The term 'digital gold' is often used by cryptocurrency enthusiasts to describe Bitcoin, Ethereum, and similar assets. However, our latest research shows they behave differently in portfolios. We look at how liquidity and uncertainty drive returns, and why that matters for positioning.
The U.S. government shutdown is about to enter its second month. We did not rush to comment on it, because we didn’t think that it would have much of an economic impact. But the risk that lasting damage will be done is rising.
For the second straight meeting, the Fed cut the federal funds rate by a quarter percent on Wednesday. In an even more aggressive move toward monetary easing, the FOMC also announced balance sheet reduction will end in December.
Wall Street is riding this era of American state capitalism — tracking it, packaging it and offering it back to investors through a new ETF.
Join Dr. Ankur Crawford, Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Alger, for a product due diligence session on the Alger Concentrated Equity ETF (CNEQ).
Five of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” firms reported earnings this week in a major milestone for 2025’s economic narrative. Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOGL), and Meta (META) all shared their earnings, offering some important insights into key tech firms amid the AI revolution.
More than a generation ago, financial historian Peter Bernstein wrote about investors’ 'memory banks,' the market experience that accumulates in their hippocampi over their investing lives and molds their investment strategy. As he put it, looking back on the 1990s: 'Most of the new participants in the market had no memory of what a bear market was like.'
As equity valuations approach — or in some cases surpass — the record highs of 1999, investors are growing increasingly anxious. This unease is partly driven by the media issuing grim warnings, often based in part on CAPE valuations.
My series on Ray Dalio’s book raised a bunch of questions, one of which stood out above the others. To paraphrase, readers asked, 'How do we get ready for this?' It is certainly fair for you all to ask what I am personally doing to prepare for the big picture I anticipate. It’s tough to answer because the coming debt crisis could unfold in many different ways.
Gold is not immune to market cycles. It’s a volatile asset driven by shifting narratives and capital flows. If you’re buying gold today, understand what’s supporting the price, and what could shake that support loose. Treat gold as a hedge, not a core growth asset.
One of the things we have in common with Warren Buffett is that we started our risk-taking career handicapping at racetracks. Buffett handicapped the horse races in Omaha, and I handicapped greyhound races near Portland at Multnomah Kennel Club in Gresham, Oregon.
Gold steadied near $4,000 an ounce as traders weighed a US-China trade truce that failed to quash concerns about long-term competition between the world’s two largest economies.
Global electricity demand is accelerating as AI data centers, electrification, and economic growth drive an unprecedented need for reliable energy. Nuclear power is uniquely positioned to meet this challenge, delivering clean, zero-emission baseload electricity with the highest capacity factor of any major energy source.
Last week’s economic narrative centered around the Federal Reserve's latest rate cut, a decision complicated by the government shutdown and lack of economic data.
Over nearly every meaningful time frame, Bitcoin has dramatically outperformed traditional asset classes. In the last 3 years, it has returned an astonishing 79.2% annualized, compared to 18% for the S&P 500, 24.4% for gold, and just 2.6% for the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.
Rather than toil over the construction of an ideal fixed income portfolio for a client, advisors can simply apply a template primed for success using Vanguard’s model portfolios. On that note, Vanguard just introduced two new dynamic asset allocation fixed income model portfolios that can suit various investor profiles.
One of the most fundamental decisions facing fixed-income investors is determining the optimal maturity for their Treasury holdings.
We continue to hold gold across all strategies, viewing it as a strategic asset. Central banks remain steady buyers, underscoring gold’s role as both a store of value and an inflation hedge.
The three themes we laid out will take a few years to play out, if at all. Our portfolio positioning reflects our belief in the economic strength and momentum of the US Tech / AI trade, and we would want to see more policy clarity and earnings confirmation before we make any large shifts into international.
US stocks are hovering near all-time highs, buoyed by the prospect of cooling trade tensions between the US and China as corporate America largely brushes off tariff pressures. But that doesn’t mean that Wall Street professionals will be sleeping easy this Halloween.
Long-dated bonds are looking more attractive as governments and central banks take steps to curb the glut in that segment of the market, according to JPMorgan Asset Management.
Meta Platforms Inc. found record-shattering demand for its bond sale on Thursday even as its shares plunged, in a sign that bond investors are looking past any concerns about its artificial-intelligence spending plans.
