Halfway through 2026, this market perspective is harder to write with confidence than most. That’s not a phrase I use lightly. Over four decades of markets, there have been plenty of uncertain moments, but the number of significant, unresolved issues I’m watching right now is unusually high.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. named Troy Rohrbaugh and Doug Petno co-presidents as the abrupt departure of consumer banking chief Marianne Lake marked another twist in the race to succeed Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.
As the market continues to broaden in 2026, a balanced approach matters more than ever.
Private credit is having a moment in the headlines. Higher interest rates and a pullback in certain types of bank lending have pushed more financing activity into private markets. Investors may be left with a simple question: What exactly is private credit?
What if the debt crisis investors have feared is not still ahead, but already here, unfolding in plain sight? In his June insight, Richard Bernstein, Global Head of Macro & Customized Investing, makes the case that the market may already be penalizing U.S. fiscal excess, not through a dramatic collapse, but through a slow burn with real consequences for investors and the broader economy.
Personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was up 0.70% in May and was up 3.62% year-over-year. However, when adjusted for inflation using the BEA's PCE Price Index, real personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was up 0.25% month-over-month and down 0.43% year-over-year.
Market professionals already on edge about the staying power of soaring artificial intelligence stocks are starting to grapple with another risk: public anger toward the technology.
With the release of May's report on personal incomes and outlays, we can now take a closer look at "real" disposable personal income per capita. To two decimal places, disposable income per capita was up up 0.68% month-over-month. But when adjusted for inflation, real disposable income per capita was up 0.23%.
In the week ending June 20th, initial jobless claims were at a seasonally adjusted level of 215,000. This represents a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's figure and was lower than the forecast of 225,000.
Total-portfolio thinking is gaining momentum across institutional investing, with investors looking to adopt portfolio-wide approaches that integrate risk, liquidity, and capital allocation decisions. As institutions manage broader opportunity sets and place greater emphasis on portfolio integration, total-portfolio thinking is increasingly influencing how they set objectives, allocate capital, implement strategies, and govern portfolios.
The most important development this week was not the Federal Reserve meeting itself, but the sharp and unexpected decline in oil prices. Just days ago, many market participants expected crude to remain elevated amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Instead, WTI crude briefly traded with a 73 handle, only modestly above its pre-conflict levels and far below the $90-$100 range that many feared.
Alan Greenspan, the titan of global central banking who led the Federal Reserve during decades of prosperity, has died at 100, just when elements of his free-market philosophy are experiencing a renaissance.
U.S. equities posted a modest advance during the holiday-shortened trading week despite a Wednesday sell-off following a more hawkish than expected Federal Reserve meeting under its new chair, Kevin Warsh.
Here’s the setup most investors are underrating right now. Over the next two weeks, the tape will trade on plumbing rather than fundamentals. We just cleared the largest options expiration in history. Quarter-end pension selling comes next, and then July 1 reopens the passive-money firehose into a market that already routes forty cents of every S&P 500 dollar into ten stocks.
No one can guarantee which choices will be best for your financial future. Do your best to make them, not out of anxiety over the broader economy, but in the context of your own family’s needs and finances.
The advisory profession is entering a new era. AI will not replace advisors — but advisors who use AI will replace those who don’t. And the actuarial approach is uniquely well suited to this transition.
The most consequential decisions a founder will face, equity gifting before valuations increase, trust structures timed ahead of a sale, QSBS qualification built while eligibility still exists, all must be decided before liquidity. Once the transaction closes, much of what was available earlier is simply gone.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
Discover why DoubleLine's Jeffrey Gundlach is urging a structural defensive rotation into emerging markets and international assets.
You know the term “Money Illusion”: mistakenly believing that today’s dollars have the same purchasing power as the dollars of ten or twenty years ago. As with any illusion, fake replaces real, image supplants fact, and fog obscures truth. We’re here to help you sort it out.
Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman proclaimed a wizard for guiding a then-record US economic expansion, only to see his luster dimmed by the financial crisis that erupted less than two years after he stepped down, has died. He was 100.
Start with the disconnect itself. If you only looked at the Michigan headline, you’d assume the country was in a depression. However, when you look at what people are actually doing, the picture changes completely.
Roth conversions provide tax-free retirement income to hedge against future tax hikes, but they trigger an immediate tax bill. Fortunately, strategic planning can help minimize this upfront cost.
We all know that Congress is never going to allow Social Security not to be paid. This begs a number of questions. Will the shortfall be addressed by tax increases, benefit reductions, increasing the retirement age, changing the inflation measures, means testing or some combination of these and other solutions?
Reserve managers' decisions on EM debt go beyond investment potential—they must also weigh considerations such as governance, resources and liquidity.
In an effort to streamline retirement income planning, MassMutual Strategic Distributors has launched a behavioral framework.
In August 2025, the US President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at broadening the investments available in defined contribution plans (DC plans). On March 30, 2026, the US Department of Labor issued proposed guidance regarding a plan fiduciary’s selection of investments, including private market and other alternative investments, in 401(k) plans.
