Resilient earnings, improving industrial activity and the AI investment cycle should continue to support equities, according to Putnam Equity’s Shep Perkins. But the same forces driving the market higher are also making companies harder to value.
The summer has once again brought a miasma of wildfire smoke across wide stretches of the nation, leading to hazy views and slower activity. The clouds in our outlook are not merely atmospheric. A failed ceasefire and renewed conflict in the Middle East have created new reasons to worry about economic performance.
From severe wildfires in northern Ontario to record heat across Europe, extreme weather is back in the headlines. Such events are becoming more frequent and intense, and the risks associated with them are testing the limits of insurability. With our research partners at Columbia Climate School, we examine how strains on the insurance system can transmit climate-related risks through the capital markets.
Inflation remains above target, especially the Federal Reserve’s preferred core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation measure, as choppy data have challenged the view that disinflation will proceed smoothly.
Kevin Warsh’s early overhaul of Federal Reserve communication and policymaking suggests investors should prepare for a higher-for-longer rate environment with greater uncertainty around policy signals.
The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey revealed regional activity remained steady in June. The composite index came in at 9 this month, down slightly from 11 in June but still indicating continued expansion.
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to -0.02 in June from -0.19 in May. One of the four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index decreased from May, and two categories made negative contributions.
The World Cup games that went into extra time were reminders of just how tough it can be for players to keep up their momentum over the long haul.
US Treasuries are offering investors solid protection against losses as yields remain elevated, according to BlackRock Inc.
Intel Corp. is expected to report strong second-quarter earnings after the market close Thursday, but even blowout results likely won’t be enough to reverse the stock’s July slide.
US President Donald Trump said a civil nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia would be contingent on the kingdom normalizing ties with Israel, throwing cold water on a landmark deal his administration finalized just a day earlier.
Small-cap and mid-cap stocks are outrunning large caps in 2026, and one portfolio manager says the shift has room to run.
Alphabet Inc.’s impressive second-quarter earnings release on Wednesday seemed on course to go down mostly well with investors. Until the earnings call, the Google parent’s share price was up marginally in after-hours trading, buoyed by cloud growth that smashed estimates.
The global luxury industry, which has been grappling with three years of lackluster sales, may gain some relief as wealth generated by artificial-intelligence companies and their trillions of dollars of initial public offerings finds its way into fancy fripperies.
Investors continue to benefit from two powerful tailwinds: strong stock-market performance and bond yields that remain attractive compared with much of the post-financial-crisis period. Higher yields have improved the income generated by fixed income portfolios and given investors more flexibility to balance income, liquidity, and interest rate risk.
Making his first appearance on Capitol Hill since becoming Fed Chair in May, Kevin Warsh delivered the chair's semi-annual testimony on monetary policy and the state of the economy to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services on July 14 and the Senate Banking Committee on July 15.
AI continues to evolve. Early offerings in the 2010s around machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics helped ignite the Big Data era and allow for the ingestion and processing of both structured and unstructured data at previously unimaginable speeds and volumes.
Silver is becoming increasingly discounted relative to gold, as indicated by the widening of the gold-silver ratio. In other words, silver is on sale once again.
In the Warsh Fed's new era of two-way risk, bonds offer something rare: potential downside risk mitigation that investors get paid to hold.
Last week’s dominant story was the sharp unwinding of the momentum trade that has carried the market for months. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) declined 10 per cent over the week and is down 21 per cent from June’s peak. Bear markets are defined as drawdowns of 20 per cent or more.
The prime culprit was renewed questioning of the artificial intelligence (AI) buildout given the increasing amount of capital investment needed to bring it to life and the corresponding costs for those who use the technology weighed against its potential productivity benefits.
Lock, stock and barrel, a British phrase, originally referred to the three essential components of a firearm. Over time, it evolved into shorthand for the whole package. When tensions flare in the Middle East, the global economy often feels the consequences lock, stock and barrel.
According to Bankrate’s Mortgage Rates, the national average for a 30-year fixed mortgage is 6.61%. That’s uncomfortably high and a major headwind to many prospective homebuyers, particularly those in the first-time category.
