Join the experts at VettaFi and Exchange Traded Concepts for a 60-minute discussion on the investment opportunities related to the rapid expansion of the world's large and small reactor fleets.
U.S. equities moved higher last week, with the S&P 500 advancing 0.9 percent – its eighth consecutive weekly gain and the longest such streak since 2023. The Russell 2000 fared even better, rising 2.7 percent.
As globalization gives way to reshoring and resurgent resource nationalism, emerging markets may offer fresh alpha opportunities through their ability to supply the raw materials required to fuel the AI boom.
On the surface, last week looked engineered to embarrass our positioning. The dollar index climbed to a six-week high above 99.3 by Friday and finished the week roughly flat at those levels.
It’s the first word that comes to mind to describe Q1 2026 U.S. company earnings. S&P 500 earnings growth is looking set to reach 28% year over year (yoy), more than double the consensus estimate of 12% at the start of the reporting season.
Contrary to what legal television series portray, verdicts rarely turn on a single moment of drama. They take shape gradually, as evidence accumulates and a broader narrative comes into focus.
After three decades of watching market cycles play out from both sides of the trade, I’ve come to a simple conclusion: Wall Street’s love of simple rules is one of the most dangerous aspects of investing.
Almost two-thirds of fund managers permit some level of “nuclear exposure,” with 34% allowing investments in nuclear weaponry, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s fourth-annual ESG and defense survey.
Despite these higher costs, a projected 45 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend, setting a new record. Close to 40 million will drive while some 3.7 million will fly.
This week marked the passing of former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank. His signature legislation, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, was the most recent increment in a long-running history of tighter financial regulation. Some of those rules are now coming under scrutiny, with the goal of making bank lending more competitive.
Last Friday closed with the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.60%, a one-year high, and the doom commentary about rising interest rates was waiting before the bell even rang. Hyperinflation. Bond market breakdown. Paradigm shift. A 1981 fair-value retest.
In this video, Chuck Carnevale explains why he believes a diversified dividend-growth stock portfolio can be a better long-term strategy for retirees than the traditional 60/40 stock-and-bond allocation. Using a real-world portfolio he created in August 2021, Chuck demonstrates how an all-equity income portfolio can provide both rising income and capital appreciation while helping investors stay ahead of inflation.
Now, that prospect feels much farther off. Indeed, as government debt grows and macroeconomic pressures and inflation reemerge, investors face a complicated rate environment. Dividends can provide a solution.
Stephen Dover shares key insights from the Franklin Equity team about how artificial intelligence is changing the economics of the software industry.
Nvidia is now a textbook fit for quality-focused indexes in ETFs given its strong underlying business fundamentals. The company has become the smartest kid in the quality classroom, scoring exceptionally high on metrics like high return on equity (ROE), strong return on invested capital (ROIC), stable earnings growth, and low balance sheet leverage.
The U.S. stock market is extremely expensive. In the past, stock markets have not remained expensive for long. Is it because of artificial intelligence? Perhaps, but a similar argument was made during the dot-com bubble.
Put succinctly, the world today requires substantially more electricity than only a few years ago. AI, electrification, reshored manufacturing, and population growth in the developing world are converging into a demand curve that the existing global power system simply cannot meet.
From the April payroll report released on May 8, we realize that not all industries are equally impacted by AI. Diagnostic imaging centers, an area where AI is thought to replace humans, have increased demand for workers, whereas bookkeeping demand has declined in recent years.
Watching your children step into financial independence is one of the most rewarding and complex milestones families experience. As young adults begin earning income, managing expenses, and making major life decisions, the habits and financial knowledge they develop can shape their long-term success.
At first glance, the retreat of foreign asset managers is ominous. Signs of a domestic retail frenzy are everywhere. Cash deposits in local brokerage accounts have reached 137 trillion won ($91 billion), a two-third jump from six months ago.
Emerging markets (EM) are using low-cost renewables to cut fuel imports, stabilize power costs and improve energy security—positioning EM as the growth engine of the energy transition. Countries and companies that leverage their dominance in critical minerals and green technology could pull ahead, creating dispersion in potential outcomes for investors.
With mega tech AI capital expenditure projected to cross a staggering $660 billion to $750 billion, according to estimates from firms like Goldman Sachs, CreditSights and Bloomberg, saying the stakes are high for Nvidia and the AI ecosystem is an understatement. It’s no wonder we can focus on little else this week.
In the past year, new models from industry leaders have continued to boost AI’s capabilities. According to various capabilities tests, Anthropic’s Mythos model has leapfrogged other AI models – including in the ability to thwart or support cyberattacks.
The rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) is evident; 99% of CEOs say their companies are investing in the technology. Apparently, AI is also quick at garnering assets. Launched less than three months ago, the Pictet AI Enhanced US Equity ETF (PQUS) is already approaching the $100 million mark in assets under management (AUM).
AI is unlikely to replace wealth managers — at least not in the foreseeable future. But it now has the power to expose the gaps between genuine, client-first investment advice and other approaches in a way the industry has not yet seen.
