The S&P 500 is on track to deliver its second consecutive year of 20+% returns – a milestone it has not achieved since 1998. It is also on pace to deliver its strongest performance leading into an election year since 1932.
Agency bonds issued by government-sponsored enterprises can offer slightly higher yields than U.S. Treasury bonds, without requiring bondholders to take on too much additional risk.
Even without new staff projections, the European Central Bank makes policy less restrictive and lowers its relevant rate to 3.25%.
On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discussed the T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Bond ETF (TAGG) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF overall.
Risk. It’s a tiny word for a critical investment concept, one that necessarily merits ample discussion by advisors with their clients. Unfortunately, evidence suggests this may not be happening evenly across the advisory industry.
Rather than go back and reminisce about the articles I’m most proud of, I think a better exercise is to look at those I got wrong and reflect on what might be learned.
It's important to stay informed regarding the latest updates to 529 college savings plans, for both current account holders and prospective savers. In recent years there have been significant changes, including The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) 2.0 Act in December of 2022, which helps enhance the flexibility and benefits of 529 plans.
We take this opportunity to help you better understand implied volatility. Furthermore, we discuss other lesser-followed measures of implied volatility that help better assess whether implied VIX readings infer bullish or bearish sentiment.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within financial institutions is no longer the future; it’s the present reality rapidly transforming the industry. In an extremely competitive landscape, AI offers banks new opportunities for efficiency and innovation.
Price action in some of the world’s most risk-sensitive assets is signaling concern that the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin lowering interest rates may have been premature — or unsustainable.
Investors laser-focused on the risks looming in the next few weeks may be left unprepared if their worst fears don’t come to pass.
Benchmark Treasury yields may soon hit a key level on the back of rising inflation expectations and concerns over US fiscal spending, according to T. Rowe Price.
In what should be one of the least surprising developments, global electricity demand is soaring everywhere as the world moves to electrify everything. Out go gasoline cars, in come electric vehicles; out go gas boilers, in come heat pumps; and so on and so forth. That’s the energy transition.
A dark cloud will be hanging over Boeing Co. when it releases its third-quarter earnings report Wednesday morning and Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg, who has only been in the job since August, presides over his first quarterly conference call with analysts for the storied planemaker.
With the backdrop of U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) headlines in addition to the shifting narratives of the election season, we have been focusing on what we are calling the Great Normalization as overall economic trends in the U.S. are getting back to normal.
With the presidential election less than a month away, and the two candidates running head-to-head in the polls, there is certainly a lot of uncertainty in the markets.
While greed is necessary to build wealth, excessive greed often has far more terrible consequences when investing.
Join the experts at ROBO Global and from MIT for an educational exploration of how the robotics space is primed to impact the broader world of investing.
Housing prices matter to everyone, even if you aren’t trying to buy, sell, or rent a home. They are the key to inflation, which drives Fed policy and interest rates, which drive financial markets. We’re all part of this, like it or not. Today we’ll review what is happening.
If you’ve been paying attention to the markets, especially in recent months, you’ve likely noticed something interesting happening with nuclear energy stocks.
The tendency to blindly follow these rules has led investors towards prematurely de-risking and over-estimating the likelihood of recession.
Surviving a disaster involves securing safety, accessing help from agencies, and documenting damages for insurance claims. Our Bill Cass highlights numerous resources for financial relief, including accessing emergency funds, insurance and tax considerations.
Jeff and Ron Muhlenkamp discuss economic data and its influence on the federal funds target range. They also talk about the policy choices of the presidential candidates and the affect they may have on the economy and our investors’ wealth.
Markets changed character to broad-based optimism relating to the economy. The economic picture began to come into focus with inflation continuing to moderate as the economy maintains steady growth and employment. The result was a stark turnaround for economically integrated or interest rate sensitive assets, which resulted in a great quarter for diversified multi-asset portfolios. New Frontier sets a major milestone in Q4, marking 20 years of investing at the end of October.
If UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves tried to meet all the political demands that have been placed on her, her budget would likely result in disappointing growth and financial instability. Instead, the new government's first budget should be judged according to four longer-term criteria.
