In this issue of Sinology, Andy Rothman offers his perspective on two key questions.

The biggest US tech stocks are not only a bet on innovation but also a possible hedge against inflation, according to some respondents in the latest Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey.

Novo Nordisk A/S plans to sell bonds for the first time in more than two years to help finance its large program to expand production of its blockbuster treatments.

Everyone is worried about the excessively high level of US government debt. Everyone, that is, except America’s creditors.

Here we go again. Brace for the latest dose of critical data on US inflation over the next three days, as the New York Federal Reserve publishes its monthly survey of consumers’ inflation expectations Monday, followed by the Labor Department’s report on producer prices Tuesday and consumer prices Wednesday.

Premiums and discounts are a popular metric to gauge the trading health of an exchange-traded fund (ETF). David Mann, our Head of Global ETFs Product and Capital Markets, updates his views on this metric with football (aka soccer) analogies from across the pond.

As long as ETFs stay true to their original mindset of solving investor problems, growth is the only path forward. Current product development suggests that’s the most likely case.

Amit Dholakia of Franklin Mutual Series explains why some US capital goods companies may be off to the races after years of merely plodding along.

As institutional investors, we most often represent risk as standard deviation or tracking error. But when we implement changes in our portfolios, the real-time risk happens much faster.

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said she doesn’t expect it will be appropriate for the Fed to cut interest rates in 2024, pointing to persistent inflation in the first several months of the year.

Do presidents and prime ministers make economies? Or do economies make presidents and prime ministers? 2024 is a year of significant elections, with more voters heading to the polls worldwide than ever before.

Legislation is driving a renewed focus on workers without workplace savings plans, creating opportunities for both wealth advisors and retirement specialists. Our Retirement Strategist Mike Dullaghan discusses the trends.

When Microsoft Corp. invested more than $10 billion for a chunk of OpenAI, scientists inside its storied research division were rankled about being shoved aside for a newer player from outside the company.

On the heels of Apple’s latest earnings report, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Apple is Buffett’s Best Investment,” which discusses how Apple became an oversized investment of Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway.

Guessing the direction of interest rates is no easier than any other tactical or market timing decision. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note is just under 3.9%. That is about 100 basis points less than it was a few months ago. Fed policy is uncertain, inflation has not been fully controlled, and fiscal deficits loom as a long-term risk for yields to go higher.

Life is full of surprises. If you don’t have a crystal ball, you can’t really predict what may come next in your life—or in the markets. That’s why we should always be prepared for any potential situation.

Investors have been obsessed with when the Fed will cut and how many rate cuts there will be this year and over the entire cycle.

Oil advanced for a third day to trade at a one-week high as US jobs data supported the case for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, buoying risk assets including crude.

There’s a persistent mystery about Mark Zuckerberg, and it’s not the one about his new chain necklace. The chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc. has spent billions of dollars building powerful artificial intelligence models and is giving that technology away for free.

Stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities have made significant moves in the past few months. Find out what factors to consider when deploying or redeploying capital from Franklin Templeton Institute’s Stephen Dover.

We think the intersection of hope and fear offers opportunity across asset classes and market segments. Tapping into it, however, requires in-depth research and a discerning eye. Waiting for a clarion bell to ring before deploying capital might leave investors a step behind.

Over the last five years, financial markets grappled with two generational upheavals—the Covid pandemic and the subsequent inflation surge post the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Rather than wait for interest rate cuts, some companies are opting to simply offload debt, which could be a boon for corporate bonds.

The tendency of high earners to spend their money rather than looking to build up their net worth is known as the wealth paradox.

It probably escaped your attention, but the Internal Revenue Service recently piloted a program to help Americans cope with their notoriously complex tax system.

Insiders at the Magnificent Seven tech companies are following Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg in realizing gains from the stocks that have largely powered the boom in US equity markets.

Points of Return often argues for caution on stocks. It never argues to get out of them altogether. That’s because history demonstrates that over long time spans it’s very dangerous to be out of the market altogether.