Turns out, loading up on technology giants isn’t the only route to better returns. Value companies, too, stand a decent chance of trouncing the market — as long as several conditions are met.
The sooner the mass of retail private credit managers realize they are zombies and give up the ghost, the sooner we can burn the whole thing to the ground and conjure a better model from the ashes. But there is no time like a crisis to have conversations about how to make the structure work better for everyone in the future!
Elon Musk’s ambitions for artificial intelligence are coming together in a former vacuum-cleaner factory in Memphis, Tennessee.
Silver may help efficiently produce hydrogen for use as a power source. Not only is hydrogen clean-burning – leaving only water – but it is easier to store and transport than petroleum-based fuels. Conventional methods of producing hydrogen, such as steam methane reforming (SMR) or water electrolysis, have disadvantages that silver may help to overcome.
Semiconductors and software have largely overshadowed the electrification ETF trade. Paul Baiocchi, head of fund sales and strategy at SS&C ALPS Advisors, says most investors are missing the sectors that actually power the AI buildout.
In today’s war-torn market, both are the supplier of last resort. One provides dollars; the other barrels. But that’s where the similarities end. The central bank can print the currency at ease; the drillers cannot.
The nuclear power industry is booming. With electricity demand surging, dozens of nations have set a goal of tripling the world’s capacity by 2050. And the US, which has the biggest fission fleet, is pushing to quadruple output from its reactors.
The stock market is on an absolute tear, with the Nasdaq up 5% last week and nearly 13% year-to-date. The proximate causes include a cease-fire somewhat holding with Iran, a 28% surge in S&P 500 corporate profits in the first quarter, and some consensus-beating economic reports, like Friday’s payroll numbers.
Early detection, I believe, is one of the smartest investments you can make, whether we’re talking about your portfolio or your health.
LPL Research explores how a potential Warsh-led Fed could reshape policy, Treasury markets, and volatility amid rising deficits and shifting demand.
The nuclear industry has seen a recent flurry of announcements, headlined by two major industry partnerships to rapidly deploy new reactors. These exciting developments come against the backdrop of a new national poll showing increased positive sentiment towards nuclear energy. This all adds to the positive tailwinds for nuclear development in the U.S.
Oil rose after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to his latest peace proposal, prolonging the effective closure of the crucial Strait of Hormu
That skepticism isn’t contrarianism for its own sake, but rather the recognition that when a thesis achieves consensus, the crowd has usually already priced the easy part of the move, and the hard part is what comes next.
TCW's concentrated strategy targets power grid constraints over clean tech, riding demand from AI and manufacturing reshoring.
Wall Street banks are getting ready to raise billions of dollars taking data center companies public, even after IPO investors have already piled into anything that looks like a bet on artificial intelligence spending.
The thinking behind space solar makes some sense: The sun doesn’t always shine on Earth, which means solar panels on the ground aren’t always gathering energy. There are no clouds to block the sun in space, so aside from a couple of times per year around the equinoxes, panels in GEO are constantly bombarded with solar rays.
What a week this was! On Tuesday, I participated on a panel at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, where I discussed why Bitcoin miners have a head start in the race for AI compute.
Equity markets are growing more selective around AI exposure this year. In the process, a rotation toward “HALO” sectors deemed less sensitive to AI disruption may be opening an opportunity for investors to diversify beyond AI in value and infrastructure equities.
The defining feature of a Ponzi scheme is that it persuades investors to pay for future cash flows that, at least in part, don’t actually exist, while creating the impression that those cash flows imply an attractive return on the price investors pay. If we look carefully at the record valuation extremes in the equity market, and the wildly elevated profit margins that investors appear to view as permanent, we can already see the potential for difficult, even tragic outcomes for investors.
Despite the turbulence, the global LCC market remains an enormous force. Four of the world’s 10 largest airlines—Ryanair, Southwest, IndiGo and easyJet—operate on a low-cost model. The broader budget travel market is projected to exceed $315 billion by 2028, according to Statista.
US stock futures were little changed on Monday after a four-week rally, starting a busy week of corporate earnings and the US central bank’s policy meeting with a relative calm while investors monitor the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz amid stalled Iran peace talks.
Leaders often have trouble focusing on the longer-term. In the corporate arena, pressure to produce quarterly earnings can truncate planning horizons. In public life, popular opinion and election cycles can impose myopia. It takes a unique set of ingredients to set, and stick to, a lasting vision.
The index is on the verge of doubling for the first time in this bull market – currently up ~99% – a move that would take just under 3.5 years, slightly faster than the historical average of 3.9 years. While all sectors are in positive territory over this period, leadership has been narrow with only three – technology, communication services and industrials – posting gains above 100%.
X-Energy Inc., a nuclear energy firm that counts Amazon.com Inc. as a backer, raised $1.02 billion in an upsized US initial public offering that priced above the marketed range.