When clients, specifically, feel they matter to their advisor, they engage more deeply in the planning process, follow through on recommendations, refer more frequently, and build lasting relationships that transcend market volatility.
The buyer's journey for financial advisory services has fundamentally shifted. In 2026, prospects are making significant decisions and judgments before they ever speak to an advisor. Advisors who fail to recognize this shift are missing the most critical window in the entire client acquisition process.
The first data releases since Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh took office suggest that inflation has subsided, making his job a little easier.
By moving forward with the latest proposal, Trump would cement his commitment to tariffs, despite voter concerns about the cost of living heading into November’s midterm elections.
The US 30-year bond yield is trading above 5% for the longest stretch since the dawn of the financial crisis, echoing investor concerns about a growing debt pile and sticky inflation.
Blackstone Inc. leaned on Wellington Management Co. and Vanguard Group to create two new funds that will give individual investors access to private assets as it looks to go beyond its roots as a money manager for pensions and institutions to become more of a household name.
With AI spending skyrocketing, investors are looking for Alphabet Inc.’s earnings to show strong growth in its cloud-computing business, which would demonstrate a clear return on the company’s investments.
to come
As developed economies grapple with higher debt burdens and elevated interest rates, the UK's gilt market offers important lessons for investors evaluating sovereign bonds around the world.
A major milestone for the story of the stock market this year looms this evening. Alphabet (GOOGL) will report its earnings today after the bell. Reports suggest the firm will have big, positive news to share, so investors may have questions.
The first half of 2026 was shaped by market-moving headlines. The conflict in the Middle East was the most significant story, triggering a short-term market sell-off.
The relative cheapness of Treasuries versus interest rate swaps mechanically affects how corporate bond spreads are measured, but it appears to have limited influence on how corporate bond spreads actually behave.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
The equity bull market is expected to continue through the second half of 2026, supported by resilient U.S. growth, AI investment and solid earnings.
For a Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman committed to reducing noise coming from the institution and/or to changing how the Fed communicates, his first attempt to do so was not very promising. Just after Chair Warsh’s first press conference, we argued that inflation was not a choice, as he suggested during the press conference.
The market received encouraging inflation news last week as both the CPI and PPI came in below expectations, as inflation pressures moderate. A negative monthly CPI print effectively removed any concern about an immediate Federal Reserve rate hike.
LPL Research analyzes China’s declining crude imports, inflation risks, and the resilient U.S. economy driving above-trend growth.
A Roland Berger study finds family offices moving capital into infrastructure and private equity while retreating from riskier bets abroad.
Join the experts at T. Rowe Price for a product due diligence session exploring how modern derivative-based strategies can be used to supplement the income sleeve of a portfolio and systematically gain market exposure.
Digital assets have the products. They have access to vehicles such as ETFs, separately managed accounts, and direct custody. What they still lack is the foundational layer underneath those products: the agreed-upon definitions of what the market is, how its components are classified, and how performance is measured.
Wealth management firms are aware of the looming retirement wave and have put real effort into mitigating it through recruiting, training, succession planning, and technology to modernize the advisor workflow. But what’s truly at risk of being lost is the judgment that senior advisors have accumulated over decades
Government bonds are back in focus, as investors reassess where value lies in global fixed income. With markets wavering over how quickly interest rates will fall, sovereign debt in several developed economies is starting to look attractive again to us.
Strong economic momentum is a double-edged sword for US equity traders. Solid growth is an earnings tailwind. But let it run too hot, and it turns from blessing to curse.
Charles Schwab Corp. reported earnings that topped estimates as retail investors continued to jump in and out of the market amid volatility sparked by geopolitical uncertainty.
Investors poured billions into BlackRock’s exchange-traded fund tracking South Korean stocks, underscoring strong appetite for artificial intelligence companies even as wild swings continue to roil local equities.
The biotechnology sector is stealing the US IPO market thunder from artificial intelligence-related listings, delivering standout returns as bankers line up a steady stream of summer debuts.
Gold and silver rose on dip-buying, as traders monitored Middle East tensions for signs that higher energy costs could stoke inflation, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to tighten policy.
