Transit has not made a complete recovery from the pandemic.

The stock market finished Friday on a high note, with the S&P 500 index just north of 4,200 for the first time since August 2022 and up 17.6% versus the market bottom in October.

Chief Economist Eugenio J. Alemán discusses current economic conditions.

Some of the most common questions clients ask advisors revolve around retirement:

• How should I save for retirement?
• Will I have enough money to retire?
• Will I be able to leave something behind for my children or for philanthropic causes?

New research from Dimensional addresses these questions. The study found that investors who tilt towards size, value, and profitability in their equity allocation are likely to enter retirement with significantly more assets, sustain their retirement spending longer, and to leave behind larger bequests than with a standard, broad-market-index portfolio. Given the popularity of broad market indexing, the findings have implications for advisors. Joining us to talk about the research is Mathieu Pellerin.

As the debt limit negotiations near resolution, the specter of a default recedes. But the lesson is that both sides were willing to play chicken with the train.

When Jamie Dimon takes center stage at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s China summit Wednesday, he’ll be confronting a business landscape that looks vastly different from his visit four years ago.

For this edition of Bull vs. Bear, Elle Caruso and Karrie Gordon discussed the pros and cons of investing in fossil fuels.

As other nations seek to become less dependent on the U.S. dollar, rumors of the greenback’s potential demise continue to swirl. Can the dollar remain king of the world’s reserve currency?

The financial markets are giving off mixed signals of late, and credit investors may wonder whether to be downbeat or optimistic.

Like planting seeds, sometimes new investment vehicles take time to take root. David Mann, Franklin Templeton’s Head of Global ETF Product and Capital Markets, draws parallels between gardening and developing and growing new ETFs.

VettaFi’s Stacey Morris drills into the energy sector and energy ETFs. Candriam’s Alexandra Russo goes in-depth on ESG investing, offering perspective on where it’s gone wrong over the past several years and what the focus should be on moving forward.

If you were doubting whether the age of AI has arrived, NVIDIA’s stock performance this week may have given you second thoughts.

According to the company’s investor relations page on this REIT, Simon Property Trust (SPG) is a real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership of premier shopping, dining, entertainment, and mixed-use destinations and an S&P 100 company.

Last week the VettaFi Voices gathered to reflect on a year at VettaFi under the firm’s new name. The team celebrated wins, and time spent together, and shared their favorite insights and highlights from a busy twelve months.

While we don't expect the U.S. government to default, the uncertainty may heighten market volatility in coming days. Here are answers to some of the questions we're hearing most often.

Although few nations have a debt ceiling similar to the U.S.', rising government debt levels are a widespread global risk that may lead to lower economic output and weaker growth.

Bonds issued by government-sponsored enterprises can offer slightly higher yields than U.S. Treasuries, without requiring investors to take on too much additional risk.

Rick Rieder and team argue that a series of small, but more probable, wins in fixed income can pave the way for portfolios to outperform benchmarks in 2023.

War, inflation, rising rates, banking chaos, and recession are among the challenges facing markets. Investors must balance these shorter-term risks with the long-term return prospects of equities.

As COVID-era funding boosts come to a close, US state and local governments are facing some challenges. However, they have many tools with which to tackle them, according to Jennifer Johnston, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income’s Director of Research, Municipal Bonds. She provides her latest outlook.

The two primary styles of dividend investing are growth and yield. In the latter, investors embrace stocks with what are deemed above-average yields — often from slower-growth sectors, such as utilities and real estate.

Investors should rely on the wisdom of crowds as expressed through bond yields, not credit rating agencies, to judge fixed-income credit risk.

The tension around the US debt-limit negotiations ratcheted up after Fitch Ratings warned the nation’s AAA rating was under threat from a political standoff that’s preventing a deal.

Cities and states may have their work cut out for them as they explore solutions to preserve their commercial tax bases and maintain the vibrancy of their downtowns.

The 60/40 portfolio – and diversification in general – is undeniably justified.

AI’s arrival will have an increasingly large impact on our lives. That includes investing and, especially, other aspects of financial planning.

Most of us spent moments of our childhood, crayon in hand, connecting numbered dots that gradually revealed a picture that we couldn’t deduce simply by looking at the separate dots. With experience, we got better at looking at those isolated dots and mentally connecting them into a coherent “gestalt.”

Host Nate Geraci is back from Inside ETFs. VettaFi’s Todd Rosenbluth offers his thoughts on Nate’s key takeaways, which cover some of the industry's hottest trends.

If you’ve been to a high school or college commencement lately, then you know the drill: at some point at least one speaker will urge the graduates to be “agents of change,” suggesting they’d like to see these students make the world a better place through some sort of social activism.

We prefer private to public credit long term on better return potential. It’s the mirror image in equity: We prefer public stocks as risks fade in the medium term.

The era of 'free money' is over. The Fed's interest rate hikes are reshaping the corporate landscape, unveiling opportunities and risks unseen by fixed income investors in years.

We must understand our clients’ purposes and how they fit together in their lives. We need to take the initiative when rebalancing is in order.

Bond-market titans BlackRock Inc., Pacific Investment Management Co. and Vanguard Group Inc. are warning that recent violent swings in US Treasuries are only the beginning of a new era of volatility that’s here to stay until central banks conquer inflation.

A better retirement stress test would focus on the standard of living in retirement and how spending would need to change in times of market turmoil or heightened inflation.

The worst may be over for residential investment.

According to Buffett, the US economy just went through the “most extraordinary economic period since World War II.” That’s a heck of a statement.

A member of Putnam's Fixed Income team since 2007, Onsel Gulbiten analyzes macroeconomic issues, including inflation, interest rates, and policy developments.

Banks and financial institutions are big issuers of preferred securities, so the recent banking industry volatility has had an impact. Our guidance on preferreds is unchanged but with some caveats.

Negotiations among lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to raise the debt ceiling might trend in a more favorable direction.

What generally follows that expression is a succinct synopsis. We’re always trying to be concise;
however, distilling complex economic and investment matters usually requires several pages.

Could massive monetary support have softened the deep bear market many expected? It is an interesting question. Particularly given the Fed has hiked rates at one of the most aggressive paces in history.

HNW Americans need to be prepared for every contingency, including Democrats winning a trifecta of POTUS and majorities in both houses of Congress.

Factor investing has seen increased popularity in the US. Investors may also want to consider increasing their opportunity set by considering factors abroad.

When markets turn volatile, it’s not time to despair. Stephen Dover, Head of Franklin Templeton Institute, offers some judicious perspectives on how to turn volatility into opportunity.

After embarking on a rapid tightening cycle in March 2022, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) appears poised to pause its interest rate hikes in the middle of this year.

Deep in the bowels of Wall Street, there’s a surprisingly successful counterfeiting operation underway: The world’s largest banks have created a booming business churning out imitation quant trades.

Credit conditions are tightening in both Europe and the United States. Our analysis follows in our mid-quarter update, Tightening Credit.

Advisors are looking ahead to the policy and tax changes impacting their high-net-worth clients. Those include changes stemming from the passage of Secure 2.0 Act.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key pillar of the digital transformation theme, which is driving significant disruption and spurring new growth. Grant Bowers, portfolio manager with Franklin Equity Group, offers a unique perspective of the challenges and benefits of this evolving and disruptive technology.

REITs are most often thought about as income-producing investments. Although this is generally a true statement, REITs can also be great builders of wealth if invested correctly. To invest in REITs correctly, it is imperative that the investor understand the true nature of the beast.