Markets are being pulled in multiple directions. Geopolitical tensions, questions around Federal Reserve policy and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence are all competing for investor attention.
For a long time institutions treated tax-aware investing like a retail conversation; helpful for individuals, interesting for private wealth, but not front and center for institutions.
The stock market selloff between February 28 and April 14 produced one of the more instructive market lessons in recent memory. It isn’t because of what the market did, but because of what investors did in response.
Geopolitical conflict is forcing the markets to think critically about critical minerals. More specifically, the importance of critical materials has shifted from industrial use to a vital component in national defense and energy security.
The history of the U.S. airline industry is really a history of consolidation driven by crisis. The pattern has been remarkably consistent. Historically, when an external shock has hit—a recession, a war, an energy spike—the weakest carriers have folded or been acquired, while the strongest have emerged leaner and more profitable.
Today we're going to look at the underlying data and find that while the world is not ending anytime soon, there are actually good reasons for the disparity in forecasts. So, it’s okay if you’re confused. The stock market just hit an all-time high, energy is volatile and will be a negative on global growth, to say the least.
After a 9.1% drawdown, the S&P 500 surged 11% over the last 12 trading days to a new record high, breaking above the 7,000 level for the first time.
EQT AB, Europe’s biggest private equity firm, says the path to exiting investments in clean-energy developers and operators faces a growing number of hurdles.
On Wednesday, April 15, Sprott Asset Management expanded its lineup of exchange-traded funds with the debut of the Sprott Rare Earths Ex-China ETF (REXC). According to Sprott, REXC is the only ETF on the market that is offering a focus on rare earth companies outside China.
The escalating conflict in the Middle East — especially the closure of the Strait of the Hormuz — had an adverse effect on many investment strategies in March, and gold was no exception. The spot gold price closed out March at $4,668.06.
With the US-Iran war demonstrating not just how captive the world economy remains to fossil fuels, but also how easily energy can be weaponized, whether to drill at home is becoming an even more pressing question for some countries.
Investor anxieties surrounding negotiations between the U.S. and Iran paused a rally on Friday, initially sparked by roughly in-line inflation data and the announcement of a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday night.
With the Middle East in flames and a fifth of the world’s supplies of oil and gas in limbo thanks to the uncertain status of the Strait of Hormuz, it’s tempting to imagine that a clean-energy world might leave such conflicts behind.
Today, I freely confess that I don’t have that 2007 certitude. I can certainly see a crisis coming in our future, but the timing, severity, and circumstances around it are cloudy at best. I can make an argument for numerous outcomes.
During Exchange 2026, experts and thought leaders from firms across the country gathered. They shared different approaches and ideas for tackling the market’s biggest challenges.
The famed economist John Maynard Keynes said almost a century ago that “markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” He was referring to the unpredictable nature of investor sentiment: an amorphous, hard-to-define concept that nonetheless plays a major role across various asset classes.
AI’s rapid growth is driving demand not only for electricity but also for the clean water needed to run its physical infrastructure. As data centers expand, rising water intensity is straining supplies and testing long-term sustainability. In our analysis, these pressures create both risks and opportunities for active investors.
The debate over whether artificial intelligence has entered bubble territory has reached a fever pitch. For this edition of Bull vs Bear, writers Nicholas Peters-Golden and DJ Shaw discuss the disconnect between infrastructure spending and software revenue.
For centuries the so-called cannon shot rule determined who controlled the seas. The legal concept, codified by Dutch jurist Cornelius van Bynkershoek in 1702, was simple: The distance a cannonball reached from shore set the maritime boundary of a coastal state.
European stocks soared the most in a year as investors rushed to buy stocks in the wake of the US and Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire in exchange for Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, jet fuel prices in the U.S. have more than doubled. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the year-to-date percent change in U.S. jet fuel prices stood above 120% as of the end of March.
I have written for years that oil prices act like a tax on the economy, both in the US and globally. It is actually simply the price paid, but the effect on the economy is similar to a tax. If the price goes up, it takes more money from individual consumers that would otherwise be saved or spent somewhere else. Just like taxes.
During the pandemic, my wife lived in constant fear that we would run short of paper products, disinfectants and other essentials. I was frequently sent out on reconnaissance missions to replenish supplies.
I just returned from the Investment U conference in Las Vegas, where I presented on gold and the great digital transformation. Sentiment among investors was upbeat, despite great uncertainty in the world right now.
I have just spent the last two days with members of our Inner Circle. We visited four technology companies and listened to six other CEOs make presentations here in El Segundo, California. What I want to write about today is a summary of what I’ve seen, which made every single one of our participants extraordinarily optimistic about our future.
Investors have taken notice of the eye-popping federal commitments to new nuclear capacity in the U.S. in recent months. Headlines have focused on massive reactor-deployment partnerships and loan authority in the hundreds of billions.
The actively managed fund charges a 0.65% expense ratio and uses an options overlay designed to generate income while managing volatility. Energy makes up 45.87% of the fund’s sector allocation, followed by information technology at 25.83%, industrials at 16.43% and utilities at 11.87%, according to the factsheet.
