Earnings results surpassed expectations for the third consecutive quarter, which drove the market's strong August performance.
Powell’s speech seemed to give an all-clear signal for a cut in September. The speech started with a focus on the softening labor market, concluding it is in a “curious kind of balance” with rising risks of layoffs.
Here’s how I see it going into a critical data week: the inflation gauges landed precisely on expectations while an ugly July trade gap shaves some growth from Q3, and that combination keeps the Fed on a path to cut 25 basis points at the next meeting.
Markets surged late last week after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested at Jackson Hole that the U.S. central bank may be ready to cut interest rates in September. Traders took it as a green light, while Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Barclays and others quickly pivoted their forecasts. The CME FedWatch tool now puts the odds of a September cut at nearly 90%.
In our opinion, all of these legitimate concerns are, to various degrees, already priced into financial markets. The impact of these on the ongoing stock market rally will depend on their trajectory relative to investor expectations.
Credit cards versus stablecoins is one of the less-discussed competitive battles ahead, but it’s one where traditional finance faces the most coherent threat.
If there’s one thing the European Union’s leaders agree on, it’s that the bloc needs to regain competitiveness — a key prerequisite for meeting urgent challenges such as rebuilding defenses, combatting climate change and reviving economic growth.
For the past two years, we have been warning that the stock market is overvalued. While our capitalized profits model is simple, it is more complex than just looking at price-earnings or price-sales ratios.
Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, highlights the firm’s newly launched Compoundr Series ETFs – the first income ETFs specifically designed to tackle dividend tax drag. He also discusses F/m’s efforts to add a mutual fund share class to its existing ETFs. Roxanna Islam, Head of Sector & Industry Research at VettaFi, explores the “ETFs going Hollywood” phenomenon and sheds light on the latest trends in ETF closures.
Since opening its doors 40+ years ago, Axtella has focused on elevating experiences for both their clients and their financial professionals.
Streamlining government spending is a worthy cause in the effort to establish a more sustainable budget. Let’s review the progress of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and outline some areas for improvement.
Join SS&C ALPS Advisors and VettaFi for a product due diligence session and discover how EQL can deliver.
Energy prices indicate economic strength, or, in this case, weakness. If the global economy grew strongly, the need for oil consumption would rise, absorbing the current production levels, causing energy prices to rise.
Gemini Space Station Inc., a cryptocurrency exchange led by the billionaire Winklevoss twins, seeks to raise as much as $316.7 million in its initial public offering as the latest crypto business in line for a US listing.
US stocks will continue rallying after four months of gains as Federal Reserve interest rate cuts coincide with robust corporate earnings, according to Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson.
US Treasuries were under pressure amid a rout in long-dated European bonds and a surging calendar of corporate debt sales as traders returned from the holiday long weekend.
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility.
On paper, these are good times for the US economy. The latest GDP numbers show growth was at 3.3% in the second quarter. Business investment is up. The unemployment rate remains low, and the inflation rate is reasonable.
Our quality rating system becomes incredibly powerful once it’s married with valuation analysis. We spend hundreds of hours researching stocks to arrive at these two inputs (quality and fair value). Here’s how combining these ratings works in practice using a grossly simplified example.
The market’s attention usually seesaws between corporate fundamentals and monetary policy.
As an advisor, you’ve probably been told that overdelivering is the key to winning clients and keeping them loyal. It sounds logical, right? If you go above and beyond, they’ll see your value and stick with you. But overdelivering can backfire.
Curiosity gave birth to philosophy. Ongoing intellectual curiosity is still driving investment success thousands of years later.
The U.S. has long criticized other countries for coerced state capitalism where firms stay in business only by giving up profits to political leaders. When Washington employs such revenue-skimming practices, it places the U.S. in uncomfortable company.
Learning to read the Fed minutes effectively can help traders understand the central bank's policy-making process, sentiment, and rate expectations, all of which can impact markets.
Each bank sets its own Beige Book reporting priorities, though prices, jobs and real estate are common themes. The Kansas City Fed, for example, covers nine topics, including community conditions, community and regional banking and agriculture.
