U.S. equities edged higher last week, approaching all-time highs, fueled by steady consumer spending reflected in strong Black Friday retail sales, though data indicated consumers are increasingly prioritizing value.

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.

Despite the concern post-2024 election about rising U.S. deficits and a potential return of "bond vigilantes," the supply side of the Treasury market has remained stable, with deficits settling near the $1.8 trillion baseline.

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.

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.

The launch of multi-token crypto products (i.e., crypto index ETFs) signals that many issuers believe the next growth phase in crypto ETFs will be driven by investors who want a rules-based basket approach rather than single asset calls.

It appears the holiday shopping season is being sucked into the massive Debt Black Hole floating through the global economy.

Many U.S. companies now find their defined benefit (DB) plan in surplus and are exploring practical ways to use that excess funding. While emerging legislation may one day allow transfer from DB to defined contribution (DC) plans, some sponsors are already taking creative action.

The dot-com bubble burst in 2000. Now, 25 years later, anxiety abounds about the potential for a similar AI bubble burst and resultant crash.

The year 2025 exemplifies the prevailing regime — markets driven less by fundamentals and traditional business-cycle dynamics and more by fiscal and monetary policy influence. Today, policy decisions have emerged as one of the most impactful forces driving market direction.

After a turbulent start to 2025 defined by US policy shocks, attention shifted to AI optimism and corporate fundamentals, with earnings and capex intentions often eclipsing traditional data releases. Despite these twists, returns were solid across asset classes.

U.S. consumers are seeing a tangible rise in their monthly utility bills, with the average residential cost increasing to $142 in 2024, double the general inflation rate.

Growth, growth, and more growth — that’s been the common refrain in the current market environment. However, peeking from behind the curtains is the quality factor. While it has yet to receive the full spotlight in 2025 relative to growth, it’s due for a breakout performance (potentially in 2026).

ClearBridge Investments believes emerging market equities have turned a corner, showing strong performance after years of lagging returns.

We believe the macro environment will continue to be unstable given policy crosscurrents and a wobbly labor market, but stocks can likely churn higher given a firmer earnings backdrop.

Two perspectives emerge when analyzing the state of US consumers. Sentiment surveys paint a picture of economic weakness, yet behavioral data tells a different story — spending remains in line with historical expansion trends.

Gold ETFs globally reported net inflows of gold for the sixth straight month, driven by a strong surge in Asian investment.

With great power comes great responsibility. But in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), power means megawatts, not metaphors.

Energy commodities enter 2026 at an interesting crossroads. On one hand, oil and gas markets have abundant supply and somewhat softer pricing. On the other hand, the ongoing energy transition is accelerating investment in new energy sources.

With macro drivers continuing to reshape markets, Ali Dibadj explores key investment themes for 2026 to help actively position portfolios for resilience and growth. He also explains how asset managers need to evolve to best work together with clients.

Rising margin debt levels signal increasing speculation and leverage in the market, with the cost of carrying this debt nearing historical peaks that have typically preceded significant stock market corrections.

Three years with five reliable recession signals, five recession scares, and no recession. Why? And what comes next. A useful framing of the economy for the last three years and why a recession isn’t imminent now.

Active fixed income ETFs took center stage at VettaFi's recent 2026 Market Outlook Symposium, with two industry leaders sharing thoughts.

I’ve lived through several bubbles and read about others, and they’ve all hewed to this description. One might think the losses experienced when past bubbles popped would discourage the next one from forming. But that hasn’t happened yet, and I’m sure it never will.

With the Fed's final 2025 meeting approaching, markets anticipate a third rate cut amid labor weakness, though the FOMC remains publicly divided on balancing a cooling job market against sticky inflation.

Our latest research investigates how U.S. corporations have managed to consistently increase profits, despite a secular trend of declining net domestic investment.

For affluent families in Pittsburgh and around the US, wealth rarely grows in a straight line. Businesses evolve, real estate accumulates, trusts are created, and investment portfolios expand across public and private markets.

The first full week of the holiday shopping season confirmed what I was looking for: consumers are still spending, and they are not being spooked by tariffs or headlines. Black Friday sales were solid, and the weekend into Cyber Monday largely matched expectations.

