“Productization” has quickly become one of the most widely used terms in wealth management. It appears in strategy decks, conference discussions, and vendor messaging. Yet, despite its popularity, the concept remains poorly understood in practice.
Steven Pinker's latest book digs into why the knowledge we hold in common matters and how it helps society operate more smoothly.
The word fiduciary no longer answers the only question that matters: Whether the advice you are given is shaped by what the advisor earns from giving it. Many advisors will tell you, accurately, that they are fiduciaries, and many will say they have no conflicts without disclosing the ones they hold.
The U.S. trade deficit expanded over 40% in May to $77.59B, its widest gap since March 2025. The latest reading missed the forecast of -$78.30B.
For years, the Magnificent Seven tech giants commanded investors’ attention, dominating the S&P 500 Index and determining which way the overall stock market was headed. Those days are over.
SpaceX joins the Nasdaq 100 Index Tuesday as Wall Street brokerages launch coverage of Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company with a clear consensus: buy the stock.
The higher the rally in technology high-flyers, the louder the anxiety around a new wave of turbulence in the group.
When Mark Zuckerberg gets a bold new business idea, he likes to throw money at it. Last summer, he dropped $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI, allowing him to poach its wunderkind founder Alexandr Wang to lead a new project to build artificial-intelligence systems that surpass human intelligence.
Private equity may be our No. 1 economic boogeyman. It is blamed for rising real estate prices, poor medical care, and ruining many of the businesses we used to love.
ETF Database saw a massive surge in readers this past June. The most popular pieces focused on everything from breaking SpaceX IPO news to the technical mechanics behind top-performing ETFs.
Global equities rebounded in the second quarter as confidence in the AI investment cycle strengthened. As the third quarter begins, we believe markets have become priced for a smooth and profitable AI build-out, leaving little margin for error. June’s sharp sell-off in the Magnificent Seven stocks underscored how quickly sentiment can shift when crowded AI trades are priced for near-flawless execution.
Second-quarter 2026 markets were driven by the Iran conflict, which disrupted oil flows and spiked prices before easing after a partial Strait of Hormuz reopening. Focus then shifted to new Fed Chair Warsh’s reforms and SpaceX’s high-valuation IPO. The U.S. economy remains stable with moderate growth and rising inflation. Markets are up, led by AI-driven semiconductors, though risks and uncertainties persist.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
The June employment report’s headline readout was softer than expected, but the details reinforce my view that the U.S. economy remains on a stable footing. Headline payroll growth disappointed, yet the previous two months—which had surprised to the upside—were revised lower, bringing hiring back toward a pace that is far more consistent with a mature expansion.
Higher rates, weaker underwriting, and software concentration are exposing vulnerabilities in direct lending and leveraged loans, while high yield bonds appear better positioned.
Right now, advisors are facing a massive generation of clients trying to navigate retirement. That’s challenging enough, but with inflation and the cost of living rising, assuaging those clients’ concerns and delivering for them has become much trickier. Income ETFs can help meet those clients’ goals, with new, daily covered call ETFs an appealing option.
The S&P 500’s recent advance is masking a more dynamic story for US equity investors. Market winners remain confined to a tight clique of AI-related technology stocks, yet more companies are showing attractive fundamentals. For active equity investors, we believe this points to a more diversified and differentiated opportunity set ahead.
Close to 40 years ago, I moved from Canada to the U.S. after acquiring a controlling interest in U.S. Global Investors. I’ve built my entire life and career here, and in all that time, I’ve never stopped marveling at my adopted country.
Bypass the headaches of individual closed-end funds. Discover how Invesco's PCEF bundles over 100 CEFs to capture June's debt rallies.
The U.S. Treasury launched the Trump Accounts for childhood wealth building. Discover the five low-cost index ETFs anchoring the program.
Every sector chart tells you where the crowd is. Almost none tell you the thing a stock picker actually needs to know: Inside a given sector, how much room is there to beat the average name?
What is remarkable about Livermore is that his rules are still incredibly valuable. The markets he traded in no longer exist. The technology, the communication speeds, and the regulatory framework of his day are unrecognizable compared to today. But the principles and behavioral patterns he identified are as operational in 2026 as they were a hundred years ago.
Wage growth peaked four years ago. Since 1985, it has led CPI by three to seventeen months in every single cycle. The May 4.2% inflation print is the noise. Watch the wages.
The June U.S. Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) from S&P Global rose 0.5 points to 51.2, indicating a modest rise in service sector activity. The latest reading was just below the forecast of 51.3 and marked the strongest expansion in four months.
