Despite rosy forecasts, the US economy faces powerful headwinds that call into question its ability to serve as the world’s main growth driver. These challenges are compounded by domestic and geopolitical uncertainties that have not been reflected in market valuations and economic assessments.
David Dali, Head of Portfolio Strategy, provides his 12-month outlook for global equity markets.
Four years ago this week (2/19 to be exact) the S&P 500 climbed to an all-time high of 3,386 before plunging over -34% as the world economy shutdown due to the pandemic.
Covered call ETFs and strategies remain in focus. The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) gathered $13 billion in 2023, despite rising just 10% in value.
Investors have been basking in the sunlight of a year-end market rally in 2023 that appears to be continuing in 2024 after a slow start to January.
VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discussed the Columbia EM Core ex-China ETF (XCEM) on this week’s “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life.”
There is power and freedom in acknowledging our financial mistakes rather than shaming ourselves for them.
In the first installment of this series, I pledged to unveil a retirement strategy with such merit that it warrants widespread adoption by the investment advisor community. Let's delve into the compelling case for this approach.
Open-source software may well be the greatest “public good” the market economy has ever produced. What it shows is the power of voluntary social cooperation.
For a lesson in the perils of being a skeptic on Wall Street when everyone else is a buyer, consider Rob Arnott, who made a sensible case five months ago that Nvidia Corp. had become a bubble.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shares rose as much as 5.5% in premarket trading on Monday, set to push the market value of Warren Buffett’s conglomerate even closer to $1 trillion.
VettaFi sat down with Capital Group’s head of global product strategy and development Holly Framsted at the ETF Exchange conference in Miami to discuss the firm’s recent survey about active fixed income ETFs.
As measured by the S&P Select Sector Real Estate Index, real estate stocks are struggling this year, as that gauge is lower by 3.47%. However, some market observers remain constructive about real estate stocks. This indicates there could be opportunities in the space for selective investors.
The REIT sector has faced many challenges over the past few years, including COVID-related closures and tightening monetary policy. Franklin Equity Group Portfolio Managers Blair Schmicker and Daniel Scher discuss how a return to pre-pandemic monetary policy could mean a promising 2024 for publicly traded real estate.
Recently I saw a T-shirt for sale that said, “Science Doesn’t Care What You Think.” I used a similar metaphor recently, observing how many experiments show that jumping off a cliff will send you rapidly downward. If you want to test that theory, please add me to your will first.
NVIDIA reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2023 this week, and I’m still picking my jaw off the floor.
The US and China are discussing new measures to prevent a wave of emerging market sovereign defaults, according to people familiar with the situation, one of the most significant attempts in years at economic cooperation between the rival superpowers.
Careful data management and having a formal impact measurement framework in place are essential to preventing greenwashing and ensuring consistent impact delivery.
Cloud computing is one of the sub-sectors of technology that are benefiting from last year’s rally. When it comes to specific names, CrowdStrike is a notable one helping to push the Direxion Daily Cloud Computing Bull 2X Shares ETF (CLDL) even higher.
Electric vehicle (EV) equities and related exchange traded funds currently appear as though their check engine lights are on.
A Fidelity International money manager has sold the vast majority of US Treasuries from funds he oversees on expectations the world’s biggest economy still has room to expand.
The importance of major canals to global trade cannot be underestimated. Franklin Templeton Institute’s Kim Catechis highlights some of the challenges they face, including militant attacks and climate change.
How many Wall Street buzzwords can you fit into one security? The limit is being tested by a new breed of options-fueled exchange-traded funds making inroads with the retail crowd.
Asset manager VanEck’s Bitcoin ETF is listed under the ticker ‘HODL,’ highlighting a dilemma facing buyers of the popular investment vehicles.
Record issuance in the corporate bond market is giving fixed income investors an abundance of opportunities. However, due diligence is necessary as high-yielding bonds may uncover a risky proposition that doesn’t quite match an investor’s risk profile.
Short-term bonds are generally defined as debt with maturities of one to three years. Additionally, these bonds come in a variety of forms, including Treasuries.