In this video, Chuck Carnevale explains why dividend growth investing may be one of the most predictable and dependable strategies for long-term investors, especially those seeking retirement income. While many investors view stocks as risky due to daily price volatility, Chuck argues that focusing solely on stock prices can be misleading. Instead, he emphasizes that the most reliable component of stock ownership is often the growing stream of dividends paid by high-quality companies.
Apple Inc. investors are losing patience with the company’s talk about becoming a more formidable presence in artificial intelligence and want to start seeing some results.
For insurers, fixed income remains the foundation of portfolio strategy. But while public markets have long provided unrivaled sourcing capacity and liquidity, the definition of “core” is widening.
On Monday, June 15, Guggenheim Investments debuted a pair of new fixed income ETFs. Each of these new funds offers an active take on the fixed income space. This may help investors looking to amplify portfolio yield.
Markets returned to positive territory for the week, with the turning point occurring Thursday after the announcement of a potential deal with Iran that would extend the ceasefire while reopening the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since February 27.
The Iran conflict, inflation reports, and the largest initial public offering of all time each took its turn in the spotlight last week. The fragile ceasefire with Iran looked ready to collapse after Iran shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter, and the U.S. retaliated with strikes on Iran.
A massive advisor retirement wave is reshaping wealth management. Discover how $2.5 trillion in assets may fuel industry transformation.
Philanthropy conversations can open the door to multigenerational planning, as clients can bring in their children to contribute to discussions of shared values and charitable goals. For advisors, that creates an opportunity to become not just a financial resource, but a trusted partner who helps clients connect wealth with purpose.
Most couples who argue about money are arguing from different money scripts – the deeply held beliefs about money that each partner formed long before the relationship began. Uncovering and understanding those scripts, individually and together, may be one of the more useful things a couple can do.
New Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will preside over his first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 16-17, stepping in at a complex moment with inflation at a three-year high as oil prices remain elevated, labor market risks easing with job growth averaging ~140,000 year to date versus only 10,000 last year, and hawkish voices on the Fed gaining traction.
The U.S. initial public offering (IPO) market appears to be entering one of its most consequential periods in years. After a long drought following the 2021 issuance boom, a healthier macro backdrop, improved risk appetite, and a long queue of mature private companies have reopened the new-issue window.
For many investors, retirement planning becomes most tangible at the start and end of the year. Goals are set in January, then revisited during year-end tax and financial planning discussions. But the middle of the year offers an equally valuable opportunity: a chance to evaluate progress, reassess assumptions, and make adjustments before small issues become larger challenges.
As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its three key interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) on June 11, responding to the energy shock from the Iran war. Inflation was revised higher for 2026 and 2027, and it is expected to fall to target in 2028. Although we expect one more hike, the timing is uncertain as the ECB is keeping all options open—including the possibility of not raising rates again.
This week the Fed has its first meeting under new Chair Kevin Warsh. For only the third time in US history, the former Chair, Jerome Powell, will still participate as a regular member of the Board of Governors.
Gold has always had a way of testing investors’ expectations. Just when the headlines appear most supportive—inflation is rising, geopolitical risk is escalating and confidence in fiat currency is being questioned—gold can suddenly move in the opposite direction.
The IPO market is bubbling with excitement. The headlines surrounding the IPOs are hyperbolic, banker fees are enormous, and social media is teeming with bullish sentiment on how high the new shares may trade after going public. While that is all great for clickbait, nobody is asking the most important question. Where will the money come from?
This is the underlying question in several books and articles that have been published recently, most notably Kenneth Rogoff’s “Our Dollar, Your Problem,” and Barry Eichengreen’s “Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto” — the latter of which is the subject of this review.
Dr Frank Sortino passed away last month. He was 94. Frank was a good friend of mine. Frank earned the name Dr. Downside for redefining risk as a measure of not achieving your objectives, which led to the fairly famous Sortino Ratio.
There are two processes that we cannot escape: aging and math. This applies not only to human beings but also to large government social-insurance programs.
The K-shaped economy has become shorthand for a tidy story. The rich pull away while everyone else falls behind. It fits the mood, and it makes for a sharp headline. The problem is that it’s mostly wrong.
The U.S. economy faced intensifying headwinds in May as both consumer and wholesale inflation metrics surged to multi-year highs.
Discover how Capital Group’s active CGGR ETF navigates this mega-cap divergence to uncover secular growth beyond tech.
Despite everything we have seen in the economic data, which can be confusing, the US consumer has refused to crack. My friend Dr. Ed Yardeni, whom I have known since '98, has the most compelling explanation I have heard for why.
New York City’s pension system said it’s seeking bids for roughly $92 billion of stock index-tracking funds now overseen by BlackRock Inc. and State Street Investment Management.
Join the experts at MassMutual Strategic Distributors for an educational webcast exploring income riders and how to evaluation variable annuities beyond surface level features so you can match the right rider to each client’s investor profile and retirement goals.