Personalization is high on the list of improvements because investing is personal. But we need to be careful in delivering personalization and to recognize the important distinctions between risk capacity (the ability to take risk) and risk tolerance (the willingness to take risks).
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released its June Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), with the headline composite index at 54.0. This was slightly lower than the forecast of 54.2 but keeps the index in expansion territory for a 24th consecutive month.
While the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at the latest meeting, investors increasingly speculate that rate hikes are on the table in 2026.
The US industrial robot industry is characterized by low growth and highly customized projects. Artificial intelligence holds out the hope to change that, especially when it comes to robots that can move and work safely around humans.
A violent rotation in the underbelly of a bullish stock market is extending the worst run for quantitative hedge funds since 2023.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sees the yen weakening to 165 per dollar in a year’s time, driven in part by Japan’s interest rate differentials with the US.
Oil held onto its recent run of losses, with traders looking for clues on flows through the Strait of Hormuz as barrels continue to return to the market after months of disruption.
US stock futures climbed early Monday as investors gauged whether the artificial-intelligence trade can regain its footing after one of its sharpest pullbacks in more than two years.
The most interesting shift in market price action in June was the strong outperformance of value stocks compared to the broad market and tech
A growing share of central bankers argue that artificial intelligence will ultimately push neutral interest rates higher. Intuitively, if AI boosts productivity and lifts long-run growth, then households have less incentive to save, pushing up the real neutral rate.
This video explains why the phrase "buy and hold" is often misunderstood and why successful long-term investing requires much more than simply buying stocks and never selling them. Chuck Carnevale, Co-founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation argues that buy-and-hold can be an excellent strategy, but only when investors purchase high-quality businesses at sensible valuations.
Six months is enough time for a lot to change. Your income, your expenses, your goals, and even the broader economy may look different than they did at the start of the year. And a plan that made sense in January might not fit the reality you're living in now.
Most global investors are not attuned to what can be seen on the horizon, not far from shore. After the Great Financial Crisis, Europe was slow to address the underlying capital issues. Rather than guillotining the problems, they allowed a slow bleed to take place.
America has proven that men and women not only can make their own history, but they can make it as they please, with circumstances chosen by themselves.
Midway through 2026, Franklin Templeton Institute’s Global Investment Outlook framework remains a valuable lens—but the landscape has shifted.
The U.S. nuclear sector advanced on two fronts in recent days. Advanced microreactors completed a key federal target while the existing commercial fleet signed a landmark agreement with a major retailer. These moves show momentum at both the innovation edge and the operating base.
This week, the Fourth of July, the 250th birthday of the greatest experiment in self-governance the world has ever seen, I want to do something different. I want to celebrate. And I want to use a lens I genuinely did not expect to be reaching for: the reactions of soccer fans from around the world who came to the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and discovered, to their own astonishment, that they loved it.
The war in Iran has delivered an oil shock into a bond market that had not fully shaken inflation pressures. Higher energy prices have revived concerns about the path of inflation just as central banks were edging toward rate cuts, forcing a reassessment of what investors require to hold long-term bonds. That reassessment is now playing out in higher long-term yields and steeper yield curves globally.
AI-related disruption, asset valuations and borrower stress have put private credit under a microscope lately. Is this a market facing its first major test after a decade of rapid growth? If it is, we expect it to pass comfortably.
This July, the United States marks its 250th anniversary, and that has many Americans thinking about what independence really means. In many ways, genuine independence is about more than political rights. It’s financial.
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at its June 17 meeting, but investors were more focused on the future under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, whom Trump appointed in May.
Federal estate taxes may not affect most households, but state death taxes can still be significant. Learn key planning considerations and strategies to help preserve wealth.
The strong run by the Nasdaq-100 and the S&P 500 the last few years has loaded portfolios with heavy concentration risk. As a tiny group of mega cap tech giants shapes the market, finding meaningful diversification has become a priority for advisors. Data from last week’s VettaFi Mid-Year Market Outlook Symposium confirms that wealth managers are actively looking down the market-cap spectrum to rebalance risk.
Productivity is an essential component of economic success. It allows for growth without inflation; compensates for demographic deficits; and helps nations attract investment.
The dollar holds a central place in global markets due to its role as the world’s reserve currency. Its movements influence cross-asset correlations, shape liquidity conditions, and often offer early indications of shifts in the broader macro regime. In short, it is a critical variable that warrants close attention.
One of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s most senior executives is leaving the bank after a four-decade career, in which she most recently led its artificial intelligence drive from a coveted spot on its top operating committee.
