The rising dispersion in returns and relatively low correlation among S&P 500 stocks has become increasingly apparent on the CBOE S&P 500 Dispersion Index and the CBOE Three-Month Implied Correlation Index.

Emerging-market (EM) corporates have a track record of resilience across market cycles. For over a decade, EM corporate bonds have allowed for participation in rising markets, while exposing investors to less downside during market downdrafts.

Investors have long known balance is a key aspect of portfolio design. It presents a chance to achieve long-term growth and protect hard-earned assets at the same time.

Not long ago, CLO ETFs were niche vehicles only talked about at credit conferences and in sophisticated bond manager circles. But fast forward to 2026, and they’ve entered the mainstream – drawing meaningful interest from both institutions and retail investors.

To love a bubble but hate a crash is to misunderstand the market. A bubble is a crash on its way to becoming. A crash is a bull market on its way to becoming. All we can do is to accept, and as difficult as it may be – embrace – whatever form we have in the present moment, so we can do our best with each of them.

GMO has posted a new 7-Year asset class forecast as of January 31, 2026.

AI has evolved from concentrated innovation to increased adoption across industries, which has led to a considerable (and somewhat swift) shift in stock market leadership.

Raymond James Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions.

All three major stock indices finished in the red last week as AI disruption fears continued to grow. The S&P 500, an index of large US companies, returned -1.3 percent for the week, making the index flat year to date.

Royce Investment Partners: Co-CIO Francis Gannon looks at how low interest rates, tax policy, reshoring, technology adoption, and deregulation can fuel US small-cap earnings growth.

This week’s economic releases have once again underscored the policy dynamics we outlined in our January outlook. President Trump faces a high-stakes midterm election in November, and the incentives are clear: deliver visible growth, moderating inflation, and lower borrowing costs to strengthen the administration’s hand with voters.

With growth in both economies underpinned by trade, neither side has much appetite for a large‑scale economic confrontation. That reality should push both capitals toward calibrated responses rather than actions that sharply raise the costs of retaliation.

If you’re grading the economy based on real GDP, it looks pretty good; if grading based on jobs, not so much.

Thematic ETFs have maintained their impressive momentum in early 2026, building on a resurgent 2025. After gathering $23 billion last year, the category added another $4 billion in January alone.

Emerging market ETFs are back in focus. Two of the ten largest U.S.-listed ETF inflow winners year-to-date are broad EM funds. As expected, low-cost passive strategies continue to dominate flows, although they don’t always lead on returns.

The article from the Wall Street Journal titled “Why My Generation Is Turning to Financial Nihilism” by Kyla Scanlon argues that Gen Z is embracing high-risk financial behavior out of despair and detachment, but the data shows something very different. 

Markets move through phases of resilience, shifting leadership and renewed opportunity. We’ve seen this play out in recent months as performance has broadened beyond mega‑cap tech into areas that had long been overlooked.

Four months ago, digital assets underwent what I believe was the most consequential liquidation event in their history. On October 10, 2025, over $19 billion in leveraged positions were wiped out within hours. Bitcoin plummeted from roughly $122,000 to $105,000. More than 1.6 million trader accounts were liquidated.

For families navigating public benefits, long-term care planning, and lifetime financial sustainability, this change represents both an opportunity and a planning strategy worth considering. While ABLE accounts can be powerful tools, they are most effective when coordinated thoughtfully with benefits, trusts, and broader financial strategies.

Browsing real-estate listings is a popular hobby. Home data portals provide hours of free entertainment. Some listings feature bizarre or ostentatious decoration; some are time capsules, preserving a bygone era. Most entries share one shocking feature: the price.

When uncertainty rises, volatility usually follows as the market has a tendency of pricing in worst-case scenarios quickly. AI’s evolution has accelerated rapidly, shifting from novelty use cases to broad, productivity‑enhancing applications across industries.

Last week delivered exactly what the market needed on the economic data front: confirmation that inflation continues to cool while the labor market remains firmly intact. The CPI came in softer than expected, finally reflecting the long-awaited deceleration in rental costs.

Stripping out more volatile food and energy prices, core CPI prices rose 0.3 percent month on month. The annual core CPI dropped from 2.6 percent in December to 2.5 percent, the lowest reading since April 2021.

Gold has always been one of the go-to assets when stomach-churning volatility forces queasy investors into safe havens. However, recent volatility has been challenging that safe haven narrative, and one of the drivers has been speculative trading activity in China ETFs.