The conversation about automation is still stuck in 2016. “Robots are coming for your job.” But look at what’s actually happening in the countries that leaned into robotics.
Let me lay out the case for what should be the answer. Today we will explore how long this condition could last and what we can do about. I think it will make for interesting letter.
Silver had a phenomenal 2025, more than doubling from around $30/oz to above $70 by late December, and the rally continued into the new year.
Join the experts at VettaFi for a 30-minute discussion on the investment opportunities related to nuclear’s expanding supply chain and what governments are doing to support this growth.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is moving ahead with plans for a major data center in Michigan that features a 20-year electricity contract requiring it to cover the full expense of adding a haul of new clean power.
Japan’s equity investors will closely watch a meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington on Thursday for possible agreements on economic and military cooperation.
Every financial crisis has a moment — usually identified only in retrospect — when an obscure product intended to mitigate risk spreads through what author Rick Bookstaber called “tightly coupled” interconnections to cause widespread damage.
When geopolitical tensions flare up, the natural assumption is that gold should immediately surge. War breaks out, markets panic… and the metal rallies as investors rush to safety.
The scariest portmanteau in macroeconomics is making a comeback in market discourse: stagflation.
After a decade defined by narrow, largely intangible businesses driving growth, markets appear to be entering a new phase shaped by physical buildout across AI infrastructure, defense, energy, and supply chains.
The market has shifted quickly from concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) disruption to rising geopolitical risks tied to the conflict in Iran. Headlines continue to drive market movements as investors wait for greater clarity on the timing of a U.S. exit strategy.
We covered a lot of ground, but one image stuck with me: He called the Strait of Hormuz the sword of Damocles hanging over the global economy. For decades, the world’s most critical energy chokepoint has dangled there.
As the capital expenditure (capex) race for compute continues, we thought that it would be worthwhile to briefly outline the current state of play facing the well-publicized data center buildout. To understand why so much capex is needed to support artificial intelligence (AI), we must first understand how data centers are built and operated.
Investing is an exercise in decision making under uncertainty. No single signal—no matter how intuitive or well supported by history—captures the full complexity of markets.
Nuclear Energy
Investing as Nuclear Moves from Chalkboards to Construction Sites
Join the experts at VettaFi and Exchange Traded Concepts for a 60-minute discussion on the investment opportunities related to the rapid expansion of the world's large and small reactor fleets.
U.S. Equities Extend Winning Streak on Strong Earnings and Iran Peace Deal Hopes
U.S. equities moved higher last week, with the S&P 500 advancing 0.9 percent – its eighth consecutive weekly gain and the longest such streak since 2023. The Russell 2000 fared even better, rising 2.7 percent.
Guided by Fundamentals: Navigating Emerging Markets with Value
As globalization gives way to reshoring and resurgent resource nationalism, emerging markets may offer fresh alpha opportunities through their ability to supply the raw materials required to fuel the AI boom.
The Dollar Bounced. Foreign Markets Didn't Flinch
On the surface, last week looked engineered to embarrass our positioning. The dollar index climbed to a six-week high above 99.3 by Friday and finished the week roughly flat at those levels.
The Equity Outlook After More ‘Magnificent’ Earnings
It’s the first word that comes to mind to describe Q1 2026 U.S. company earnings. S&P 500 earnings growth is looking set to reach 28% year over year (yoy), more than double the consensus estimate of 12% at the start of the reporting season.
Gilt-y As Charged
Contrary to what legal television series portray, verdicts rarely turn on a single moment of drama. They take shape gradually, as evidence accumulates and a broader narrative comes into focus.
Corrections vs. Bear Markets: Why 20% Declines Are Obsolete
After three decades of watching market cycles play out from both sides of the trade, I’ve come to a simple conclusion: Wall Street’s love of simple rules is one of the most dangerous aspects of investing.
Jefferies Says Investors Boost ‘Nuclear Exposure’: ESG Investing
Almost two-thirds of fund managers permit some level of “nuclear exposure,” with 34% allowing investments in nuclear weaponry, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s fourth-annual ESG and defense survey.
45 Million Americans Hit the Road This Weekend Despite $4.50 Gas
Despite these higher costs, a projected 45 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend, setting a new record. Close to 40 million will drive while some 3.7 million will fly.
Bank Deregulation Taking Shape
This week marked the passing of former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank. His signature legislation, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, was the most recent increment in a long-running history of tighter financial regulation. Some of those rules are now coming under scrutiny, with the goal of making bank lending more competitive.
Rising Interest Rates: Why The Narrative Fails Against The Data
Last Friday closed with the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.60%, a one-year high, and the doom commentary about rising interest rates was waiting before the bell even rang. Hyperinflation. Bond market breakdown. Paradigm shift. A 1981 fair-value retest.
