Rather than dive into a vast pool individual bond options, these three ETFs can provide a low-cost and convenient option.
There is no question that Fed policy remains the primary force driving the money and bond markets for the third year in a row.
Investors in emerging-market equities haven’t typically paid much attention to the Middle East. It’s time to take a closer look.
Markets remain highly responsive to economic data as concerns around Fed policy and high interest rates dominate the second quarter.
Are you underweighting large cap growth? New research suggests that may be the case, inviting investors to consider options like FDG.
One of the best parts of being a young college graduate, and naïve to the grim realities of the working world, is being deluded about how great your career will be. Maybe you’ll found the next Nvidia, or win the Nobel Prize in your field, or start a charity that will make the world a better place.
Franklin Templeton Fixed Income CIO Sonal Desai discusses why rising investment and persistently loose US fiscal policy are simultaneously pushing in the direction of higher long-term real interest rates.
Some of the biggest names in tech started paying dividends this year. This includes Alphabet (GOOG), Meta Platforms (META), Salesforce (CRM), and Booking Holdings (BKNG).
The consensus has egg on its face with respect to Chinese stocks. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Entering this year, one of the big concerns—and the primary reason for China’s ugly multi-year bear market—was the country’s destiny with a “4-handle” on gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for growth, employment, inflation and interest rates in major markets.
Interest in active fixed income products has swelled in 2024, as credit spreads narrow and the Federal Reserve holds fast to a “will they, won’t they” game.
Strong Q1 earnings were a bright spot as sticky inflation and dimmed expectations for rate cuts cast some shade on U.S. equity markets. Fundamental Equities investor Carrie King looks beyond the headlines to offer four takeaways from the most recent earnings season.
Since the pandemic-related fiscal stimulus, the outstanding Federal debt has risen appreciably. In nominal dollar terms, the recent debt surge is mindboggling. However, the increase is on par with the government’s negligence over the last fifty years.
Corporate America is buying back its own shares at a near record pace, despite a new one percent buyback excise tax instituted in 2023. While buybacks are often criticized, they are wonderful for investors – though probably not in the way most people think.
What happens when the world’s biggest retailer decides it wants what’s yours? Target is about to find out.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and its unparalleled potential have powered stock market returns over the past year. Yet the market has more to offer, particularly as leadership may be poised to broaden beyond AI beneficiaries.
These are only some of the exciting new applications on everyone’s lips at business gatherings these days, where the conversation often veers to artificial intelligence, which has become the latest “new new thing.”
The price gap between eating out and cooking at home is rising.
Back in 1993, a brilliant satirist by the name of Ivan Reitman produced a movie called Dave. It was the story of a life-threatening stroke besetting the President of the United States of America.
With his signature student-loan-forgiveness plan struck down by the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden is pushing to cancel debts by other means. His latest proposal aims to relieve nearly 30 million borrowers, on top of those who’ve received forgiveness under previous initiatives.
Last week was another week of records for major equity indices: The S&P500 broke to new highs; the DJIA breached 40,000.
The two largest emerging markets have taken very different paths, echoing the divergence in the economic and demographic landscape for these two countries.
Several factors account for the apparent disconnect between headline US economic data and what polls suggest many Americans feel. Find out more from Franklin Templeton Institute’s Stephen Dover.
Whether traditionally thought of as “hawks” or “doves,” Federal Reserve officials have recently converged to notable uniformity in their policy signaling of high interest rates for longer. This has come at a time when more Wall Street analysts are embracing a wider band of uncertainty for their projections of economic growth and inflation.
Credit bulls are pointing at a set of metrics to show that high-grade bonds have rarely been this cheap, burnishing the appeal of corporate debt at a time when it’s offering little upside over government securities.
More than one in 10 Americans with federal student loans have been approved for some measure of debt relief under President Joe Biden, the White House said, as it announced a new round of forgiveness.
In this article, Russ Koesterich discusses why stocks are proving to be resilient in the face of higher rates and muted expectations for monetary easing.
As goes the consumer, so goes the U.S. economy. As Wall Street knows, the importance of the consumer cannot be overstated. That’s because consumer spending is the main engine of growth, representing ~70% of US economic activity – nearly 10% more of the economy than it did in the early 1980s.
ETF industry veteran Dave Nadig covers a range of topics including crypto ETFs, the multi share class fund structure, Fidelity’s “pay-to-play” scheme, Vanguard’s new CEO, meme stock ETFs, and the biggest threat facing American capitalism. VettaFi’s Kirsten Chang also offers perspective on Vanguard’s new CEO and dives into international equity ETF flows.
Idanna Appio spent 15 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysing the history of sovereign debt crises. Now, as a fund manager at the $138 billion First Eagle Investments, she’s reached a conclusion: US Treasury bonds are too risky to hold.
Shadow banking is back. A constellation of less-regulated intermediaries — from insurers to private investment funds — is increasingly taking on the traditional business of banks, making trillions of dollars in risky loans and occupying a central role in the economy.
Losing a sale comes not from failing to educate your prospect on the complexities of their situation. It comes from failing to simplify their problem.
A grandparent may choose to fund a 529 plan for a grandchild’s education. Our Bill Cass discusses key tax and estate planning considerations as well as the impact on student financial aid.
To say that inflation data during the first quarter of the year surprised us and the markets is clearly an understatement and by Tuesday of this week, with the higher-than-expected Producer Price Index (PPI) print for April, markets were clearly on edge as they were also potentially expecting a higher reading for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday.
Inflation data has continued to fuel uncertainty about when the Federal Reserve will begin to cut interest rates. It's a question with global implications.
Recent challenges from higher rates and banking turmoil are well known to investors in preferred securities, but the performance of this asset class relative to other alternatives in fixed income may not be. Here’s why we think preferreds continue to offer attractive total return potential and a tax-advantaged income stream.
Amid significant advancements in the realms of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, there’s plenty of related investment ebullience.
While extracting yield is a prime option for bonds exposure, the risk associated with depreciating prices shouldn't put off investors.
Private asset trends may not directly apply to many investors in publicly available strategies, but they can provide helpful data.
VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discussed the NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (SPYI) on this week’s “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life.”
In many ways, the journey involved with reaching the summit of Mount Everest parallels the journey to a secure retirement.
Relative to 18 developed economies since 1870, U.S. leverage is high though not unprecedented. However, unless the recent rise in interest rates reverses, the U.S. will need to cut its debt load.
Retirement is expensive. If you’re lucky, yours will last a few decades, and you’ll be earning no or very little income. So if you want to have enough money when you retire, you basically have three options: Save more, take more risk with your investments, or work longer.
Geography, it’s often said, is destiny. The paths nations follow though history are written like a script on the patterns of their rocks, rivers, plains and coasts, in ways that often confound the views of the people who inhabit them. It’s rare for a country to escape that geological fate.
One of Wall Street’s most prominent bears has just turned positive on the outlook for US stocks.
Steady income and access to remaining assets are key considerations for DC plan sponsors.
Despite the US Federal Reserve’s cautious stance on interest rates and the shifting dynamics of the equity and fixed income markets, Franklin Income Investors CIO Ed Perks believes conditions are favorable for investing in these asset classes.
April’s U.S. inflation report likely offers some comfort to Federal Reserve officials, but rate cuts are unlikely until we see a more substantial deceleration in inflation.
Learn how using a “switch” trading strategy can create efficiencies to improve overall execution cost and quality.
