In recent years, pension funded status has markedly improved, with average funded ratios surpassing 100%.
A stablecoin bidding war on one of crypto’s fastest-growing platforms is offering a preview of the industry’s next phase — and who might control it.
Bloomberg’s gauge of the dollar approached its lowest level since March 2022 ahead of the Federal Reserve decision, where policymakers are expected to resume cutting interest rates to prop up a weakening labor market.
Global bond markets have sold off recently due to uncertainty surrounding key political changes most notably in France and Japan.
The late-summer calm in financial markets shows an undercurrent of optimism. Stocks have been on a tear, with the S&P 500 rebounding strongly to notch roughly 18% gains for the year, while overseas equities are up even more.
Advisors often tell me they want to "do more marketing," but when I dig deeper, they're stuck in analysis paralysis, building elaborate strategies, refining value propositions, and planning event series that never happen.
Trust isn’t just a buzzword in business anymore — it’s the foundation of everything. In today’s world, where skepticism is at an all-time high, trust has become the most valuable currency you can offer.
In spite of what appeared to be relatively good data, many polls throughout the 2024 election cycle showed more than half of all voters rated the economy as “poor.” That left the Biden/Harris team often wondering why they couldn’t get credit for what official statistics said was a robust economy.
Gold mining equities are having a blockbuster 2025. Prices for the precious metal have hit one all-time high after another, and the miners who pull it from the ground are rewarding investors with some of the best returns in the market today.
Conversations with clients about alternatives should focus on their specific goals, whether that's potentially enhancing returns, reducing risk, generating income, or achieving better diversification.
Despite the slowdown, the Federal Reserve remains hesitant. Chair Powell noted softening labor conditions at Jackson Hole and suggested the door is open to rate cuts. But no concrete shift in policy has occurred.
Investor and consumer surveys indicate that confidence is stabilizing following the initial tariff agreements, and consumers’ spending and income remain robust.
A key theme dominating global financial markets in recent weeks has been the general upward pressure on sovereign bond yields, particularly at the long end of government bond market curves.
Companies are moving some of the excess cash on their books into longer-term securities, betting that rate cuts from the Federal Reserve will make these holdings more lucrative.
A look inside why more Americans are turning to lifetime income.
While equity markets are buoyant worldwide, emerging markets stocks and bonds are the only assets that merit an 'overweight' allocation.
The financial world is replete with terms and definitions, many of which overlap in concept or application. Perhaps I can simplify a familiar concept for most investors who strive to grow and preserve their wealth.
Although the relationship between fundamental returns and total returns after a decade is solid, valuations do matter – their impact is evident in the vertical distance between each stock observation and the diagonal line on the chart.
The U.S. labor market continued to show signs of cooling, with all major labor indicators pointing to a softening trend and a weak hiring environment. Read through the major economic news from the week of September 2nd - 5th.
My experience, while difficult, has given me a valuable perspective on how financial advisors can best serve clients who are caregivers — and ensure they are taking care of their own needs if they’re caregivers themselves.
In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, new and young financial advisors face both tremendous opportunities and significant challenges. This guide outlines the core strategies that new advisors should prioritize to build successful practices and thrive in this competitive environment.
Progress on reducing fiscal deficits has stalled in some large economies around the world. Should investors be worried?
Gold, digital gold (blockchain-backed gold), and critical minerals are drawing interest as money supply grows and certain resources become scarcer.
The rise of private markets has brought new attention to private investment grade (IG) credit, which can offer investors a premium over public IG for giving borrowers customized terms – though that premium comes with certain risks.
The U.S. dollar is experiencing a rare volatility squeeze, indicating that a major move is near. While the most likely direction is downward, any move will have a big impact on precious metals.
Surface-level diversification is no longer enough in a market increasingly driven by passive flows and dominated by a few mega-cap names. Owning multiple funds or asset classes does not guarantee protection if the underlying exposures overlap. Investors must go deeper and look beyond labels and into the actual drivers of risk and return.
The U.S. economy has thus far avoided recession, yet growth has decelerated and economic risks persist.