This week’s data presented a mixed picture of the U.S. economy as investors look ahead to the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting next week.

lthough AI is often blamed for labor weakness, the data suggests other dynamics are at play, as job creation is slowing most in industries with low AI adoption. Given the strong outlook for corporate earnings and policy support, the authors maintain a positive view, advising investors to "buy the dip."

The rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI), while promising increased productivity, is creating a significant and often overlooked strain on the global power grid.

Recessions are less common today than they were before the 1980s. Some argue that the reason is that we have become better at conducting fiscal and monetary policy to reduce the ebbs and flows of economic cycles.

A conventional data center uses between 5,000 and 15,000 tons of copper. A hyperscale data center, on the other hand—the kind being built to run artificial intelligence (AI)—can require up to 50,000 tons of copper per facility, according to the Copper Development Association.

Private credit is expanding beyond its traditional niche to finance major infrastructure projects for investment-grade corporate borrowers, a trend particularly notable among hyperscalers building AI infrastructure.

This week features two crucial monetary policy events: the widely anticipated Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, where a rate cut is expected along with new economic projections; and the Senate hearing on Thursday focused on "The Fed's Big Bank Welfare Program" (IORB regime).

This focus on payout growth and a relatively higher tech allocation suggests OUSA may be well-positioned for performance in 2026, even as corporations globally favor share buybacks over dividend payments.

The field of quantum computing has shifted its focus from the short-lived concept of "quantum supremacy" to a more measurable goal: quantum advantage, which emphasizes reproducible, domain-specific results that verifiably outperform classical systems.

Due to the federal government shutdown, official jobs data remains incomplete, forcing the Federal Reserve to rely on alternative private-sector reports to gauge the labor market. These alternative data sources, such as the ADP report and Revelio Labs estimates, indicate a widespread and concerning slowdown in employment, with job creation stalling, openings shrinking, and layoffs rising across many sectors.

In this article, Russ Koesterich discusses gold’s recent positive correlation with stocks, particularly those names showing strong price momentum.

Global equities closed November mixed, as investors began favoring proven earnings power over speculative growth. The MSCI World Index ended roughly flat for the month, with value, small-cap, and dividend-paying stocks outperforming large-cap growth names. Healthcare significantly outpaced information technology by over 12%.

For over eighteen years, we have maintained the same investment discipline and the same eight criteria for stock selection. We have deliberately sought opportunity in the sectors and structures the market has decided are too complicated, too cyclical, or simply no longer fashionable.

The Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced key figures for 2026. After several years of above-average cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security, beneficiaries will receive a slight increase in the cost-of-living allowance (COLA) in 2026 based on the current inflation environment.

Marc Seidner, CIO of Non-traditional Strategies, explores opportunities across equities, bonds, credit, and commodities that have the potential to offer investors resilience and diversification.

Amidst geopolitical tensions, global defense has become one of the most persistent and outperforming investment themes in 2025, even in the absence of a major crisis. Investors are increasingly diversifying into international defense markets through new and existing ETFs, recognizing the exposure to rising non-U.S. military budgets and the resilience of long-term contracts.

We continue to suggest an up-in-quality fixed income bias for the short run, but investors can still consider some of the riskier parts of the fixed income market in moderation.

I suspect almost 100% of my readers live well above the “poverty line.” I also suspect that probably 99% of you don’t know exactly where that line is. I didn’t really know the number either until I read the article we’ll discuss today.

The economic narrative last week was dominated by a mix of cooling inflation and a softening labor market.

When developing research strategies to achieve positive alpha, there are typically two methodologies: quantitative and fundamental. Discerning investors who have a predilection for one or the other no longer have to choose with the MFS Blended Research Core Equity ETF (BRCE) and the MFS Blended Research International Equity ETF (BRIE).

While AI adoption is becoming ubiquitous across all segments of society, a significant bottleneck is emerging that could slow its expansion: a critical power problem. AI data centers consume massive amounts of electricity—up to the equivalent of 100,000 households—with projections showing they will account for nearly half of US electricity demand growth through 2030.

For fixed-income investors seeking diversification, Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), specifically the VMBS ETF, are presented as a high-quality alternative to potentially overvalued corporate bonds, particularly those fueling the AI boom.