972) investor attention has once again turned toward its role as a long-term portfolio component.