The cost of higher education has skyrocketed over the last few decades, and shows no signs of slowing. That’s why it’s more important than ever that parents start saving as early as possible for their children’s future.
Opening a 529 college savings account can be a smart move if you’d like to save for college on a tax-advantaged basis. One thing to consider when opening a 529 plan is whether it should be a custodial or individual account. While both allow you to save for college costs and enjoy some tax breaks, they differ in terms of who has control of the account and the assets in it.
Economic data releases have surprised to the upside in recent weeks, but inflation does not remain a threat right now.
The Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), which is half composed of tech stocks, including a slew of AI names, is usually more volatile in October.
Asia-Pacific economies will benefit from soft landings and easier monetary conditions.
The demographic makeup of America is changing. Latinos now make up almost 20 percent of Americans, up from seven percent in 1980. But while the number of Latino Americans continues to grow, only about four percent of financial advisors identify as Latino.
Netflix Inc. added more than 5 million customers in the third quarter and eclipsed Wall Street’s expectations on every major financial metric despite a new programming slate constrained by last year’s strikes in Hollywood.
Sales of Apple Inc.’s newest iPhones in China are up 20% in their first three weeks compared with 2023’s model, a positive sign for a device that struggled this year to gain traction in the world’s largest smartphone market.
Around 110 million years ago, a dinosaur went hunting. Stalking through ferns along a riverbank, he twitched his nose to the wind and caught scent of a plant-eater ahead. His head darted upward. His eyes locked on the target. The dinosaur drew his sickle claws upward, ready to make a lethal strike. But something wasn’t right.
In China’s resurgent stock market, there’s a lesson for investors about the perils of market timing.
Navigating space is hard. It’s expensive, complex, time-consuming and dangerous. And yet you have to hand it to Elon Musk: His SpaceX firm makes it look easy.
We’ve had several weeks of strong data since the Federal Reserve cut policy rates by a half percentage point. It started with a surprisingly robust jobs report, followed by a janky and above-expectations inflation report.
A 529 college savings plan, also known as a qualified tuition plan (QTP), is a popular choice among parents and families looking to meet their children’s future educational expenses. Two of the 529 plan’s helpful features are tax-deferred growth of your contributions and later, tax-free withdrawals for eligible expenses.
Municipal bonds bucked the seasonal trend and posted strong performance in September.
The markets saw a fifth straight week of gains last week. The S&P 500 closed above 5,800 for the first time, the Dow hit a new record high, and the Nasdaq came within 2% of its all-time high.
Just 5% of board directors are under the age of 50. But research indicates that more age-diverse boards may possess unique business advantages.
While tariffs have been utilized heavily in the past, both their usage and rates have fallen considerably over the past half century as countries have engaged in different stages of trade negotiations.
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for U.S. growth, employment, inflation and interest rates.
Fed easing cycles and lowered target interest rates impact various economic sectors, such as mortgages, consumer credit and cash investments.
Markets broadened as anticipated. After the strong rally, our investment models advise a reduction in risk-appetite.
The introduction of crypto ETPs in the US market this year has been incredibly successful, with investors showing a tremendous amount of interest in these funds. To date, Bitcoin and Ethereum funds have seen a combined $17B in net inflows.* Yet, many investors remain uncertain about crypto's portfolio applications and how digital assets are distinguishable from one another.
529 plans are one of the most popular ways Americans save for the college expenses of their children. As of June 2024, there were 16.8 million 529 savings accounts holding $508 billion, according to the College Savings Plan Network.
One of most dangerous habits of a speculative crowd is the tendency to use unconditional averages and unconditional probabilities regardless of how extreme market conditions have become. This is like stepping into a house with two rooms, one with the temperature at 0 degrees and one at 140 degrees, and expecting a temperature of 70 either way.
We are excited to release our October 2024 Chart Pack, our visual quarterly designed to walk investors through what’s happening in markets.
The unwinding of positions in Treasury futures stands to rekindle a popular bond-market wager that’s been burned as traders pare back expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