Goldman Sachs and Innovator panelists say buffer ETFs can help advisors move cash-shy clients into stocks with built-in downside limits.
In this video, Chuck Carnevale responds to a viewer's question about building a retirement income portfolio for a 63-year-old investor. Rather than recommending specific stocks, Chuck focuses on the process he uses to identify high-quality income investments using the principles of value investing and the FAST Graphs platform.
At a time when the cost of living is rising and market volatility appears to be rising, too, investors may be looking for current income to bolster their portfolios. Current income can especially help investors at or near retirement to adapt to retired life.
While owning a significant amount of a successful stock can be incredibly lucrative – especially in a company on the rise – the more you own of a single equity, the more closely your personal financial fate is tied to its performance.
For many investors, wealth management still feels segmented. Investments are handled in one meeting, taxes in another, estate planning somewhere else, and major life decisions often happen independently of all three.
Since early 2025, value stocks have enjoyed a strong run, defying market volatility driven by trade tensions, geopolitical stress and macroeconomic uncertainty. That resilience may seem counterintuitive given value’s historically cyclical profile. Yet, we believe the underlying characteristics of value stocks are proving particularly well suited to today’s evolving market landscape.
This past week, the market hit an all-time high. At the same time, Alphabet (GOOG) told investors it would raise $80 billion by selling stock to fund its AI buildout, and the shares fell about 4% on the news.
The initial public offering for SpaceX is poised to generate billions of dollars in profits for the fortunate few investors who got in early on Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company.
For more than four decades, PIMCO’s Secular Forum has provided a disciplined framework for stepping back from short-term market noise to assess the structural forces that will shape the global economy and markets over the next five years. Yet rarely has this exercise been more consequential than it has recently.
After more than three years of underperformance, our prognosis for global health care stocks remains positive. The sector now offers a broader set of high-quality companies at valuations that appear increasingly disconnected from fair value.
The Senate passed $70 billion immigration enforcement funding bill, Capitol Hill struggles to find consensus on how to regulate AI, and the Trump Accounts app is live.
Begin with the print itself, because the headline flatters the internals only slightly. The bulk of May's gains came from leisure and hospitality, which added 70,000 jobs, nearly half of them in food services and drinking places; local government contributed 55,000, health care 35,000, and manufacturing a modest 7,000, while financial activities actually shed positions.
Every dollar in a growth equity index reflects two decisions: which companies to own and how much of each to hold. Indexes form intricate systematic rules to make the first decision. The second decision—position sizing—is usually determined by market-cap weighting.
This series has been updated to include the May release of the consumer price index as the deflator and the monthly employment update. The latest hypothetical real (inflation-adjusted) annual earnings are at $54,604, down 6.1% from over 50 years ago.
The biggest problem I find is that advisors don’t have the time they need to focus on growth. Sending out a mass invite via LinkedIn is fast and easy, but it doesn’t mean it is the most effective action you can take.
Sentiment in the US stock market has shifted quickly from fear of missing out to fear of getting wiped out.
Ratings that underpin a growing slice of the $1.8 trillion private-credit market, the hottest corner of Wall Street in recent years, are systematically understating investment risk, according to a new study by Columbia Business School researchers.
LPL Research analyzes bond markets as yields rise, exploring Fed policy expectations, inflation trends, and whether bad news is already priced into Treasuries.
Equity markets should remain supported by strong earnings and capital investment trends through 2026, but market concentration and macro risks leave less room for error.
The war in Iran is putting pressure on airlines. Higher jet fuel prices are cutting into profit margins, and the risk of a prolonged conflict may reduce travel demand in Europe and Asia. But for lessors, these gathering clouds may come with a silver lining.
In Part 1, we explored why Dollar Dominance Remains Alive and Well. Today, we will explore the stronger-dollar trade, the one macro trade that nobody is sized for.
The Numbers Are Staggering – The Magnificent Seven stocks now carry a combined market cap larger than the GDPs of Germany, Japan, India, and the UK combined. Meanwhile, 2025 tech-sector capital expenditures rivaled the peak-year spending of the Manhattan Project, rural electrification, the Apollo moon shot, and the Interstate Highway System — all at once.
While job growth has reaccelerated, supporting consumption, the underlying income picture is less encouraging.
Investors have enjoyed a favorable run. If the year ended today, it would mark the seventh time in the last nine years that stock portfolios generated double-digit returns. Housing prices remain near historic highs, while bond investors have benefited from elevated yields over the past three years.
Several articles enjoyed strong performance during the month of May, though there does not seem to have been a unifying theme, unless it is pointing out mistaken beliefs or unexamined conventions.
In his new book, “Risk & Reward: How to handle market volatility and build long-term wealth,” Ben Carlson relies on history to defend investing in U.S. stocks. Carlson calls the U.S. stock market “the greatest wealth-building machine ever created,” and nudges his readers into thinking its success will continue.
