This week’s data presented a mixed picture of the U.S. economy as investors look ahead to the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting next week.

This focus on payout growth and a relatively higher tech allocation suggests OUSA may be well-positioned for performance in 2026, even as corporations globally favor share buybacks over dividend payments.

Advisors should avoid centering long-term investment strategies on predicting the Federal Reserve's next interest rate move, as tactical bets based on the Fed's near-term calls often cause investors to miss out on returns.

Due to the federal government shutdown, official jobs data remains incomplete, forcing the Federal Reserve to rely on alternative private-sector reports to gauge the labor market. These alternative data sources, such as the ADP report and Revelio Labs estimates, indicate a widespread and concerning slowdown in employment, with job creation stalling, openings shrinking, and layoffs rising across many sectors.

Marc Seidner, CIO of Non-traditional Strategies, explores opportunities across equities, bonds, credit, and commodities that have the potential to offer investors resilience and diversification.

We continue to suggest an up-in-quality fixed income bias for the short run, but investors can still consider some of the riskier parts of the fixed income market in moderation.

I suspect almost 100% of my readers live well above the “poverty line.” I also suspect that probably 99% of you don’t know exactly where that line is. I didn’t really know the number either until I read the article we’ll discuss today.

The economic narrative last week was dominated by a mix of cooling inflation and a softening labor market.

For fixed-income investors seeking diversification, Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), specifically the VMBS ETF, are presented as a high-quality alternative to potentially overvalued corporate bonds, particularly those fueling the AI boom.

Federal Reserve officials are poised to cut interest rates again next week, but any benefit to the economy is likely to take much longer to show up than normal and may be blunted by factors that monetary policy can’t control.

In this third installment of the retirement income series, Chuck Carnevale (“Mr. Valuation”) walks through the completion of a hypothetical $2 million dividend portfolio designed for a retiree who requires at least $100,000 per year in income—equivalent to a 5% yield, with annual income growth to offset inflation.

here’s something comforting about dividends. For decades, investors have turned to them as tangible proof that a company is generating real cash flow and is willing to share it.

Despite a choppy November, the big three market indexes are all just a few percentage points off their record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the Nasdaq are up 12.5% and 21.2%, respectively, year to date.

Spreads are essential for investors who utilize leverage, but for most fixed income investors, yields are much more important. Fortunately, in today’s market, yields are relatively attractive despite historically tight spreads.

We expect 2026 to be another good year for fixed income investors. However, yields that are lower than where they were a year ago and less room for rate cuts by central banks likely will mean less-robust returns.

Given the relatively mixed signals that the U.S. stock market is seeing in the months ahead, some sectors of the global market could compel.

Across April and May, the bond giant’s positions in 5- to 10-year Treasuries and mortgages were getting hammered. First, after President Donald Trump’s punitive “Liberation Day” tariffs, and then amid the burst of “Sell America” calls that followed.

The traditional 60/40 portfolio (60% equities, 40% bonds) has long been a standard for investors. Its limitations, especially during "lost decades," suggest the need for a fresh perspective.

As investors enter the distribution phase of their financial lives, the priorities of portfolio construction shift dramatically. Liquidity becomes essential, diversification grows more important, and the ability to meet income needs – sometimes by tapping into principal – must be balanced against risk and market volatility.

Thanks to AI-generated power demand, the utilities sector is losing its traditional defensive role. Is this a permanent move, or will utilities ultimately regain their place?

The ETF pulse report features key investment themes we’re seeing across equities and fixed income, how to play them through ETFs, and ETF industry trends.

November’s markets were choppy but ultimately flat as investors weighed AI valuations, falling Treasury yields, and expected Fed rate cuts. This commentary breaks down what truly drove the month’s volatility and what the latest labor and policy signals mean heading into 2026.

Following the 2021–2022 inflation shock, the historic negative correlation between stocks and bonds—the foundation of modern portfolio diversification—temporarily broke, fueling debate over whether the "Greenspan Put" era of Fed-induced market stability has ended.

The UK and Japan are responding to investor demand to boost short-term borrowing, a shift in strategy that offers governments lower interest payments but exposes them to potentially costly rates swings at the time of debt rollovers.

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.

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.

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.

Clark Allen, Head of Product at Horizon, discusses the firm’s ETF entrance earlier this year and how its model portfolio business shapes product development. Mike Hagopian, Institutional Portfolio Manager at Fidelity, highlights the firm’s actively managed Enhanced ETF lineup, which aims to deliver outperformance and offer a thoughtful alternative to traditional passive investing.

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

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%.

Yields on the bond market have incrementally adjusted to introduce a new variable: a fiscal premium. Yet, this is not a new form of risk; it represents a new form of information. Investors still believe they will get repaid; they just believe they are entitled to a higher return to facilitate it.

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.

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.

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 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).

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.

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.

JD Gardner, Founder of Aptus Capital Advisors, goes inside the decision to launch the lowest-cost buffer ETFs and the outsized role investor behavior plays in long-term returns. Stacey Morris, Head of Energy Research at VettaFi, spotlights the latest leaders and laggards in energy ETFs and what could drive the sector in the months ahead.

Treasury yields edged lower, with the 10-year nearing 4%, as data affirming labor-market weakness and remarks from Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran bolstered expectations for an interest-rate cut next month.

Amid concerns that the traditional 60/40 investment mix no longer works, financial experts are recommending a 20 percent allocation to gold as a necessary portfolio adjustment. This shift is driven by the fact that gold is increasingly viewed as the most reliable hedge against inflation and government spending, unlike bonds which have lost their safe-haven status. Consequently, investors are initiating a "quiet revolution" by moving billions into gold ETFs.

In this new series, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and widely known as “Mr. Valuation”, begins the process of constructing a F.I.R.E. Dividend Growth Portfolio from the ground up. F.I.R.E., which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early, is built on the idea of creating enough growing income to eventually support early retirement.

Markets traded with an unusual mix of strong micro data and fragile macro sentiment last week and nowhere was that clearer than the reaction to Nvidia’s excellent earnings. The fundamentals showed strong demand, a robust product cycle, and clean forward guidance—yet the stock slumped after an early surge.

This article walks readers through the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet to explain how it now acts as the primary provider of liquidity to financial markets. It details the Fed’s reserve management tools, including the well-known QE and QT, to show exactly how it injects or withdraws reserves from the banking system.

A flood of debt sales from Big Tech risks overwhelming buyers and could weaken the credit market on both sides of the Atlantic.

AI looks like a classic investment bubble to us, with very high valuations and signs of rampant speculation. But we recognize that while many investors harbor fears that AI might be a bubble, they are far from sure of that fact and tend to assume the market is appropriately priced as a fairly strong prior.

Answers to questions investors are currently asking about Treasury bonds, tax policy, credit quality and other issues currently affecting fixed income investments.