Buy-now-pay-later firm Klarna Group Plc is among a string of companies bringing US public stock offerings in what looks like an extremely busy September for investment bankers.
Looking back over the past 20 years, airline equities have tended to outperform in the final three months of the year, with the NYSE Arca Global Airlines Index gaining over 3% on average in October; this is followed by an even stronger showing in November and a 3% increase in December on average.
Bond investors may need to look elsewhere to supplant income lost from falling yields — they may want to try heading overseas. It's not just a weaker dollar that's been diverting attention to international bonds, but U.S. debt itself.
The failures aren’t isolated miscalculations but the predictable result of a flawed framework that policymakers have clung to for decades. Keynesian economics didn’t just “get it wrong” in 2025, but has repeatedly failed to deliver on its promises for over forty years. And the consequences are becoming impossible to ignore.
Based on valuations, there's no denying we're in a bubble. That's noteworthy by itself, but it doesn’t tell us what will happen next. I will explain why selling now might not be the best move.
August brought with it a slowing in ETF launches from the summer spree, while inflows continued as investors increasingly bought into bonds.
To paraphrase Churchill, financial markets are a “long, dismal catalogue of the fruitlessness of experience and the confirmed unteachability of mankind.” But we hope you had a wonderful summer.
From a revenue perspective, we were also encouraged by sales coming in +2.1% higher than analysts expected, with all 11 sectors showing positive revenue surprises. This also allays our fears that tariff impact might be worse than the analyst community feared.
Alphabet Inc. shares are suddenly unshackled after a long-awaited antitrust ruling removed a key risk that’s weighed on the stock for months.
As emerging markets navigate deglobalization, tariffs and regional conflicts, they are pivoting toward domestic drivers of growth and intra-regional trade
The house of pain continues with small caps, at least on a relative basis. Year-to-date, the S&P 600 index has posted a 3.0% gain, so it's not like money is being burned. But still, even the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond index is up 4.9% YTD and the S&P 500 is up 10.9%.
This past week, we saw a sweeping change in U.S. trade policy come into effect with the termination of the long-standing “de minimis” exemption on small, imported parcels.
For decades, betting that long-term bond rates would rise was known as the widow-maker trade: It was simultaneously the most sensible and the most consistently money-losing wager an investor could make.
The lifespan of Tesla Inc.’s “master plans,” strategic missives from Chief Executive Elon Musk, has declined dramatically. The first held for a decade. The third, just superseded by Master Plan Part IV, didn’t even make its third birthday.
I encourage you not just to make your prospects feel understood, but to lean into what makes you unique. Ultimately, this blended approach will attract the clients who are right for you.
Powell’s speech seemed to give an all-clear signal for a cut in September. The speech started with a focus on the softening labor market, concluding it is in a “curious kind of balance” with rising risks of layoffs.
Markets surged late last week after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested at Jackson Hole that the U.S. central bank may be ready to cut interest rates in September. Traders took it as a green light, while Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Barclays and others quickly pivoted their forecasts. The CME FedWatch tool now puts the odds of a September cut at nearly 90%.
If there’s one thing the European Union’s leaders agree on, it’s that the bloc needs to regain competitiveness — a key prerequisite for meeting urgent challenges such as rebuilding defenses, combatting climate change and reviving economic growth.
Wineries, booze distributors and distilleries are turning to private credit for financing, especially as tariffs and a decline in drinking habits bring more risk to the alcohol industry.
Recently, we have seen rapid shifts in and out of various sectors and stock factors that disrupt momentum strategies. Therefore, understanding how momentum strategies work can help you better identify when they might be effective and when it's time to switch to a different approach.
While I make no judgment about bitcoin’s intrinsic value, I do believe we’re witnessing the early stages of a structurally driven price expansion — powered not by sentiment, but by product development, market mechanics, and leverage.
When the value of the U.S. dollar declines, international developed-market bonds tend to become attractive. Here's why the bond outlook is more positive than it has been for the past decade.
Europe's defense landscape has undergone a paradigm shift—a rearmament cycle unfolding at a velocity unseen since the Cold War.