Crypto has clearly matured considerably as an asset class, and it's exciting to hear more advisors speak about the opportunity it presents — without being scared away by its volatility. The real question today is how much of a portfolio allocation is appropriate given their specific objectives and constraints.
Interest rates remain one of the primary concerns for investors as Kevin Warsh has officially assumed leadership at the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed). While we believe the possibility of a rate cut has diminished considerably, we are not yet expecting additional rate hikes.
Probably the most popular insight to make its way from finance theory into everyday usage is that "diversification is the only free lunch" in investing. The idea dates back to Harry Markowitz in 1952. He, and those building on his work, demonstrated that in an efficient market, investors shouldn't earn extra return for bearing company-specific risks that can be diversified away.
Interactive Brokers Group Inc. is offering exchange-traded funds from BlackRock Inc. in savings plans in Europe, the latest platform to provide the booming product that’s become increasingly popular with mom-and-pop investors on the continent.
The history of megacap initial public offerings shows that the stocks usually slump in the first year of trading. But upcoming listings from SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI are big enough and systemically important enough to the market that those analogies may not apply.
There is an old adage that the stock market climbs a wall of worry, which describes its ability to keep rising even amid negative economic news or events. This defies logic, yet I have watched it prove true time after time.
It’s no secret that investors are on the lookout for opportunities in their fixed income portfolios. This is especially true in today’s shifting landscape. Equities are hot, perhaps too hot, and many investors want strong performances out of their bonds in order to keep up.
Fertilizers sit at the center of this transmission mechanism. As much as a third of the global supply of these commodities passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has largely been closed for three months. This has triggered shortages and a price spike.
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, three of the world’s largest and most consequential private companies—SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI—are preparing to go public in the same year. Together, they could add nearly $4 trillion in market cap to public markets.
Labor market fundamentals have improved meaningfully from last year’s near standstill while inflation has moved higher, driven in part by the Iran conflict and the resulting increase in petroleum and gasoline prices. As a result, Federal Reserve (Fed) officials are likely becoming more concerned about the risk of broader inflation pressures, a theme highlighted in this week’s ISM Manufacturing and Services PMI releases.
As we go to press, fighting in the Mideast has escalated, sending crude higher, but stocks, in early Monday trade, have shown remarkable stability following Friday’s deep selloff.
Retirement Income
More Moving Parts Than Usual: A Mid-2026 Market Perspective
Halfway through 2026, this market perspective is harder to write with confidence than most. That’s not a phrase I use lightly. Over four decades of markets, there have been plenty of uncertain moments, but the number of significant, unresolved issues I’m watching right now is unusually high.
JPMorgan’s Lake Exits, Setting Up New Race to Succeed Dimon
JPMorgan Chase & Co. named Troy Rohrbaugh and Doug Petno co-presidents as the abrupt departure of consumer banking chief Marianne Lake marked another twist in the race to succeed Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.
Market Broadening, AI, and the Case for Diversification
As the market continues to broaden in 2026, a balanced approach matters more than ever.
Private Credit, Explained
Private credit is having a moment in the headlines. Higher interest rates and a pullback in certain types of bank lending have pushed more financing activity into private markets. Investors may be left with a simple question: What exactly is private credit?
Could the U.S. Be the Frog in the Pot?
What if the debt crisis investors have feared is not still ahead, but already here, unfolding in plain sight? In his June insight, Richard Bernstein, Global Head of Macro & Customized Investing, makes the case that the market may already be penalizing U.S. fiscal excess, not through a dramatic collapse, but through a slow burn with real consequences for investors and the broader economy.
The Big Four Recession Indicators: Real Personal Income
Personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was up 0.70% in May and was up 3.62% year-over-year. However, when adjusted for inflation using the BEA's PCE Price Index, real personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was up 0.25% month-over-month and down 0.43% year-over-year.
AI Backlash Is the Risk Wall Street Fears Can Stop Tech Stocks
Market professionals already on edge about the staying power of soaring artificial intelligence stocks are starting to grapple with another risk: public anger toward the technology.
Real Disposable Income Per Capita Up 0.2% in May
With the release of May's report on personal incomes and outlays, we can now take a closer look at "real" disposable personal income per capita. To two decimal places, disposable income per capita was up up 0.68% month-over-month. But when adjusted for inflation, real disposable income per capita was up 0.23%.
Initial Unemployment Claims Down 12K, Lower Than Expected
In the week ending June 20th, initial jobless claims were at a seasonally adjusted level of 215,000. This represents a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's figure and was lower than the forecast of 225,000.
The Rise of Total Portfolio Investing
Total-portfolio thinking is gaining momentum across institutional investing, with investors looking to adopt portfolio-wide approaches that integrate risk, liquidity, and capital allocation decisions. As institutions manage broader opportunity sets and place greater emphasis on portfolio integration, total-portfolio thinking is increasingly influencing how they set objectives, allocate capital, implement strategies, and govern portfolios.
