Equity markets reached new record highs over the past month, reigniting debate over whether we’re in bubble territory. Heightened U.S. equity valuations and concentrated market leadership fuel this concern — but context matters. Markets rarely move in straight lines, and short-term pullbacks, while uncomfortable, are a normal part of the cycle.

While the AI-driven rally in US mega-cap growth stocks grabbed attention in 2025, a very different story was unfolding far from Wall Street. Outside the US, from Europe to Japan, value stocks shed their perennial underdog status to stage a dramatic recovery—one that we think may just be getting started.

AI’s buildout is dominated by a handful of companies that are spending on a scale so large, it has macro impact. The challenge for investors is reconciling whether AI will generate revenues of the same order of magnitude as the huge capital spending plans.

A mid-month bout of volatility focused primarily on the AI tech giants gave way to a broader rally in November’s final days amidst renewed expectations the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates in the coming weeks.

High-quality stocks have underperformed sharply across markets in 2025. For instance, in U.S. small caps, companies with negative earnings have outperformed profitable ones by about 20% since Liberation Day, while the Russell 2000’s rally has favored high-volatility, unprofitable names.

Indexed ETFs can provide an easy, cost-effective alternative for fixed income exposure that draws from myriad sources. However, investors could be missing out on the advantages associated with active management. Given the current macro environment, it’s almost a necessity.

In this second installment of his F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence, Retire Early) dividend growth series, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and “Mr. Valuation,” walks through the construction of a high-yield dividend growth portfolio designed to support retirement income without selling shares.

Municipal housing bonds are presented as a critical dual solution to America's deepening affordable housing crisis, especially as federal support diminishes. These tax-exempt bonds significantly lower financing costs for developers, making affordable units viable while offering investors compelling tax-exempt income and social impact.

November ended with modest index gains masking a deeper rotation beneath the surface, as markets wrestled with December Fed cut odds, AI fatigue, and how to position portfolios into year end.

As we put the finishing touches on Outlook 2026, here are several other key factors that will drive markets in 2026 that investors will want to keep in mind.

While US investors focus on growth, international markets may remain the best places to find value opportunities in 2026, says Franklin Mutual Series.

The reopening of the US government and the release of delayed economic data did little to calm markets. The long-awaited September jobs report finally arrived last week, showing job gains of 119,000, surpassing expectations but accompanied by downward revisions to previous months and a rise in the unemployment rate.

The US dollar (USD) has weakened over the last few months, fueling strong emerging-market (EM) stock and bond returns in 2025. Now, with more clarity around tariffs and the record-long US government shutdown resolved, will the greenback strengthen and flip the script on EM? We don’t think so.

In today’s complex financial landscape, taxable US institutions face unique challenges in balancing their investment objectives with tax efficiency. They simply cannot afford to overlook the impact of taxes on their portfolios.

Rob Tayloe discusses fixed income market conditions and offers insight for bond investors.

In the ten years prior to the onset of COVID, the consumer prices index rose at an average annual rate of 1.7%. Since the onset of COVID the overall CPI has risen at a 4.2% annual rate. Inflation peaked at about 9.0% back in 2022 but is still hovering between 2.5 and 3.0%, which is above the Federal Reserve’s official target of 2.0%.

State Street Investment Management (SSIM) has been the investment advisor for the Select Sector SPDR ETFs since 1998. It will now take over the distribution and marketing for these funds. The move brings 11 ETFs in-house under the SSIM umbrella to unify its product offerings and enhance the investor experience.

US Federal Reserve officials would rather “stick to their knitting” than confront the complex forces that are reshaping the economy. Unless the next Fed chair shakes the institution out of its complacency, continued policy-induced volatility and intensifying political attacks are all but guaranteed.

The recent Thanksgiving week provided a crucial snapshot of the changing economy, highlighted by a shift in holiday shopping to early online sales and a significant drop in the 10-year Treasury yield below 4%.

In today’s markets, mentioning the “B-word” will get you thrown into the “permabear” camp, and everyone immediately assumes you mean the end of the world: death, disaster, and destruction. Yes, bear markets have terrible short-term impacts, but they also allow the system to reset for healthier growth in the future.

My friend David Bahnsen wrote a brilliant analysis in his weekly Dividend Café of the private credit market a few weeks ago and it really took off. I got his permission to share it with you today. This is a basic primer on the risks in the private market and something as an investor you should be familiar with.

Whether in sports or financial markets, averages often grab headlines, but they can conceal as much as they reveal. Variation—including the dispersion of metrics like credit spreads for high-yield bonds—is the real story.

This has been a bumpy year for the US economy. Although there was a massive boom in AI-related investments in 2025, policy-induced uncertainties and disruptions to official data releases clouded the picture.

U.S. stocks, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, are on pace for 14% growth in earnings for Q3 2025. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth and comes in well ahead of analysts’ Sept. 30 estimates of 7%.

Despite the increasing need for retirement income security, many defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors hesitate to adopt new lifetime income solutions due to concerns over fiduciary liability and plan flexibility.

Following a rocky start to the year, the municipal bond market has shown strong performance in Q3 2025, outperforming broader bond indexes due to factors like easing oversupply and growing demand.

