Investors are pouring money back into municipal bonds as higher yields and the approaching summer reinvestment season draw cash into the tax-exempt market.
Businesses are racing to build the physical infrastructure that makes AI usable at scale – data centers, the graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware stack, power, and cooling.
If you’re not familiar with the name Leopold Aschenbrenner, you should be. A 24-year-old wunderkind, Aschenbrenner was hired by OpenAI in 2023 to work on the company’s “superalignment” team, essentially trying to figure out how to keep AI systems safe once they become smarter than the people building them.
The global defense industry continues to move rapidly from legacy, heavy-hardware platforms to agile, unmanned systems. Today, the Trump Administration announced that it’s pursuing funding deals for drone companies in an effort to increase domestic production in today’s defensive landscape.
Vocabulary is a power builder. Every time I use the word “hegemonic” in a conversation, I see my listeners’ eyebrows go up as if to say, “what does this guy know that I don’t?” Then again maybe they’re just signaling that I’m full of more than baked beans.
The ETF landscape includes a wide variety of innovative, intriguing funds that look to meet investor goals. From equities to fixed income, all kinds of strategies offer intriguing spins on areas like income and dividends.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management has expanded its alternative lineup with the launch of the JPMorgan Managed Futures Plus ETF (JPFP) on the Nasdaq. The actively managed fund combines a core U.S. equity allocation with a systematic managed futures strategy spanning equities, bonds, currencies, and commodities.
Closed-end funds may not be a hot topic right now, but they offer a highly compelling means to solve today's macroeconomic woes.
Are utilities the ultimate hidden growth play? In this video, we break down why the State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) is moving the needle for smart investors. Traditionally known as a boring, defensive sector for dividend income , utilities are experiencing massive new demand driven by the massive energy and electricity needs of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data centers.
New York City is facing one of the most significant fiscal challenges in recent memory. The NYC Comptroller has projected a $2.2 billion budget shortfall for FY2026, growing to a $10.4 billion gap in FY2027 (Source: New York City Comptroller, January 2026). That is a two-year deficit of roughly $12.6 billion.
For the last eight years, GMO’s Asset Allocation team has held a differentiated view on Japanese equities. Long before Japan re‑entered the global investment narrative, we argued that the country was undergoing slow but durable structural changes aimed at improving corporate governance, growth, and capital efficiency. These reforms were never expected to deliver quick results. Instead, we expected them to compound quietly over time.
The essential feature of a useful alternative asset isn’t that it’s unusual or exotic, but that its returns aren’t tightly linked to the risks that already dominate the portfolio. The value of an alternative asset comes from the way it interacts with the other assets in the portfolio.
Before I recommend what to do, I want to first state what not to do. Don’t invest as if you think you know what long-term inflation will be. Will we return to the double-digit inflation of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s? The answer is: Nobody knows.
The assumption that muni equals tax-free is deeply embedded in how the asset class gets discussed and presented. But for high-net-worth clients in high-tax states, the gap between partially exempt and fully exempt is material enough to be worth a conversation.
Equities extend gains as earnings and semiconductors lead markets higher. Consumer confidence remains subdued despite economic resilience. Inflation is easing gradually but remains above the Fed’s targey.
Recent Federal Reserve communications have turned more hawkish, reflecting concern that persistent supply-driven price pressures could begin to feed into inflation expectations. But unlike in prior cycles, today’s environment is not defined by supply shocks alone.
Ahead of next week’s May employment report, the summer jobs market is coming into focus as teenagers and students finish the school year. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, teen hiring from May through July is expected to total just 790,000 jobs this summer, down slightly from 801,000 last summer.
In the 24-hour financial news cycle, there’s much buzz surrounding the buildout of infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI). What about infrastructure beneficial to humans? There are plenty of ETF opportunities in the sector that’s gone from defensive hedge to dynamic capital appreciation engine.
Last week’s data tracked a shifting economic trajectory over the last several months. While the latest reading on first-quarter GDP confirms the economy started the year with steady growth, subsequent inflation metrics moved higher and ultimately weighed on consumer confidence.
Many debates in defined contribution (DC) circles focus on fees, new asset classes, and ever more complex solutions. But the biggest improvement available to plan participants may come from something far simpler: how their fixed income is managed.
The next IPO wave may create a different kind of portfolio challenge for institutions already holding private stakes in companies like SpaceX and OpenAI.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. agreed to have Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. reinsure a book of life insurance policies, freeing up about $6 billion of reserves.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is up 0.7% so far in May, as investors ramped up bets that the Federal Reserve will raise rates by early 2027, boosting the appeal of US assets. The gauge is on track for only its fourth monthly gain since the greenback’s 2025 downtrend began.
Growing excitement around the burgeoning space economy is increasingly favoring companies positioned to benefit not only from Elon Musk’s SpaceX filing for a public offering, but also from rising enthusiasm for space exploration and increased funding.
Large asset managers are rolling out a wave of actively managed emerging-market ETFs, pitching them as alternatives to benchmarks increasingly dominated by AI stocks.