Disinflation Trend Keeps Rate Hikes Unlikely
The most important development this week was not the Federal Reserve meeting itself, but the sharp and unexpected decline in oil prices. Just days ago, many market participants expected crude to remain elevated amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Instead, WTI crude briefly traded with a 73 handle, only modestly above its pre-conflict levels and far below the $90-$100 range that many feared.
Greenspan’s Stumbles Hold Lessons for Warsh’s Fed
Alan Greenspan, the titan of global central banking who led the Federal Reserve during decades of prosperity, has died at 100, just when elements of his free-market philosophy are experiencing a renaissance.
Fed Signals Keep Rate Risks in Focus
U.S. equities posted a modest advance during the holiday-shortened trading week despite a Wednesday sell-off following a more hawkish than expected Federal Reserve meeting under its new chair, Kevin Warsh.
When Flows Meet a Hawkish Fed
Here’s the setup most investors are underrating right now. Over the next two weeks, the tape will trade on plumbing rather than fundamentals. We just cleared the largest options expiration in history. Quarter-end pension selling comes next, and then July 1 reopens the passive-money firehose into a market that already routes forty cents of every S&P 500 dollar into ten stocks.
Inflation, Interest Rates, the Fed, & Your Family Budget
No one can guarantee which choices will be best for your financial future. Do your best to make them, not out of anxiety over the broader economy, but in the context of your own family’s needs and finances.
Why It’s Time for Advisors to Add the Actuarial Approach — & Copilot — to Their Retirement Toolkit
The advisory profession is entering a new era. AI will not replace advisors — but advisors who use AI will replace those who don’t. And the actuarial approach is uniquely well suited to this transition.
When Should a Founder Hire a Wealth Advisor? A Guide for Entrepreneurs
The most consequential decisions a founder will face, equity gifting before valuations increase, trust structures timed ahead of a sale, QSBS qualification built while eligibility still exists, all must be decided before liquidity. Once the transaction closes, much of what was available earlier is simply gone.
Meet the New Boss. Different from the Old Boss.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
Why the Bond King is Betting on Hikes, Hype & Global Rotation
Discover why DoubleLine's Jeffrey Gundlach is urging a structural defensive rotation into emerging markets and international assets.
Money Illusion — A User’s Manual
You know the term “Money Illusion”: mistakenly believing that today’s dollars have the same purchasing power as the dollars of ten or twenty years ago. As with any illusion, fake replaces real, image supplants fact, and fog obscures truth. We’re here to help you sort it out.
Alan Greenspan, Who Led Fed During Boom Before 2008 Bust, Dies at 100
Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman proclaimed a wizard for guiding a then-record US economic expansion, only to see his luster dimmed by the financial crisis that erupted less than two years after he stepped down, has died. He was 100.
The Consumer Sentiment Disconnect From Economic Reality
Start with the disconnect itself. If you only looked at the Michigan headline, you’d assume the country was in a depression. However, when you look at what people are actually doing, the picture changes completely.
Three Ways to Offset Income From a Roth Conversion
Roth conversions provide tax-free retirement income to hedge against future tax hikes, but they trigger an immediate tax bill. Fortunately, strategic planning can help minimize this upfront cost.
Social Insecurity, Surprise Edition
We all know that Congress is never going to allow Social Security not to be paid. This begs a number of questions. Will the shortfall be addressed by tax increases, benefit reductions, increasing the retirement age, changing the inflation measures, means testing or some combination of these and other solutions?
EM Debt—What Reserve Managers Should Keep in Mind
Reserve managers' decisions on EM debt go beyond investment potential—they must also weigh considerations such as governance, resources and liquidity.
MassMutual on Strategies for Maximizing Retirement Income
In an effort to streamline retirement income planning, MassMutual Strategic Distributors has launched a behavioral framework.
Private Markets in Retirement Plans: Unlocking Opportunities
In August 2025, the US President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at broadening the investments available in defined contribution plans (DC plans). On March 30, 2026, the US Department of Labor issued proposed guidance regarding a plan fiduciary’s selection of investments, including private market and other alternative investments, in 401(k) plans.
The Closest Thing to Guaranteed investing Success
In this video, Chuck Carnevale explains why dividend growth investing may be one of the most predictable and dependable strategies for long-term investors, especially those seeking retirement income. While many investors view stocks as risky due to daily price volatility, Chuck argues that focusing solely on stock prices can be misleading. Instead, he emphasizes that the most reliable component of stock ownership is often the growing stream of dividends paid by high-quality companies.
Apple Investors Are Tired of AI Promises, Want Tangible Progress
Apple Inc. investors are losing patience with the company’s talk about becoming a more formidable presence in artificial intelligence and want to start seeing some results.
How Fixed-Income Investing Is Evolving for European Insurers
For insurers, fixed income remains the foundation of portfolio strategy. But while public markets have long provided unrivaled sourcing capacity and liquidity, the definition of “core” is widening.
Guggenheim Returns to ETF Market With Two New Income Funds
On Monday, June 15, Guggenheim Investments debuted a pair of new fixed income ETFs. Each of these new funds offers an active take on the fixed income space. This may help investors looking to amplify portfolio yield.