Three consecutive quarters of strong growth have put productivity either back on trend or well above it, depending on which recent trend line you’re following. Productivity’s sharp rise and fall from 2020 to 2022 was apparently just another one of those weird pandemic phenomena, now disappearing in the rearview mirror.
Slower inflation was supposed to be a sign that the economy was cooling, all part of the Federal Reserve’s plan for higher interest rates to restore balance to the economy. For a while, things looked on track.
Cathie Wood made a wild prediction almost two years ago: Annual economic growth could accelerate to as much as 50%, thanks to breakthroughs in the world of artificial intelligence.
NVIDIA’s spectacular quarter and forecast are dominating headlines this week.
Cash may still be king for the moment, but after more than $1 trillion flowed into money-market funds last year as short-term rates rose, investors are trying to figure out where it goes next.
All three major American stock indexes stormed to fresh all-time highs Thursday as Nvidia Corp.’s results rekindled faith that breakthroughs in artificial intelligence will boost profits and give stock prices further room to run.
GMO has published a new 7-Year Asset Class Forecast.
The Magnificent Seven stocks (Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, and Tesla) have been the largest driver of equity returns in recent years and were again the dominant contributors in 2023, accounting for more than half of the market increase.
Active ETFs had a big, big year in 2023. At the recent ETF Exchange conference in Miami, active strategies dominated the discussion, with growing interest among issuers and investors in actively managed funds.
Even if you have not heard of the Magnificent Seven stocks as a group, you likely know the companies. The Magnificent Seven comprises Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA), and Alphabet (GOOG/GOOGL).
Bitcoin recently had a scorching hot run. It has some crypto market observers believing new all-time highs are right around the corner. Additionally, it’s having the predictable, though still welcomed, effect of lifting some stocks with intimate ties to the largest digital currency.
The relatively new category of buffered or “defined-outcome” ETFs has grown to $30 billion in assets, with more than $10 billion in inflows in 2023 alone. Amid significant uncertainty surrounding the Fed's trajectory for rate cuts, geopolitical tensions, and a presidential election year, investors are seeking new ways to mitigate risk in their portfolio while still participating in the returns of the equity market. AllianzIM entered the ETF market in 2020 to address this need with a growing suite of buffered ETFs. Buffered ETFs are a powerful tool for advisors and their clients to reduce volatility and diversify a traditional allocation.
With US valuations ostensibly high compared to global peers, many investors are asking themselves if now is the time to dip their toes into international equities. They’re asking the wrong question.
They call them the Seven Samurai. Analysts from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. caused a stir in Tokyo this week with a well-timed report highlighting a group of stocks that could serve as Japan’s equivalent of the Magnificent Seven that have come to dominate US equities.
Outside the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida last week, dozens of drones moved slowly through the night sky, projecting the Bitcoin symbol far and wide above one of the largest ETF gatherings of the year.
The current speculative environment seems to increasingly resemble the Technology Bubble of 1999/2000. All bubbles eventually burst and the burst of the Tech Bubble led to the so-called lost decade in equities.
Regarding the surprisingly strong employment data, Fed Chair Powell said the quiet part out loud. The media hopes you didn’t hear it as we head into a contentious election in November.
The chip sector comes into sharp focus ahead of a key earnings report, with signs of divergence in the sector.
Higher for longer. This was the key message to me from advisors and ETF industry folks at the Exchange conference when talking about fixed income.
What do passive ETFs really do? Many investors are used to the comfort of simply allocating to a big index and almost forgetting about it, only checking in every so often.
“Sometimes I don’t even know why I am invited to the meeting, and even after it ends I don’t know why I was there!”
The $1.4 trillion US junk-bond market is getting junkier, as more debt gets either downgraded or elevated out of the high-yield universe altogether, leaving greater potential risks for investors.
None of the Magnificent Seven companies existed in the heyday of the Nifty Fifty, but a unique valuation and narrative thread aligns the companies.
It’s been blamed for fueling stock volatility and dismissed as the latest case of market speculation gone too far.