How & Why Dividend Growth Stocks Beat Bonds: Model Portfolio Update
In this video, Chuck Carnevale explains why he believes a diversified dividend-growth stock portfolio can be a better long-term strategy for retirees than the traditional 60/40 stock-and-bond allocation. Using a real-world portfolio he created in August 2021, Chuck demonstrates how an all-equity income portfolio can provide both rising income and capital appreciation while helping investors stay ahead of inflation.
Look to NOBL’s Growing Dividends in Volatile Rate Environment
Now, that prospect feels much farther off. Indeed, as government debt grows and macroeconomic pressures and inflation reemerge, investors face a complicated rate environment. Dividends can provide a solution.
How AI Is Transforming Software
Stephen Dover shares key insights from the Franklin Equity team about how artificial intelligence is changing the economics of the software industry.
Nvidia Cements Its Quality Characteristics After Q1 Earnings Beat
Nvidia is now a textbook fit for quality-focused indexes in ETFs given its strong underlying business fundamentals. The company has become the smartest kid in the quality classroom, scoring exceptionally high on metrics like high return on equity (ROE), strong return on invested capital (ROIC), stable earnings growth, and low balance sheet leverage.
The Pieces of the Forecast Return Puzzle: Choose Your Values
The U.S. stock market is extremely expensive. In the past, stock markets have not remained expensive for long. Is it because of artificial intelligence? Perhaps, but a similar argument was made during the dot-com bubble.
The Energy Pivot: Establishing Supply in the Face of Historic Demand
Put succinctly, the world today requires substantially more electricity than only a few years ago. AI, electrification, reshored manufacturing, and population growth in the developing world are converging into a demand curve that the existing global power system simply cannot meet.
How AI May Increase Jobs, Not Replace Them
From the April payroll report released on May 8, we realize that not all industries are equally impacted by AI. Diagnostic imaging centers, an area where AI is thought to replace humans, have increased demand for workers, whereas bookkeeping demand has declined in recent years.
Graduation Season and Financial Independence: Helping Young Adults Build a Strong Financial Start
Watching your children step into financial independence is one of the most rewarding and complex milestones families experience. As young adults begin earning income, managing expenses, and making major life decisions, the habits and financial knowledge they develop can shape their long-term success.
Why Foreigners Are Fleeing the World’s Best Stock Rally
At first glance, the retreat of foreign asset managers is ominous. Signs of a domestic retail frenzy are everywhere. Cash deposits in local brokerage accounts have reached 137 trillion won ($91 billion), a two-third jump from six months ago.
Renewable Energy Could Define Winners and Losers in Emerging Markets
Emerging markets (EM) are using low-cost renewables to cut fuel imports, stabilize power costs and improve energy security—positioning EM as the growth engine of the energy transition. Countries and companies that leverage their dominance in critical minerals and green technology could pull ahead, creating dispersion in potential outcomes for investors.
It’s Nvidia’s World: How Advisors See the Next Phase of AI
With mega tech AI capital expenditure projected to cross a staggering $660 billion to $750 billion, according to estimates from firms like Goldman Sachs, CreditSights and Bloomberg, saying the stakes are high for Nvidia and the AI ecosystem is an understatement. It’s no wonder we can focus on little else this week.
AI, Market Power, and Diminishing Labor Share
In the past year, new models from industry leaders have continued to boost AI’s capabilities. According to various capabilities tests, Anthropic’s Mythos model has leapfrogged other AI models – including in the ability to thwart or support cyberattacks.
AI-Driven ETF Close to Hitting $100M in Just 3 Months
The rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) is evident; 99% of CEOs say their companies are investing in the technology. Apparently, AI is also quick at garnering assets. Launched less than three months ago, the Pictet AI Enhanced US Equity ETF (PQUS) is already approaching the $100 million mark in assets under management (AUM).
AI Might Finally Level the Playing Field for Advisors, Brokers
AI is unlikely to replace wealth managers — at least not in the foreseeable future. But it now has the power to expose the gaps between genuine, client-first investment advice and other approaches in a way the industry has not yet seen.
Value Stocks With Earnings Strength Post 3,500% Run Since 2000
Turns out, loading up on technology giants isn’t the only route to better returns. Value companies, too, stand a decent chance of trouncing the market — as long as several conditions are met.
A Proposal to Save Private Credit (Sort Of)
The sooner the mass of retail private credit managers realize they are zombies and give up the ghost, the sooner we can burn the whole thing to the ground and conjure a better model from the ashes. But there is no time like a crisis to have conversations about how to make the structure work better for everyone in the future!
Forget Grok. Musk's AI Edge Is Infrastructure, Not Software
Elon Musk’s ambitions for artificial intelligence are coming together in a former vacuum-cleaner factory in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Anatomy of a Silver Bull Run and Other Silver News
Silver may help efficiently produce hydrogen for use as a power source. Not only is hydrogen clean-burning – leaving only water – but it is easier to store and transport than petroleum-based fuels. Conventional methods of producing hydrogen, such as steam methane reforming (SMR) or water electrolysis, have disadvantages that silver may help to overcome.