Markets Rally as Investors Weigh Inflation, the Fed and SpaceX IPO
Markets returned to positive territory for the week, with the turning point occurring Thursday after the announcement of a potential deal with Iran that would extend the ceasefire while reopening the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since February 27.
Peace Prospects, Inflation Pressures, and SpaceX’s Historic IPO Drive Markets
The Iran conflict, inflation reports, and the largest initial public offering of all time each took its turn in the spotlight last week. The fragile ceasefire with Iran looked ready to collapse after Iran shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter, and the U.S. retaliated with strikes on Iran.
Navigating the Impending Advisor Retirement Wave
A massive advisor retirement wave is reshaping wealth management. Discover how $2.5 trillion in assets may fuel industry transformation.
When Clients Ask About Their Tax Bill, the Answer Might Be Philanthropy
Philanthropy conversations can open the door to multigenerational planning, as clients can bring in their children to contribute to discussions of shared values and charitable goals. For advisors, that creates an opportunity to become not just a financial resource, but a trusted partner who helps clients connect wealth with purpose.
How Couples Can Turn Conflicting Money Beliefs Into Shared Strengths
Most couples who argue about money are arguing from different money scripts – the deeply held beliefs about money that each partner formed long before the relationship began. Uncovering and understanding those scripts, individually and together, may be one of the more useful things a couple can do.
Warsh’s First FOMC Meeting Will Put Policy and Fed Independence in Focus
New Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will preside over his first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 16-17, stepping in at a complex moment with inflation at a three-year high as oil prices remain elevated, labor market risks easing with job growth averaging ~140,000 year to date versus only 10,000 last year, and hawkish voices on the Fed gaining traction.
Introducing the IPO Class of 2026
The U.S. initial public offering (IPO) market appears to be entering one of its most consequential periods in years. After a long drought following the 2021 issuance boom, a healthier macro backdrop, improved risk appetite, and a long queue of mature private companies have reopened the new-issue window.
A Midyear Retirement Readiness Check
For many investors, retirement planning becomes most tangible at the start and end of the year. Goals are set in January, then revisited during year-end tax and financial planning discussions. But the middle of the year offers an equally valuable opportunity: a chance to evaluate progress, reassess assumptions, and make adjustments before small issues become larger challenges.
Can the Eurozone Tolerate Higher Rates for Long?
As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its three key interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) on June 11, responding to the energy shock from the Iran war. Inflation was revised higher for 2026 and 2027, and it is expected to fall to target in 2028. Although we expect one more hike, the timing is uncertain as the ECB is keeping all options open—including the possibility of not raising rates again.
Is Productivity Growth Picking Up?
This week the Fed has its first meeting under new Chair Kevin Warsh. For only the third time in US history, the former Chair, Jerome Powell, will still participate as a regular member of the Board of Governors.
Gold Looks Oversold. Is This the Contrarian Moment Investors Have Been Waiting For?
Gold has always had a way of testing investors’ expectations. Just when the headlines appear most supportive—inflation is rising, geopolitical risk is escalating and confidence in fiat currency is being questioned—gold can suddenly move in the opposite direction.
The IPO Boom: Where Will the Money Come From?
The IPO market is bubbling with excitement. The headlines surrounding the IPOs are hyperbolic, banker fees are enormous, and social media is teeming with bullish sentiment on how high the new shares may trade after going public. While that is all great for clickbait, nobody is asking the most important question. Where will the money come from?
Could the Dollar Be in Trouble – If So, What Then?
This is the underlying question in several books and articles that have been published recently, most notably Kenneth Rogoff’s “Our Dollar, Your Problem,” and Barry Eichengreen’s “Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto” — the latter of which is the subject of this review.
Remembering Dr. Frank Sortino
Dr Frank Sortino passed away last month. He was 94. Frank was a good friend of mine. Frank earned the name Dr. Downside for redefining risk as a measure of not achieving your objectives, which led to the fairly famous Sortino Ratio.
Raise Social Security Taxes — and Cut Benefits, Too
There are two processes that we cannot escape: aging and math. This applies not only to human beings but also to large government social-insurance programs.
Buyable Pullbacks. Be Prepared.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
The K-Shaped Economy: Why The Middle Class Moved Up.
The K-shaped economy has become shorthand for a tidy story. The rich pull away while everyone else falls behind. It fits the mood, and it makes for a sharp headline. The problem is that it’s mostly wrong.
Weekly Economic Snapshot: Inflation Spikes While Consumer Sentiment Breaks Its Decline
The U.S. economy faced intensifying headwinds in May as both consumer and wholesale inflation metrics surged to multi-year highs.
Navigating the New Era of Growth With An Active Mandate
Discover how Capital Group’s active CGGR ETF navigates this mega-cap divergence to uncover secular growth beyond tech.
The G-Shaped Economy
Despite everything we have seen in the economic data, which can be confusing, the US consumer has refused to crack. My friend Dr. Ed Yardeni, whom I have known since '98, has the most compelling explanation I have heard for why.