As globalization gives way to reshoring and resurgent resource nationalism, emerging markets may offer fresh alpha opportunities through their ability to supply the raw materials required to fuel the AI boom.
Kevin Warsh was officially sworn in as 17th Federal Reserve chair on May 22. Warsh is likely to build consensus at the Fed rather than push for aggressive action to cut rates.
The U.S. government’s decision to invest $2 billion directly into nine quantum-computing companies through minority equity stakes—not just grants—signals a major shift toward treating quantum as a strategic commercial industry, with potential implications for investors seeking targeted exposure through funds like the WisdomTree Quantum Computing Fund (WQTM).
Since early April, U.S. stocks have rallied sharply despite an ongoing war, rising inflation fueled by soaring oil prices (near $100/barrel), higher bond yields (up 0.6 to 0.7 percentage points), and frothy valuations (21 times projected earnings vs. a historical average of 17 times for the S&P 500 Index).
The ETF industry has exploded in popularity in recent years. Old mutual fund heavy firms have increasingly leaned into the space, while new shops have proliferated, adding all kinds of new ETFs for investors to consider. That has benefitted investors and advisors immensely.
California continues to demonstrate fiscal resilience, supported by strong liquidity balances and the absence of projected cash‑flow borrowing through FY 2026–27. However, Medicaid cost pressures, a progressive tax structure highly sensitive to equity market swings, and constitutional spending constraints remain key differentiators between California and other large states.
This persistent growth highlights how central low-cost core index products remain to advisor and retail portfolios alike. Even as asset managers roll out specialized strategies, capital continues to flow within broad-market beta.
A tidal wave of conversions has siphoned an unprecedented amount of capital out of mutual funds and into the ETF wrapper. Last year’s record 60 mutual-fund-to-ETF conversions in 2025 across 31 firms pushed total converted assets past $260 billion, and the past five years have now seen a grand total of 203 conversions.
Treasuries rallied back to be little-changed on the day, erasing earlier declines spurred by higher oil prices, after a key US inflation gauge rose less than expected.
Shares of retailers spanning Kohl’s Corp. to Best Buy Co. and Dollar Tree Inc. rose on Thursday amid optimism that shoppers are still spending when they see what they want at the right price.
An abundance of cash in US funding markets appears to be driven by deeper structural shifts that are unlocking billions of dollars in balance-sheet capacity at the biggest banks, Wall Street strategists say.
Coverage of prediction platform Polymarket has recently converged on a single statistic, delivered with the cadence of a verdict: Most users lose money. The top 1% of accounts capture roughly three-quarters of the gains, while most traders since 2022 are underwater.
Bankers are preparing to sell a jumbo debt package to support the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. It’s a risky deal and comes at a moment when the bond markets have been wobbling.
The push for international equities diversification continues amid shifting global macroeconomic conditions. These days, investors have more options when it comes to international exposure. Given the current market uncertainty, they may want to put quality at the forefront of their decision-making process.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) made a big announcement this week, touting $100 billion in total ETF AUM. The milestone comes following the firm’s recent acquisition of Innovator ETFs adding several notable funds to the firm’s overall roster.
Fifth district manufacturing activity increased in May according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite manufacturing index rose ten points points to 13, marking the highest level in nearly five years. This month's reading was above the forecast of 4.
Join the experts at Reckoner for an educational webcast exploring the CLO space and how to navigate it.
Fast-tracking mega IPOs into major indexes and the case for active preferred ETFs were both on the agenda for this week’s ETF Prime. Host Nate Geraci welcomed Rich Lee, head of program trading and execution strategy at Baird, and Douglas Baker, portfolio manager and head of preferred securities at Nuveen.
Private credit is more inherently complex than the traditional bond market. In comparison, private credit information comes at a deficit. That’s because private credit loans are essentially bespoke agreements between a lender and a private borrower.
The breakneck surge in memory-chip stocks is intensifying, sending the market capitalizations of SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. above $1 trillion for the first time, as investors bet the AI boom will lead to a sustained revaluation of the industry.
Almost two-thirds of fund managers permit some level of “nuclear exposure,” with 34% allowing investments in nuclear weaponry, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s fourth-annual ESG and defense survey.
Despite the move lower late last week, U.S. Treasury yields are still holding well above recent lows and close to highs not seen in more than a year. By contrast, risk assets are firmly bid: U.S. equities have been routinely touching new historical highs, and credit spreads over Treasuries remain tight.
Gold has dropped more than 11 percent from its all-time high of just over $5,102 an ounce in January, and selling pressure continues to dominate the market. A well-established mainstream narrative is driving the bearish sentiment.
Despite these higher costs, a projected 45 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend, setting a new record. Close to 40 million will drive while some 3.7 million will fly.
Despite headwinds from rising oil prices, fundamentals have remained strong. The S&P 500 has notched 18 record highs year to date and, more importantly, surpassed our prior target of 7,250. Following a standout 1Q earnings season, we are raising our 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimate to $326 from $300.