Solving the Structural AI Power Deficit
Semiconductors and software have largely overshadowed the electrification ETF trade. Paul Baiocchi, head of fund sales and strategy at SS&C ALPS Advisors, says most investors are missing the sectors that actually power the AI buildout.
How Long Can the US Be the Oil Supplier of Last Resort?
In today’s war-torn market, both are the supplier of last resort. One provides dollars; the other barrels. But that’s where the similarities end. The central bank can print the currency at ease; the drillers cannot.
Nuclear Power’s Second Revolution Needs More Fuel
The nuclear power industry is booming. With electricity demand surging, dozens of nations have set a goal of tripling the world’s capacity by 2050. And the US, which has the biggest fission fleet, is pushing to quadruple output from its reactors.
The Bull Case is Largely Based on Hope
The stock market is on an absolute tear, with the Nasdaq up 5% last week and nearly 13% year-to-date. The proximate causes include a cease-fire somewhat holding with Iran, a 28% surge in S&P 500 corporate profits in the first quarter, and some consensus-beating economic reports, like Friday’s payroll numbers.
AI Could Save Trillions in U.S. Healthcare Costs. These Companies Are Leading the Way.
Early detection, I believe, is one of the smartest investments you can make, whether we’re talking about your portfolio or your health.
Warsh, Policy Direction, and Treasury Market Consequences
LPL Research explores how a potential Warsh-led Fed could reshape policy, Treasury markets, and volatility amid rising deficits and shifting demand.
Partnerships, Positive Sentiment Boost U.S. Nuclear
The nuclear industry has seen a recent flurry of announcements, headlined by two major industry partnerships to rapidly deploy new reactors. These exciting developments come against the backdrop of a new national poll showing increased positive sentiment towards nuclear energy. This all adds to the positive tailwinds for nuclear development in the U.S.
Oil Climbs as Hormuz Stays Shut After Trump Rebuffs Iran’s Offer
Oil rose after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to his latest peace proposal, prolonging the effective closure of the crucial Strait of Hormu
Commodity Supercycle: The Enemy Of The Bull Thesis (Part 1)
That skepticism isn’t contrarianism for its own sake, but rather the recognition that when a thesis achieves consensus, the crowd has usually already priced the easy part of the move, and the hard part is what comes next.
PWRD: Solving the $5 Trillion Power Constraint
TCW's concentrated strategy targets power grid constraints over clean tech, riding demand from AI and manufacturing reshoring.
Wall Street Readies Data Center IPOs as AI-Linked Debuts Surge
Wall Street banks are getting ready to raise billions of dollars taking data center companies public, even after IPO investors have already piled into anything that looks like a bet on artificial intelligence spending.
Solar in Space Is a Solution in Search of a Problem
The thinking behind space solar makes some sense: The sun doesn’t always shine on Earth, which means solar panels on the ground aren’t always gathering energy. There are no clouds to block the sun in space, so aside from a couple of times per year around the equinoxes, panels in GEO are constantly bombarded with solar rays.
Nations Are Scrambling for AI Sovereignty. Bitcoin Miners Hold the Keys.
What a week this was! On Tuesday, I participated on a panel at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, where I discussed why Bitcoin miners have a head start in the race for AI compute.
Adding AI Resilience to Equity Portfolios
Equity markets are growing more selective around AI exposure this year. In the process, a rotation toward “HALO” sectors deemed less sensitive to AI disruption may be opening an opportunity for investors to diversify beyond AI in value and infrastructure equities.
Causes and Conditions
The defining feature of a Ponzi scheme is that it persuades investors to pay for future cash flows that, at least in part, don’t actually exist, while creating the impression that those cash flows imply an attractive return on the price investors pay. If we look carefully at the record valuation extremes in the equity market, and the wildly elevated profit margins that investors appear to view as permanent, we can already see the potential for difficult, even tragic outcomes for investors.
Spirit Airlines and the $500 Million Bailout That Could Reshape the Airline Industry
Despite the turbulence, the global LCC market remains an enormous force. Four of the world’s 10 largest airlines—Ryanair, Southwest, IndiGo and easyJet—operate on a low-cost model. The broader budget travel market is projected to exceed $315 billion by 2028, according to Statista.
US Stock Futures Flat as Traders Brace for Busy Earnings Week
US stock futures were little changed on Monday after a four-week rally, starting a busy week of corporate earnings and the US central bank’s policy meeting with a relative calm while investors monitor the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz amid stalled Iran peace talks.
The Gulf May Need New Vision
Leaders often have trouble focusing on the longer-term. In the corporate arena, pressure to produce quarterly earnings can truncate planning horizons. In public life, popular opinion and election cycles can impose myopia. It takes a unique set of ingredients to set, and stick to, a lasting vision.
Critical Updates Could Provide Near-Term Market Insights
The index is on the verge of doubling for the first time in this bull market – currently up ~99% – a move that would take just under 3.5 years, slightly faster than the historical average of 3.9 years. While all sectors are in positive territory over this period, leadership has been narrow with only three – technology, communication services and industrials – posting gains above 100%.