NYC Pensions Seeks Bids for Index Funds Run by BlackRock, State Street
New York City’s pension system said it’s seeking bids for roughly $92 billion of stock index-tracking funds now overseen by BlackRock Inc. and State Street Investment Management.
Variable annuities, income riders, and retirement income innovations
Join the experts at MassMutual Strategic Distributors for an educational webcast exploring income riders and how to evaluation variable annuities beyond surface level features so you can match the right rider to each client’s investor profile and retirement goals.
Buffer ETFs Give Cash-Shy Investors a Way Back In
Goldman Sachs and Innovator panelists say buffer ETFs can help advisors move cash-shy clients into stocks with built-in downside limits.
Building a Retirement Paycheck: A Dividend Growth Portfolio Based on Value Investing Principles
In this video, Chuck Carnevale responds to a viewer's question about building a retirement income portfolio for a 63-year-old investor. Rather than recommending specific stocks, Chuck focuses on the process he uses to identify high-quality income investments using the principles of value investing and the FAST Graphs platform.
How These ETFs Offer Current Income Without Sacrificing Performance
At a time when the cost of living is rising and market volatility appears to be rising, too, investors may be looking for current income to bolster their portfolios. Current income can especially help investors at or near retirement to adapt to retired life.
Concentrated Equity Risk: Is it time to Break your Concentration?
While owning a significant amount of a successful stock can be incredibly lucrative – especially in a company on the rise – the more you own of a single equity, the more closely your personal financial fate is tied to its performance.
The Hidden Cost of Financial Fragmentation: Why Investment Decisions Cannot Happen in Isolation
For many investors, wealth management still feels segmented. Investments are handled in one meeting, taxes in another, estate planning somewhere else, and major life decisions often happen independently of all three.
In an Unsettled World, Value Investing Can Add a Layer of Defense
Since early 2025, value stocks have enjoyed a strong run, defying market volatility driven by trade tensions, geopolitical stress and macroeconomic uncertainty. That resilience may seem counterintuitive given value’s historically cyclical profile. Yet, we believe the underlying characteristics of value stocks are proving particularly well suited to today’s evolving market landscape.
Equity Supply Surge: What Historically Comes Next
This past week, the market hit an all-time high. At the same time, Alphabet (GOOG) told investors it would raise $80 billion by selling stock to fund its AI buildout, and the shares fell about 4% on the news.
SpaceX IPO Will Mint Billions for a New Silicon Valley Hierarchy
The initial public offering for SpaceX is poised to generate billions of dollars in profits for the fortunate few investors who got in early on Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company.
Rupture and Resilience
For more than four decades, PIMCO’s Secular Forum has provided a disciplined framework for stepping back from short-term market noise to assess the structural forces that will shape the global economy and markets over the next five years. Yet rarely has this exercise been more consequential than it has recently.
Health Care—Positioning for a Potential Recovery
After more than three years of underperformance, our prognosis for global health care stocks remains positive. The sector now offers a broader set of high-quality companies at valuations that appear increasingly disconnected from fair value.
Washington: What to Watch Now
The Senate passed $70 billion immigration enforcement funding bill, Capitol Hill struggles to find consensus on how to regulate AI, and the Trump Accounts app is live.
A Repricing, Not a Reversal
Begin with the print itself, because the headline flatters the internals only slightly. The bulk of May's gains came from leisure and hospitality, which added 70,000 jobs, nearly half of them in food services and drinking places; local government contributed 55,000, health care 35,000, and manufacturing a modest 7,000, while financial activities actually shed positions.
Growth Without Price Distortion
Every dollar in a growth equity index reflects two decisions: which companies to own and how much of each to hold. Indexes form intricate systematic rules to make the first decision. The second decision—position sizing—is usually determined by market-cap weighting.
Real Middle Class Wages: May 2026
This series has been updated to include the May release of the consumer price index as the deflator and the monthly employment update. The latest hypothetical real (inflation-adjusted) annual earnings are at $54,604, down 6.1% from over 50 years ago.
Direct Marketing That Works for Financial Advisors
The biggest problem I find is that advisors don’t have the time they need to focus on growth. Sending out a mass invite via LinkedIn is fast and easy, but it doesn’t mean it is the most effective action you can take.
Costs to Hedge the $9 Trillion S&P 500 Rally Jump Ahead of Fed
Sentiment in the US stock market has shifted quickly from fear of missing out to fear of getting wiped out.
Inflated ‘Private’ Ratings Are Masking Credit Risk, Columbia Study Says
Ratings that underpin a growing slice of the $1.8 trillion private-credit market, the hottest corner of Wall Street in recent years, are systematically understating investment risk, according to a new study by Columbia Business School researchers.
Is Bad News Already Priced into the Bond Market?
LPL Research analyzes bond markets as yields rise, exploring Fed policy expectations, inflation trends, and whether bad news is already priced into Treasuries.