In this video, Chuck Carnevale—co-founder of FAST Graphs and known as Mr. Valuation—explains why investors should avoid paying premium prices for stocks, why buying overvalued stocks Is risky – even when the businesses themselves are high quality.
Last week's economic data revealed strong economic growth running up against rising prices and falling confidence.
On this week’s edition of Market Week in Review, Senior Investment Strategist and Head of Canadian Strategy, BeiChen Lin, explained key factors fueling the strong performance in North American stock markets. He also assessed the latest U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) developments and shared upcoming watchpoints for the U.S. and Canadian labor markets.
The adage “don’t borrow trouble” advises us against distressing over problems yet to occur. But we don’t think it should apply to retirement planning. In fact, digging into what concerns DC plan participants now may help them avoid retirement pitfalls down the road.
Muni & corporate bonds trading activity has been reaching record levels through the first half of 2025 at the Intercontinental Exchange.
VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discussed the PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF (MINT) on this week’s “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life.”
US consumer spending rose in July by the most in four months, indicating resilient demand in the face of stubborn inflation.
Wineries, booze distributors and distilleries are turning to private credit for financing, especially as tariffs and a decline in drinking habits bring more risk to the alcohol industry.
Consider coking coal. The high-quality solid fuel used in steelmaking was for many years seen as a jewel in BHP’s crown.
Radical policy changes can launch new economic eras.
Bill Bengen is an MIT-educated rocket scientist, retired financial advisor, and somewhat unintentional founder of “the 4% rule.” The widely used rule of thumb resulted from a study he did more than 30 years ago. His new book, “A Richer Retirement: Supercharging the 4% Rule to Spend More and Enjoy More” is an update of this study.
There’s been renewed optimism about housing in the stock market recently. Mortgage rates have fallen and home improvement giants Home Depot Inc. and Lowe’s Cos Inc. reported an uptick in activity in July.
Recently, we have seen rapid shifts in and out of various sectors and stock factors that disrupt momentum strategies. Therefore, understanding how momentum strategies work can help you better identify when they might be effective and when it's time to switch to a different approach.
While I make no judgment about bitcoin’s intrinsic value, I do believe we’re witnessing the early stages of a structurally driven price expansion — powered not by sentiment, but by product development, market mechanics, and leverage.
Investors fretting over signs the bull market in stocks is pushing toward unsustainable levels will soon have another thing to worry about.
The World Bank sold $510 million of bonds backed by loans it gave companies across the developing world, part of its efforts to lure more institutional investors to regions where borrowers have a harder time raising cash.
President Donald Trump’s efforts to stack the Federal Reserve with economists willing to cut interest rates is providing all the drama this week.
When the value of the U.S. dollar declines, international developed-market bonds tend to become attractive. Here's why the bond outlook is more positive than it has been for the past decade.
NVIDIA (NVDA) earnings are the focus tonight, but investors’ attention will quickly shift back to the macro later this week. According to our Economic Calendar, with data licensed from Econoday Inc., a second read on Q2 GDP hits the tape Thursday morning.
Is the U.S. economy “all twisted up in the game” with the S&P 500 Index dominated by technology/AI stocks? How much is investor confidence affecting consumer confidence? How much has the increase in financial advice and advisors been fed by the success of this stock market?
The global exchange-traded funds (ETFs) market has rarely been more dynamic. Active strategies may be commanding the headlines, but index-based ETFs remain the bedrock of portfolios worldwide.
Europe's defense landscape has undergone a paradigm shift—a rearmament cycle unfolding at a velocity unseen since the Cold War.
The financial markets often shift gears in September, moving away from the quiet summer months marked by low trading volumes and limited volatility, and entering a period historically associated with seasonal weakness and increased market instability.
The year to date has been complicated by a cloud of uncertainty as a new U.S. administration took the world economy by storm.
The Russell 2000 Index last posted an all-time high on Nov. 8, 2021, and is still almost 3% from that level. Unless something drastic happens by Friday, it will mark the small-cap gauge’s longest streak without a record since the dot-com bubble.