Amazon-Backed Nuclear Firm X-Energy Raises $1.02 Billion in IPO
X-Energy Inc., a nuclear energy firm that counts Amazon.com Inc. as a backer, raised $1.02 billion in an upsized US initial public offering that priced above the marketed range.
Markets in Context: Noise vs. Fundamentals
Markets are being pulled in multiple directions. Geopolitical tensions, questions around Federal Reserve policy and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence are all competing for investor attention.
Tax-Aware Investing for Institutional Portfolios
For a long time institutions treated tax-aware investing like a retail conversation; helpful for individuals, interesting for private wealth, but not front and center for institutions.
Why Panic is a Costly Mistake
The stock market selloff between February 28 and April 14 produced one of the more instructive market lessons in recent memory. It isn’t because of what the market did, but because of what investors did in response.
Why Defense & Energy Needs Are Repricing Critical Minerals
Geopolitical conflict is forcing the markets to think critically about critical minerals. More specifically, the importance of critical materials has shifted from industrial use to a vital component in national defense and energy security.
Oil Plunge Sparks a Relief Rally in Airline Stocks
The history of the U.S. airline industry is really a history of consolidation driven by crisis. The pattern has been remarkably consistent. Historically, when an external shock has hit—a recession, a war, an energy spike—the weakest carriers have folded or been acquired, while the strongest have emerged leaner and more profitable.
Divergent Data
Today we're going to look at the underlying data and find that while the world is not ending anytime soon, there are actually good reasons for the disparity in forecasts. So, it’s okay if you’re confused. The stock market just hit an all-time high, energy is volatile and will be a negative on global growth, to say the least.
After S&P 500 Surge, Five Factors That Could Influence Markets
After a 9.1% drawdown, the S&P 500 surged 11% over the last 12 trading days to a new record high, breaking above the 7,000 level for the first time.
EQT Warns of Exit Risks for Alternative Energy Assets Held by PE
EQT AB, Europe’s biggest private equity firm, says the path to exiting investments in clean-energy developers and operators faces a growing number of hurdles.
Sprott Launches REXC: The First Ex-China Rare Earths ETF
On Wednesday, April 15, Sprott Asset Management expanded its lineup of exchange-traded funds with the debut of the Sprott Rare Earths Ex-China ETF (REXC). According to Sprott, REXC is the only ETF on the market that is offering a focus on rare earth companies outside China.
Why Geopolitical Disruptions May Work in Gold’s Favor
The escalating conflict in the Middle East — especially the closure of the Strait of the Hormuz — had an adverse effect on many investment strategies in March, and gold was no exception. The spot gold price closed out March at $4,668.06.
How to Make Drilling for Oil Woke Again
With the US-Iran war demonstrating not just how captive the world economy remains to fossil fuels, but also how easily energy can be weaponized, whether to drill at home is becoming an even more pressing question for some countries.
Fed Weighs Stubborn Inflation and Middle East Conflict
Investor anxieties surrounding negotiations between the U.S. and Iran paused a rally on Friday, initially sparked by roughly in-line inflation data and the announcement of a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday night.
The End of the Petrostate Era Won’t Bring Peace
With the Middle East in flames and a fifth of the world’s supplies of oil and gas in limbo thanks to the uncertain status of the Strait of Hormuz, it’s tempting to imagine that a clean-energy world might leave such conflicts behind.
The Global Restructuring
Today, I freely confess that I don’t have that 2007 certitude. I can certainly see a crisis coming in our future, but the timing, severity, and circumstances around it are cloudy at best. I can make an argument for numerous outcomes.
Tyler Rosenlicht on Real Assets, Cohen & Steers ETFs, & More
During Exchange 2026, experts and thought leaders from firms across the country gathered. They shared different approaches and ideas for tackling the market’s biggest challenges.
Differentiating Between Fundamentals and Investor Sentiment
The famed economist John Maynard Keynes said almost a century ago that “markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” He was referring to the unpredictable nature of investor sentiment: an amorphous, hard-to-define concept that nonetheless plays a major role across various asset classes.
AI’s Hidden Cost: Why Water Risk Belongs on Every Investor’s Radar
AI’s rapid growth is driving demand not only for electricity but also for the clean water needed to run its physical infrastructure. As data centers expand, rising water intensity is straining supplies and testing long-term sustainability. In our analysis, these pressures create both risks and opportunities for active investors.
Bull vs. Bear: Is the AI Revolution Nearing a Dot-Com Correction?
The debate over whether artificial intelligence has entered bubble territory has reached a fever pitch. For this edition of Bull vs Bear, writers Nicholas Peters-Golden and DJ Shaw discuss the disconnect between infrastructure spending and software revenue.