The performance of digital assets in recent months, especially bitcoin, has been testing investor conviction in both the category’s near-term growth potential as well as bitcoin’s standing as a gold-like store of value and a key character in the debasement trade story.

Advisors can foster a stronger relationship with their clients through providing advice over charitable giving.

Today we’re going to look at the recent employment data, and begin our exploration of what it will be like to be in the midst of a paradigm shift, on top of all of the other changes in society and finance. Without trying to be cliché, it is part and parcel of The Fourth Turning.

Since the beginning of the year, we have discussed the “reflation trade” and its impact on specific market sectors. This past weekend’s newsletter also showed some of these more extreme returns in various market sectors since the beginning of the yea

Fourth-quarter earnings results have been generally solid so far, albeit a bit weaker relative to prior quarters when it comes to beat rates and price reactions. On the international front, weakening global ties may lead to economic disruption and lasting investment implications. Meanwhile, bond market volatility has remained low despite economic and policy uncertainty.

Volatility was once again the theme in US markets last week as a profound alpha rotation reshapes Wall Street. Investors continued to flee mega-cap tech, software stocks, and anything considered an AI loser, in favor of more cyclical sectors such as energy, materials and industrials.

As of February 10, 2026, Victory Capital managed $20 billion in ETF assets, with an impressive $9 billion of new money flowing in during the past 12 months.

A weaker dollar, renewed commodity strength, and rising sensitivity around AI valuations are reshaping market leadership. Paul Vella breaks down what’s fueling gold and emerging markets, why SaaS cracks matter, and how disciplined diversification is helping investors navigate policy and earnings uncertainty.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, better known as “the Dow,” closed above 50,000 points for the first time. It’s a historic milestone that comes less than two years after surpassing 40,000 in May 2024, but what does the milestone mean, and does it signal time for investors to reduce exposure?

Gold demand in the tech and industrial sectors was generally flat at 222.8 tonnes in 2025. This was down about 1.5 percent from 226.2 tonnes the previous year.

Diversification seeks to help manage risk, smooth portfolio outcomes, and improve the likelihood that clients stay invested and on track toward their long-term goals.

A financial innovation brings new insights and new risks.

The U.S. economy began 2026 with a display of unexpected resilience in the labor market and cooling inflation.

Capital markets have faced quite an array of moving pieces over the last couple of weeks, ranging from equity market rotation dynamics, volatile metals and commodity price action, geopolitical flare-ups, global central bank decisions, and high-profile earnings.

The silver market is projected to run its sixth straight structural supply deficit in 2026 as investment demand remains high.

Gavekal CEO Louis Gave is one of my favorite people to speak with on anything related to portfolio construction and the non-US perspective, and I knew our latest conversation about emerging markets (EM) would be anything but conventional.

Private credit has been in the news lately. That’s nothing new. For years, investors have read about the potential opportunities the asset class offers and how it works. Let’s dig a little deeper into what private credit is, what it isn’t and how it can fit into a diversified investment portfolio.

There is perhaps no market force more fearsome than a true short squeeze. In our increasingly digitized financial world, a perilous gap often emerges between “paper” positions and physical reality.

Move over, Taylor and Travis. This Valentine’s Day, the real power couple financial advisors should be swooning over is the one between their wealth practice and the retirement market.

In this article, Russ Koesterich discusses the merits of continuing to hold tech companies while also exploring diversification outside of the sector.

At their most recent meeting, the Federal Reserve and Chair Powell told us that the risks of weakening labor and higher inflation had declined. It painted a nice picture of a soft landing, but wasn’t a recipe for immediate rate cuts.

The historic election victory in Japan for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has granted Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi the strongest mandate in the country’s postwar era and raised hopes of a shift toward growth-oriented policy.

While occasional bouts of volatility are likely, we expect the fixed income markets to provide ballast for portfolios and are likely to deliver solid returns in 2026.

U.S. equity markets delivered mixed performance this week, underscoring elevated dispersion in returns and ongoing shifts in market leadership. The S&P 500 (-0.1%) was roughly flat, while the NASDAQ (-1.8%) underperformed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (2.5%) and Russell 2000 (2.2%) both posted solid gains.

Each year over 150 million tax returns are filed. For married couples, the overwhelming majority will choose to file joint tax returns. For most households, this makes sense considering the advantageous nature of tax brackets applying to joint returns

Income investors face a promising landscape today. But we think income investing should be more than simply combining the highest yielders in each asset class, which could create unintended risks. In our view, an efficient multi-asset approach can help find the right balance between income, growth and diversification.