Value stocks have started to show signs of life. Russ discusses why energy and financial stocks are currently the best ways to play the theme.

The Fed will enter uncharted waters as it begins to reduce its balance sheet, in addition to raising short-term interest rates. How should investors respond?

Learn why cost isn’t everything.

Last Month in Perspective: The convoy of developed world central banks reducing policy accommodation appeared to gather steam. Global political developments continued to capture headlines. Interest rates moved higher on the hawkish tilt in central bank rhetoric, and equities gained on generally positive economic data.

As many of you know, copper is often seen as an indicator of economic health, historically falling when overall manufacturing and construction is in contraction mode, rising in times of expansion. That appears to be the case today. Currently trading above $3 a pound, “Doctor Copper” is up close to 24 percent year-to-date and far outperforming its five-year average from 2012 to 2016.

The index closed with a daily gain of 0.09% and a week-over-week gain of 0.15%. The index is up 14.0% YTD.

Note: With today's release of September's Retail Sales and Consumer Price Index, we've updated this commentary to include the latest Real Retail Sales. Month-over-month nominal sales in September increased by 1.6% (1.56% to two decimals). Real Retail Sales, calculated with the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index, increased by 1.0. The chart gives us a close look at the monthly data points in this series since the end of the last recession in mid-2009. The linear regression helps us identify variance from the trend.

U.S. stock indices have continued to push to record highs, with little apparently able to throw them off course. The grind higher has pushed through natural disasters, the Las Vegas tragedy, domestic political failures, international political tensions, and missile tests and threats from North Korea—an ample “wall of worry” for stocks to climb.

Today's release of the publicly available data from ECRI puts its Weekly Leading Index (WLI) at 145.2, up 1.2 from the previous week. Year-over-year the four-week moving average of the indicator is now at 3.62%, up from 3.17% last week. The WLI Growth indicator is now at 1.2, up from 0.7 the previous week.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the September Consumer Price Index data this morning. The year-over-year non-seasonally adjusted Headline CPI came in at 2.23%, up from 1.94% the previous month. Year-over-year Core CPI (ex Food and Energy) came in at 1.69%, up fractionally from the previous month's 1.68%.

When I talk about Indians’ well-known affinity for gold, I tend to focus on Diwali and the wedding season late in the year. Giving gifts of beautiful gold jewelry during these festivals is considered auspicious in India, and historically we’ve been able to count on prices being supported by increased demand.

Three years to save Earth according to a group of United Nations scientists. Can 150 years of planetary abuse undo over four billion years of evolution? As the Earth breathes even climate neutralists concede probability may be at least a 51/49 percent proposition.

Emerging market (EM) equities have had a great run recently. But don’t buy EM stocks indiscriminately. Focus on company earnings over macroeconomic trends to find stocks that have stronger return potential with reduced risk.

Pundits have been saying last rites for the dollar’s global dominance since the 1960s – that is, for more than half a century now. But the pundits may finally be right, because the greenback's dominance has been sustained by geopolitical alliances that are now fraying badly.

2008 may have generationally scarred investor psychology. As a result, many continue to disavow the current bull market and instead heed warnings of an impending bear market. We argue that fundamentals remain strong and the global equity markets are rife with opportunity.

The International Monetary Fund, which in recent years had characterized global growth as the “new mediocre,” recently upgraded its World Economic Outlook. But is the IMF right to think that the recent growth spurt will continue over the next few years, or is a temporary cyclical upswing about to be subdued by new tail risks?

The latest issue of the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends came out this morning. The headline number for September came in at 103.0, down 2.3 from the previous month. The index is at the 90th percentile in this series. Today's number came in below the Investing.com forecast of 105.1.

As we transition from Q3 to Q4, the global economy and markets seem much like that third bowl of porridge in the Goldilocks story – everything is just right.

CEOs and boards are focusing on the wrong metrics. But if they change their ways, the opportunity could be great.

The price of Bitcoin is up 600% over the past 12 months, and 1,600% in the past 24 months. But the long history of currency tells us that what the private sector innovates, the state eventually regulates and appropriates – and there is no reason to expect virtual currency to avoid a similar fate.

This week we are going to take a hard look at the unfunded liabilities and debt of the US government. And even though the federal unfunded pension liabilities dwarf those of state and local pensions, I want to make it clear that I believe the state and local problems will be far more intractable.

All cultures have the challenge of balancing the past and the present. But nowhere is the contrast between the two more apparent than in the Middle East.

I don’t think for a second that cryptocurrencies will ever replace gold, for a number of reasons. For one, cryptos are strictly forms of currency, whereas gold has many other time-tested applications, from jewelry to dentistry to electronics.

We believe it’s not too late for investors to seek attractive relative value opportunities and reposition equity exposures in this aging cycle.

This commentary has been updated to include today's release of Nonfarm Employment. September's 33K decrease in total nonfarm payrolls was accompanied by a combined 38K downward revision for July and August. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2%. The Investing.com consensus was for 90K new jobs and the unemployment rate to remain at 4.4%. The striking decline in employment is most likely a result of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey.

In what was a surprisingly quiet quarter for the Treasury market, TIPS outperformed straight Treasurys. According to my calculations, TIPS on average earned 0.9 percent in the 2017 third quarter compared to 0.6 percent for straight Treasurys.

The macro data from the past month continues to mostly point to positive growth. On balance, the evidence suggests the imminent onset of a recession is unlikely.

The third quarter of 2017 closely resembled the first half of the year – global markets continued to grow steadily, resulting in positive returns for many strategic domestic and global equity investors.

American manufacturers grew at their fastest pace since May 2004 in September, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). Manufacturing activity, as measured by the ISM Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), expanded for the 100th straight month, climbing to a 13-year high of 60.8. The higher above 50, the more rapid the acceleration.

In recent weeks Brent crude oil, the global oil benchmark, has shifted into backwardation – a state when spot prices are higher than prices for futures contracts, creating a downward-sloping curve for futures prices.