The US and Iran Have Blueprints for a Hormuz Deal
For centuries the so-called cannon shot rule determined who controlled the seas. The legal concept, codified by Dutch jurist Cornelius van Bynkershoek in 1702, was simple: The distance a cannonball reached from shore set the maritime boundary of a coastal state.
European Stocks Stage Biggest Rally in a Year on Ceasefire Deal
European stocks soared the most in a year as investors rushed to buy stocks in the wake of the US and Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire in exchange for Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Jet Fuel Has Doubled. Here’s Why I’m Still Bullish on Airlines
Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, jet fuel prices in the U.S. have more than doubled. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the year-to-date percent change in U.S. jet fuel prices stood above 120% as of the end of March.
The Energy Tax
I have written for years that oil prices act like a tax on the economy, both in the US and globally. It is actually simply the price paid, but the effect on the economy is similar to a tax. If the price goes up, it takes more money from individual consumers that would otherwise be saved or spent somewhere else. Just like taxes.
The Quest for Energy Independence
During the pandemic, my wife lived in constant fear that we would run short of paper products, disinfectants and other essentials. I was frequently sent out on reconnaissance missions to replenish supplies.
Why the Jones Act Waiver Could Be the Most Important Energy Story of 2026
I just returned from the Investment U conference in Las Vegas, where I presented on gold and the great digital transformation. Sentiment among investors was upbeat, despite great uncertainty in the world right now.
Meet the Real Tony Starks
I have just spent the last two days with members of our Inner Circle. We visited four technology companies and listened to six other CEOs make presentations here in El Segundo, California. What I want to write about today is a summary of what I’ve seen, which made every single one of our participants extraordinarily optimistic about our future.
Where Will the Billions of Nuclear Funding Dollars Go?
Investors have taken notice of the eye-popping federal commitments to new nuclear capacity in the U.S. in recent months. Headlines have focused on massive reactor-deployment partnerships and loan authority in the hundreds of billions.
New Nuclear ETF Swaps TSM for Broadcom in Rebalance
The actively managed fund charges a 0.65% expense ratio and uses an options overlay designed to generate income while managing volatility. Energy makes up 45.87% of the fund’s sector allocation, followed by information technology at 25.83%, industrials at 16.43% and utilities at 11.87%, according to the factsheet.
The Robotics Inflection Point Has Receipts
The conversation about automation is still stuck in 2016. “Robots are coming for your job.” But look at what’s actually happening in the countries that leaned into robotics.
The Glass Is Half…?
Let me lay out the case for what should be the answer. Today we will explore how long this condition could last and what we can do about. I think it will make for interesting letter.
The Silver Shortage is Real
Silver had a phenomenal 2025, more than doubling from around $30/oz to above $70 by late December, and the rally continued into the new year.
Nuclear Power is on the Rise. Is Your Portfolio Ready?
Join the experts at VettaFi for a 30-minute discussion on the investment opportunities related to nuclear’s expanding supply chain and what governments are doing to support this growth.
Google Ties Data Center to 20-Year Power Deal, Solar Investment
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is moving ahead with plans for a major data center in Michigan that features a 20-year electricity contract requiring it to cover the full expense of adding a haul of new clean power.
Stock Traders’ Guide to Navigating Takaichi-Trump Summit
Japan’s equity investors will closely watch a meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Washington on Thursday for possible agreements on economic and military cooperation.
Private Credit Is Entering Its Musical Chairs Phase
Every financial crisis has a moment — usually identified only in retrospect — when an obscure product intended to mitigate risk spreads through what author Rick Bookstaber called “tightly coupled” interconnections to cause widespread damage.
Why Gold Could Be the Biggest Winner of the Oil Crisis
When geopolitical tensions flare up, the natural assumption is that gold should immediately surge. War breaks out, markets panic… and the metal rallies as investors rush to safety.
The US Is Flirting With Stagflation. What Kind?
The scariest portmanteau in macroeconomics is making a comeback in market discourse: stagflation.
A Broader Market Awakening
After a decade defined by narrow, largely intangible businesses driving growth, markets appear to be entering a new phase shaped by physical buildout across AI infrastructure, defense, energy, and supply chains.
Oil in the Driver’s Seat as Geopolitical Tensions Rise
The market has shifted quickly from concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) disruption to rising geopolitical risks tied to the conflict in Iran. Headlines continue to drive market movements as investors wait for greater clarity on the timing of a U.S. exit strategy.
The Sword of Damocles Over the Global Economy
We covered a lot of ground, but one image stuck with me: He called the Strait of Hormuz the sword of Damocles hanging over the global economy. For decades, the world’s most critical energy chokepoint has dangled there.
So…You Want to Build a Data Center
As the capital expenditure (capex) race for compute continues, we thought that it would be worthwhile to briefly outline the current state of play facing the well-publicized data center buildout. To understand why so much capex is needed to support artificial intelligence (AI), we must first understand how data centers are built and operated.
Why Value, Quality, and Momentum Belong Together
Investing is an exercise in decision making under uncertainty. No single signal—no matter how intuitive or well supported by history—captures the full complexity of markets.