The S&P 500 is near all-time highs, leading some to question whether markets are in a bubble. A careful analysis of past bull markets suggests this is not the case.
QE is back! On December 10, the Federal Reserve announced its plan to purchase $40 billion in Treasury securities each month for at least four months. Through these purchases, bank reserves will increase, and recent liquidity concerns should lessen.
Shifting geopolitics are causing policymakers in Europe and Japan to step up fiscal spending to gain self-sufficiency and generate growth.
Energy can be either an enabler or a constraint. The latter happens when our creativity gets out of sync with the energy we can apply to it. This is happening right now and will get worse as artificial intelligence data centers demand more power than we have available.
As enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and its potential to reshape business models and deliver extraordinary profits accelerates, we worry that rational, disciplined investing is taking a back seat. Many investors appear to be abandoning fundamental analysis and prudent valuation in favor of paying any price to own the hottest stocks.
Owners of Invesco Ltd.’s famed tech fund QQQ voted to convert the product into an open-ended structure, a move that could unlock hundreds of millions in annual revenue for the asset manager.
Gold and silver hovered near record highs, after slower-than-expected inflation in the US supported bets for more interest-rate cuts.
Mark Twain said, “History never repeats itself, but it rhymes!” Time magazine just came out with its “Person of the Year.”
The era of "easy" yield in money market funds is ending as the Federal Reserve begins its long-awaited series of rate cuts. To stay ahead of shifting borrowing costs, investors are increasingly looking toward the flexibility and proprietary research of actively managed fixed income ETFs.
Treasuries gained across the curve as softer-than-forecast US inflation data led traders to step up bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest-rate next year.
In the world of exchange-traded funds, some investors tend to look at index-based ETFs as static alternatives to the more flexible active funds. However, that is not necessarily the case. Index-based funds do move their assets around, particularly when their underlying indexes rebalance at points throughout the year.
This year’s research highlights a clear investor preference for high-conviction themes like crypto, global defense, and commodities, which dominated both inflows and market discourse.
Gold traded near a record as investors assessed US inflation data that came in softer than expected. Platinum extended a breakneck rally that saw it surge close to $2,000 an ounce.
The crypto market is struggling to find its footing as Bitcoin’s most "diamond-handed" investors continue a massive exit, offloading billions in previously dormant tokens.
LPL Research examines why the bull market appears ready to continue its run in 2026, powered by AI enthusiasm and further easing of monetary policy from the Fed.
Coming into 2025, amid a debate about concentration and lofty valuations in the largest of large-cap stocks, as well as concerns about macro uncertainty and economic conditions, we collectively called for diversification. That diversification, among other things, singled out the opportunity in small-caps.
Elevated yields, steeper yield curves, and ongoing volatility make core bonds a compelling choice for total return, income, diversification, and downside risk mitigation in today’s markets. Active management is key: Historically, it has helped core bond portfolios outperform passive strategies through a rigorous, diversified approach.
Investors should treat bitcoin as the volatile, high-risk asset it is. A look at the data, along with comparisons to the Magnificent 7 stocks, indicates a small (1% to 2%) portfolio allocation for most investors would be the safest.
During extended upward-trending markets that reward risk-takers and punish caution, everyone is a “bull market genius.” That dynamic flips investor psychology and, over time, creates a false sense of control.
In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and “Mr. Valuation”, continues his series on portfolio construction by shifting the focus from retirees to younger, pre-retirement investors building wealth for the future-how young investors can build a future retirement with dividend growth.
On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research, Todd Rosenbluth, discussed the VictoryShares Free Cash Flow Growth ETF (GFLW) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF.
Ben Johnson, Head of Client Solutions at Morningstar, recaps the year in ETFs, sharing his picks for ETF Story of the Year, ETF of the Year, ETF Issuer of the Year, and more. He also looks ahead to 2026, highlighting the key industry trends and developments he’s watching.
Preparing for the new year? It helps to look back on the big stories in fund management that can inform plans for 2026.
As more retail investors gain access to private markets, advisors should be careful to communicate the risks, and not just the potential upside, of diving into these alternative investments.