Investors often forget that nothing in the financial markets is permanent. Regardless of the hype or castigation, what’s hot eventually becomes cold and what’s cold eventually becomes hot. While we remain very skeptical of today’s market’s heroes, we think the range of investment opportunities is historically broad, historically attractive, and a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

It seems that every few years, the term “stagflation” gets floated around to describe the current and/or prospective U.S. macro landscape.

It can be easy to overthink the markets and it is human nature to try to out-guess, out-maneuver, or out-smart the average, but perhaps we can step back and simplify what seems to be occurring.

Shifting dynamics among global economies and markets present a range of opportunities for multi-asset portfolios.

Franklin Templeton Fixed Income CIO Sonal Desai discusses why persistently loose fiscal policy, relentless price pressures and resilient economic growth may cause a problem for the US Federal Reserve—and explains the implications for bond yields.

VanEck’s Matthew Sigel discusses the upcoming SEC decision on their spot ether ETF filing, the debut of VanEck’s Bitcoin Trust (HODL), and the investment case for ether and bitcoin. K&L Gates’ Rich Kerr provides a unique legal perspective on the recent multi-share class structure filings, spot ether ETFs, and the UK government potentially granting equivalence to US-domiciled ETFs. VettaFi’s Todd Rosenbluth offers new polling data around the ongoing fixed income conundrum.

A manager’s role is to build upon their employees’ strengths, help them see how they can improve in areas where they are already strong, and make shifts in areas that aren’t working as well for them.

The advisory profession faces a critical juncture. Advisors must adapt to changing client expectations and deliver on the full promise of financial advice or become irrelevant.

Just as you lead a client to make the right investment choices, your web site should guide visitors towards taking a desired action, such as making a phone call, scheduling a meeting or downloading a resource.

Amazon.com Inc. plans to spend $9 billion expanding its cloud computing infrastructure in Singapore, the latest global tech company to boost investment in Southeast Asia.

The US has revoked licenses allowing Huawei Technologies Co. to buy semiconductors from Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, further tightening export restrictions against the Chinese telecom equipment maker.

Investors’ hopes for rate cuts this year have faded. The past quarter’s economic data showed that the inflation battle is not over; whether the Fed eases now depends on the data, a point Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve have repeated ad nauseam.

At last weekend’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. annual meeting, one shareholder asked Warren Buffett how his auto insurer Geico might fare in the event that autonomous-driving technology succeeds in slashing the number of accidents, as Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk suggested it would on an earnings call last month.

As of last week, the total return of the S&P 500 was even with 3-month Treasury bill returns since the valuation peak of January 2022, more than two years ago. In our view, investors continue to “grasp at the suds of yesterday’s bubble,” ignoring extreme valuations, lopsided bullish sentiment, emerging pressure on profit margins, economic conditions at the border of recession...

An AI bubble may be simmering in the background, so for investors still looking for AI ETFs, it may be worth taking a discerning look around.

While much remains uncertain regarding rates, inflation, and the economy, quality stock investing proves a boon in any market environment.

They subdued stocks, claimed a chunk of foreign exchange and muscled into the commodity market. Now high-tech trading firms like Citadel Securities LLC and Jane Street are pushing deeper than ever into fixed income.

The global bond rally ignited by hopes of lower interest rates in the US will face its first big test on Tuesday, when the Treasury kicks off $125 billion of sales this week.

The breeze of this earnings season has been near perfect. First-quarter earnings, now published by 80% plus of the S&P 500’s members, put the index’s profits on course for their strongest growth since the second quarter of 2022, when higher inflation and higher rates began to bite.

Outside Business Activities (OBAs) are more than just side hustles for financial advisors – they’re ethical minefields that have drawn increasing scrutiny from regulatory bodies like FINRA. Since intensifying its focus in 2018, FINRA has highlighted the importance of transparency and adherence to compliance in these endeavors in its most recent report.

Bonds investors now balance the potential risks and rewards of taking on longer duration exposures in the current environment.

A few years ago, I was speaking to financial advisors about saving, spending, financial well-being, and life well-being.

When each of my children was born, I had their application for a 529 college fund filled out, mailed, and funded with the first $100 before they were released from the hospital.