Global Equity Mid-Year Outlook 2026
Equity markets should remain supported by strong earnings and capital investment trends through 2026, but market concentration and macro risks leave less room for error.
Aviation Leasing: Looking Beyond the Fuel Price Shock
The war in Iran is putting pressure on airlines. Higher jet fuel prices are cutting into profit margins, and the risk of a prolonged conflict may reduce travel demand in Europe and Asia. But for lessors, these gathering clouds may come with a silver lining.
Stronger Dollar Trade: The Most Unexpected Macro Bet (Part 2)
In Part 1, we explored why Dollar Dominance Remains Alive and Well. Today, we will explore the stronger-dollar trade, the one macro trade that nobody is sized for.
Soaring Capital Expenditures in the Tech Sector: Good, Bad, or Ugly?
The Numbers Are Staggering – The Magnificent Seven stocks now carry a combined market cap larger than the GDPs of Germany, Japan, India, and the UK combined. Meanwhile, 2025 tech-sector capital expenditures rivaled the peak-year spending of the Manhattan Project, rural electrification, the Apollo moon shot, and the Interstate Highway System — all at once.
Strong Jobs Data and Inflation Keep Pressure on the Fed
While job growth has reaccelerated, supporting consumption, the underlying income picture is less encouraging.
A Time to Plan
Investors have enjoyed a favorable run. If the year ended today, it would mark the seventh time in the last nine years that stock portfolios generated double-digit returns. Housing prices remain near historic highs, while bond investors have benefited from elevated yields over the past three years.
Top May Articles on Advisor Perspectives Target Retirement, Scams & More
Several articles enjoyed strong performance during the month of May, though there does not seem to have been a unifying theme, unless it is pointing out mistaken beliefs or unexamined conventions.
Fear Mosquitoes, Not Investing: Ben Carlson Tells Us to Learn to Love Stocks
In his new book, “Risk & Reward: How to handle market volatility and build long-term wealth,” Ben Carlson relies on history to defend investing in U.S. stocks. Carlson calls the U.S. stock market “the greatest wealth-building machine ever created,” and nudges his readers into thinking its success will continue.
Volatility Is No Longer Keeping Crypto out of Portfolios
Crypto has clearly matured considerably as an asset class, and it's exciting to hear more advisors speak about the opportunity it presents — without being scared away by its volatility. The real question today is how much of a portfolio allocation is appropriate given their specific objectives and constraints.
Fixed Income Markets in a Higher for Longer Environment
Interest rates remain one of the primary concerns for investors as Kevin Warsh has officially assumed leadership at the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed). While we believe the possibility of a rate cut has diminished considerably, we are not yet expecting additional rate hikes.
Where’s My Lunch?
Probably the most popular insight to make its way from finance theory into everyday usage is that "diversification is the only free lunch" in investing. The idea dates back to Harry Markowitz in 1952. He, and those building on his work, demonstrated that in an efficient market, investors shouldn't earn extra return for bearing company-specific risks that can be diversified away.
Interactive Brokers Offers BlackRock ETFs in Savings Plans
Interactive Brokers Group Inc. is offering exchange-traded funds from BlackRock Inc. in savings plans in Europe, the latest platform to provide the booming product that’s become increasingly popular with mom-and-pop investors on the continent.
SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI Can Rewrite History for Megacap IPOs
The history of megacap initial public offerings shows that the stocks usually slump in the first year of trading. But upcoming listings from SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI are big enough and systemically important enough to the market that those analogies may not apply.
Managing the Disconnect Between High Markets and Consumer Worry
There is an old adage that the stock market climbs a wall of worry, which describes its ability to keep rising even amid negative economic news or events. This defies logic, yet I have watched it prove true time after time.
American Century’s Greenblath Talks Spring Corporate Bond Shifts
It’s no secret that investors are on the lookout for opportunities in their fixed income portfolios. This is especially true in today’s shifting landscape. Equities are hot, perhaps too hot, and many investors want strong performances out of their bonds in order to keep up.
Fertilizer and Food
Fertilizers sit at the center of this transmission mechanism. As much as a third of the global supply of these commodities passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has largely been closed for three months. This has triggered shortages and a price spike.
Do SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI Belong in Your Portfolio? You Might Have No Choice
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, three of the world’s largest and most consequential private companies—SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI—are preparing to go public in the same year. Together, they could add nearly $4 trillion in market cap to public markets.
Employment and Inflation: Not Supportive of Rate Cuts
Labor market fundamentals have improved meaningfully from last year’s near standstill while inflation has moved higher, driven in part by the Iran conflict and the resulting increase in petroleum and gasoline prices. As a result, Federal Reserve (Fed) officials are likely becoming more concerned about the risk of broader inflation pressures, a theme highlighted in this week’s ISM Manufacturing and Services PMI releases.
Mideast Escalation, Strong Jobs and Resilient Economy Delay Cuts
As we go to press, fighting in the Mideast has escalated, sending crude higher, but stocks, in early Monday trade, have shown remarkable stability following Friday’s deep selloff.