Cannabis stocks soared on Friday following news that U.S. president Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order as soon as Monday that would ultimately ease federal restrictions on marijuana.
Looking to add exposure to the Nasdaq? The key market index, with its heavy focus on the information technology sector, can help investors lean more into some key growth-oriented firms in the U.S. and global economy.
Market participants said the longer-term outlook for the sector remains upbeat as power demand is too high to be met by Big Oil alone. And the rally this year is far from overdone, with the clean-energy stock gauge remaining about 73% below its 2007 peak.
Every time there’s a raging bull market in stocks, as there is now, people start worrying about too much leverage in the market, and for good reason. When investors chase stocks with borrowed money, bad things can happen.
A generation ago, a single income could support a family, buy a house and pay for a vehicle or two in the driveway. Today, even two high earners are struggling to purchase a new home.
Investors are gravitating to dollar bonds to ride the rally in emerging-markets, and have poured the most money in two years into a fund tracking the asset class.
Researching lesser-known economic indicators on the thinkorswim® platform is a low-effort way to potentially elevate an investor's game.
Despite rapid growth, including significant trading volume increases, the company faces major challenges from competitors like Robinhood and Interactive Brokers, an ongoing association with gambling, and regulatory pushback regarding its classification as a financial-derivatives exchange.
Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions.
Our year ahead explores what could challenge the consensus outlook, how rate-cut expectations shape market behavior, and why quality, dividends, and broader opportunities may matter more than investors realize.
The flood of big money into the RIA space is a tribute to what the pioneers created. But it also represents a step backward. The new masters are profit-driven capitalists, not creative, client-focused entrepreneurs.
Clients with large, concentrated stock positions, often from vested Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), face undiversified risk and a huge potential tax bill. This article introduces two new, complex methods that defer capital gains.
Pioneered by Harry Markowitz's Modern Portfolio Theory, the classic 60/40 portfolio allocates 60% to stocks for growth and 40% to bonds for income and risk mitigation. This strategy is predicated on the idea that these two asset classes, when combined, should have a less-than-perfect correlation to optimize risk-adjusted returns.
Once considered a tactical niche product for nervous investors, buffer ETFs are reshaping how financial advisors approach risk management.
The economic narrative last week was shaped by a highly anticipated Federal Reserve rate cut, which came against a backdrop of conflicting signals in the labor market.
Around this time, most mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) providers release estimates of their upcoming distributions. We track and aggregate these early numbers to help you better prepare for what to expect.
The Federal Reserve lowered its policy interest rate by 25 basis points, as widely expected. However, Fed Chairman Powell hinted at a pause ahead, and there were several dissents.
Oracle's recent earnings report offered little comfort for those concerned about the cost of AI infrastructure, revealing unwelcome surprises like a $10 billion quarterly cash burn and significantly increased capital spending.
With Elon Musk’s SpaceX eyeing an initial public offering that could value the company at over $1 trillion, investors looking for exposure to the space industry can turn to a space ETF that has already delivered outsized returns in 2025.
Silver jumped for a fourth day, as exchange-traded fund inflows, momentum-following and physical market tightness pushed the white metal toward its best year since 1979.
International stocks could be poised for another strong year in 2026 due to accelerating global growth, attractive valuations and the potential for dollar weakness.
The Federal Reserve concluded its last meeting of 2025 with another quarter-point rate cut, while maintaining its outlook for only one cut in 2026.
The U.S. economy depends on consumers buying stuff. Persistent price inflation forced Americans to blow through their savings and then turn to credit cards to make ends meet.
Gold wavered as traders mulled the Federal Reserve’s outlook for interest rates. Bullion gained as much as 0.5% in US trading before paring some gains, while Treasury yields and the dollar declined.
With a third consecutive rate cut bringing the Fed Funds range to 3.50%–3.75%, the Fed may pause for now as it reassesses the effectiveness of its “risk management” approach amid mixed economic signals.
US Treasuries rose after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter-point for a third straight meeting and left the door open to additional policy easing in 2026.
