On the latest edition of Market Week in Review, Investment Strategist BeiChen Lin and Product Operations Analyst McKenna Painter discussed the latest U.S. inflation data and how it could impact Fed policy. They also assessed when the BofE could begin lowering borrowing costs and concluded with an update on economic growth in China.
High-yield credit is experiencing strong inflows and investor confidence, potentially offering attractive returns and reduced volatility compared to other risk assets.
Economic indicators provide insight into the overall health and performance of an economy. They are essential tools.
The notion that bitcoin can be included in standard investment portfolios earned further ballast earlier this year.
VettaFi has recently been named as a finalist for a Wealth Management award for our Expanded Research Offerings.
More than a few individuals were active in the markets in 1999-2000, but many participants today were not. I remember looking at charts and writing about the craziness in markets as the fears of “Y2K” and the boom of “internet” filled media headlines.
This week, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) significantly upgraded its profitability projections for airlines in 2024. The trade group now expects net profits to reach $30.5 billion, an increase from $27.4 billion in 2023.
You know I’m highly concerned about government debt in the developed world, particularly the US. I’ve said for years a crisis is coming. We’ve blown right past all our chances to avoid it. Now all we can do is imagine what the crisis will look like… and how much it will hurt.
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for U.S. growth, employment, interest rates and inflation.
The shift in consumer behavior toward buying more discretionary items is attributed to the deceleration of inflation, according to Costco management.
Here we are in June. Things are mostly continuing in a Newtonian fashion: “A stock at rest will remain at rest, and a stock in motion will remain in motion, seemingly at constant velocity and in a straight line, unless acted upon by a net force.” Or Elon swiping your Nvidia chips.
Good news on U.S. inflation in May did not sway the Federal Reserve to signal interest rate cuts could come sooner.
It’s certainly a challenging time to be an investor. It's probably why a call for caution and diversification seems to be getting louder.
Given its ascent to the $3 trillion market capitalization club, Nvidia (NVDA) is the stock that grabs the most AI headlines.
Municipal bonds deviated from U.S. fixed income assets and posted negative performance in May.
In the early innings of 2024, there was a flurry of consolidation in the biotech industry.
Despite a seemingly Hawkish stance, a closer look suggests the Fed’s conservative inflation estimates could lead to more rate cuts than anticipated.
Despite prices heading lower, the start of summer could bring seasonal gold buying if history repeats itself.
Today, the Fed made it clear there’d be fewer rate cuts in 2024, most likely one or two, with a start more likely after the election than before. Meanwhile, the Fed made a mess out of explaining its logic for their new path forward.
A potentially overlooked area of opportunity to harness the impact and increased adoption of AI lies within midstream.
Confidence is up, but inflation and other worries offer ways to work toward better outcomes.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a third term last week. But his party didn’t sweep to the expected landslide.
The further acceleration and broadening of corporate profit growth supports RBA’s bullish near-term outlook for many regions and sectors of the stock market. However, when constructing portfolios, it has paid to separate the equity asset allocation decision from the equity selection decision.
GMO’s Small Cap Quality portfolio managers, Hassan Chowdhry and James Mendelson, discussed why small cap valuations are attractive today and why they believe using quality is a better way of investing in the asset class.
As expected, the Federal Reserve kept its policy rate unchanged at the June meeting, but left the door open to rate cuts later this year if inflation declines.
Inflation is not fun. And—for the past 30 years—it has largely been a non-issue for consumers. That dynamic has changed. The relevant question is whether this is something persistent and meaningful or simply a fleeting feeling.
For married couples, it is important to understand the rules for claiming Social Security survivor benefits in order to plan ahead. Our Bill Cass discusses the details.
Many investors and advisors take rebalancing for granted because it’s often done behind the scenes
The utilities sector has outperformed most of the other sectors in 2024, and there are some very specific reasons why.
The updated projection shows the likelihood of one rate cut by the end of 2024.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and related ETFs are usually viewed as rate-sensitive instruments, and with good reason.
Today’s industrial business models offer surprising sources of consistent earnings growth.
The rapid expansion of AI has reopened the floodgates for renewables. But it's also propelled nuclear power into the spotlight.
VettaFi discusses spot ether ETFs, spot bitcoin ETFs, and the crypto ETF universe.
Once again, the Fed kept rates unchanged at the June FOMC meeting. As a result, the Fed Funds trading range remains in the 5.25%–5.50% band that was introduced in July last year, and still resides at a more than 20-year high-water mark.
Certain segments of the economy and stock market have experienced much stronger recoveries this year, underscoring a severe bifurcation between the "haves" and "have nots."
India’s equity markets have experienced strong growth and momentum, with rising incomes and political stability contributing to the country’s potential for accelerated growth.
I was a landlord once and it didn’t turn out how I expected. I think it mattered that I didn’t set out to be a landlord. I had bought a house in Baltimore City that I expected to live in for many years.
Mexico has momentum to meet demands from reshoring.
The investment landscape has proved remarkably resilient thus far in 2024 given several headwinds including inflation, interest rates, and the unsettled geopolitical situation. Fortunately, employment remains solid, and companies continue to deliver improved profit growth.
The derivative income space has grown tremendously over the last five years. Since the end of 2019 there has been a ten-fold increase in assets invested in derivative income ETFs and mutual funds, from $7bn to $73bn.
We are moving our first federal funds rate cut to September of this year compared to our current July call although we are going to get more information from Federal Reserve officials after the release of the Summary of Economic Projections and the new ‘dot plot’ on June 12.
In today’s complex global economy, currency fluctuations play a crucial role in shaping investment outcomes. While we’ve previously emphasized the importance of currency hedging in a U.S. investor’s international portfolio, there’s a subtle aspect that often goes unnoticed: the positive impact of weak currencies for Japanese and European companies and U.S. tolerance of it as a check on Chinese exports.
It is always interesting when commodity prices rise. The market produces various narratives to suggest why prices will keep growing indefinitely. Such applies to all commodities, from oil to orange juice or cocoa beans. For example, Michael Hartnett of BofA recently noted.
If there’s one corner of the equity market that’s trying investors’ patience, it’s small-caps.
JOLTS (job opening data) had a massive surprise, three standard deviations below consensus estimates, the driving job openings to unemployed workers ratio back to pre-pandemic levels.
We have gained a number of new investors and get regular vetting interest from investors who need to understand the roots of our stock-picking discipline.
Looking into the second half of the year, we are optimistic that returns will be stronger, but also expect volatility to remain elevated.
As we move into the second half of 2024, let’s take a look at a familiar market dynamic that’s often misunderstood in commodity investing: Current inventory levels may be much tighter than futures curves are signaling.
Readers of the IMF’s latest annual review of the US economy will be startled to learn that, in the Fund’s estimation, US government debt is on a sustainable path. That assessment makes sense – but it is only as good as the assumptions that underpin it.