This article argues that the Federal Reserve's decade of ultra-loose monetary policy following the 2008 crisis, including nearly ten years of near-zero rates, has warped the perception of a "normal" interest rate environment.

Despite an intra-year drawdown of 18.9%, the S&P 500 is poised for a strong 2025, currently up about 14%. This pattern of experiencing a large correction on the way to significant annual gains is common; since 1980, the average yearly drawdown has been over 14% while the index gained an average of 10.7%.

Nvidia's strong earnings initially squashed AI bubble fears but a deep dive into its financials, revealing high customer concentration, triggered a major tech sell-off.

This article questions if the high valuation multiples are justified, arguing that investors will soon need to see actual cash flow results from this massive CapEx bonanza.This aggressive spending has caused their collective free cash flow growth to turn negative, raising concerns since stock valuation is based on future free cash flow.

Despite the "America First" focus of the current administration, international markets, particularly emerging markets (EM), have outperformed domestic financial markets. This surprising trend is highlighted by the strong performance of EM debt and equities, driven primarily by U.S. dollar weakness and corresponding monetary easing by EM central banks.

This month, the global investment community is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the world’s first fixed income ETFs, the iShares Core Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF (XSB) and the iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF (XBB).

Financial planning helps families organize, save, and invest intentionally. It turns goals into a roadmap, budgeting for major purchases, setting aside for retirement, and aligning investments with life milestones. But at some point, the question shifts from how to grow wealth to how to protect and structure it.

This year has certainly been a significant one for me. For the markets and the economy, it has been a big year as well. Rate cuts and no recession have been positive for stocks and bonds.

As wealth continues to grow along with soaring equity markets, and technology enables customization and choices once reserved for a select few investors, financial advisors are tasked with constantly evolving to maintain their value position.

Interest rates are undergoing one of the steepest reversals in half a century. In 2020, governments could borrow for 30 years at just over 1%. Fast forward to 2025 and U.S. 30-year yields have risen above 5% for the first time since 2007.

According to market theory, persistent outperformance shouldn’t exist. However, companies with high and stable profitability, strong balance sheets, and disciplined capital allocation have demonstrated the ability to deliver superior returns with lower risk over time.

The trade dispute with the U.S. is proving to be a 'full-blown blizzard' for Canada, threatening to freeze cross-border commerce in a deeply integrated relationship. Despite the majority of goods remaining duty-free, new tariffs—reaching 35% in key sectors—have caused a sharp decline in Canadian exports, pushing the nation toward recession.

At Vanguard, we are always working to make our target-date funds (TDFs) better. That means regularly reviewing our glide-path design and diving into specific asset allocation topics to ensure that our strategies evolve with the market and continue to meet our clients' needs.

Corporate America delivered another exceptional earnings season, with third-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth tracking over 13% and achieving one of the highest beat rates ever recorded. Companies successfully adjusted to shifting macroeconomic pressures, including tariffs, as expectations continued to rise. The impressive results were bolstered by robust revenue growth and significant investment from mega-cap technology firms.

Although most economists have issued dire warnings about the damage tariffs and other ill-advised policies would cause, the US economy’s aggregate indicators have remained quite robust. Some of the costs may simply have been postponed, but rapid advances in AI could well offset them when they fall due.

This impressive performance, fueled largely by the prominent allocation to the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, highlights the strong adoption of ETFs and VOO's role as the premier choice for U.S. equity exposure amidst a challenging macro environment. This success helped the entire ETF industry surpass its previous trillion-dollar record.

This article argues that a grateful mindset is a powerful strategy for improving financial and investment decision-making, citing research that links gratitude to better outcomes and overall well-being.

Jeff Schulze, Head of Economic and Market Strategy at ClearBridge Investments, discusses key spending, employment and other policy factors he is following as we look forward to 2026.

Like ducks on a pond, markets often appear calm on the surface while churning furiously underneath. For financial markets, above the surface, attention has focused on equity market valuations and record-tight levels of credit spreads, but a deeper look reveals even more extreme dynamics below.

In a recent episode of the Money Metals podcast, host Mike Maharrey sits down with Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT, MFTA, editor and publisher of The Daily Gold, to unpack where gold and silver are in the current cycle.

Yes, we may be in the second market bubble of this century. Alternatively, the market may be pricing in a shift as fundamental as the transition to either electricity or the internet. Either way, investors must think clearly, act deliberately, and avoid the kind of blind speculation that turned past booms into bloodbaths.

Investors are needy. Insatiable, really. But it makes sense: If an investor buys a share of a company, they’re going to want some benefit from it.

Emerging market (EM) equities have seen exceptional outperformance in 2025, with major countries like South Korea and Brazil posting massive gains. The primary driver of this trend has been a weakening U.S. dollar, which historically encourages capital flow outside the United States. The critical question now for investors is whether this dollar weakness marks the start of a multi-year downtrend or is simply a temporary correction.

Today’s massive and still-growing investments in AI and its accompanying infrastructure could well pay off like the internet did, following the investment boom of the late 1990s. But, for now, the gains from AI look more muted, and the macro downsides larger, than in the case of the dot-com bubble.