There’s no official read on how fast the US economy grew last quarter, thanks to the government shutdown. But almost everyone reckons it was a healthy pace — and that’s largely thanks to AI.
This bull market has been on quite a run. The S&P 500 is up 35% since its April 8, 2025 year-to-date low, and up over 92% since it began on October 12, 2022, excluding dividends.
The consumer sector was in sharpest focus during the conference. That wasn’t surprising, given the negative headlines surrounding fraud allegations at subprime auto financer Tricolor Auto Acceptance and its subsequent bankruptcy filing.
The Multi-Sector Credit Team share perspectives on the fixed income market and their quarterly asset allocation ranking. They highlight a timely chart to watch, explore relative value opportunities, and provide insight on their latest asset allocation scores by fixed income sub-sector.
As widely expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points for a second time this year. This gives fixed income investors an opportunity to reposition their portfolios with intermediate bonds or reconsider active exposure if they don’t have it already.
The Powell put is on. The Federal Reserve chairman tried to sound like a hawk, but the central bank’s actions were those of a dove.
The Federal Funds Rate (FFR) is the interest rate banks charge each other to borrow money overnight. It's set by the FOMC and is one of the Federal Reserve's primary tools to implement monetary policy and is a key driver of economic activity. This video examines the Federal Funds Rate and reviews the Fed's interest rate meeting on October 29, 2025.
Markets move fast, and in the ETF corner of the world, sometimes it feels like it’s practically impossible to keep up. Product development and proliferation have been so intense in recent months. New tickers are coming at us faster than ever.
Treasuries fell the most in nearly five months after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cast doubt on a December interest-rate cut, even as a sagging labor market prompted policymakers to bring down borrowing costs Wednesday.
Evan Harp sat down Axon’s Brady Lochte to talk about his practice, the Exchange conference, and the challenges facing advisors and their clients today.
Lazard Asset Management is betting the newfound appetite for emerging-market assets is only just starting, launching its first-ever exchange-traded fund focused on the region as investors look for ways to ride a rebound in international markets.
Part of the reason behind Japanese stocks’ discount to the U.S. is the profitability gap; the U.S. has a Return on Equity (ROE) of 18.3%, while Japan’s broad market has yet to break above 10% on that measure (though some forecasters believe Japan will get its act together).
By far the most finicky part of OpenAI’s necessary conversion into a for-profit company was reconciling its convoluted partnership with Microsoft Corp. With the year-end deadline fast approaching, they have made a deal both sides can live with for now, though it sets out the timeline for an eventual split.
We live in what Brett Arends claimed as“The Dumbest Stock Market In History,” but I believe it is potentially the most dangerous era. That phrase is not hyperbole as it reflects structural distortion, extreme valuations, and an investor base intoxicated by momentum and narrative.
As major tech firms report this week and next, investors will focus on how much they're spending on AI. Cloud competition is also top of mind, along with early iPhone 17 sales.
With the stock market in record-high territory and up about 35% off the April lows, market participants clearly haven’t been too scared lately. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of things to worry about.
The US Federal Reserve will soon face a crucial decision: What to do with the vast portfolio of securities it has amassed in its efforts to manage the economy?
The robotics space is entering earnings season with positive momentum, as solid performance in Q3 has continued into October. This note recaps the key themes and performance drivers from the quarter for investors, while previewing Q3 results.
Investors plowed cash into exchange-traded funds that buy China stocks last week amid optimism that it was nearing a trade deal with the US ahead of an upcoming meeting between the two countries’ respective leaders.
Strong credit ratings remain a key feature for midstream companies, providing significant cost savings on debt. The subsector is largely dominated by investment-grade players, which also offer attractive dividend yields. Learn more below about the importance of an investment-grade rating and why midstream indexes are skewed towards these creditworthy names.
On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research, Todd Rosenbluth, discussed the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares (SOXL) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF.
Aniket Ullal, Head of ETF Research & Analytics at CFRA, highlights the ETF trades that have and haven’t worked in 2025. Cinthia Murphy, Investment Strategist at VettaFi, explores recent ETF launches, including the Roundhill Meme Stock ETF (MEME), Defiance Trillion Dollar Club Index ETF (TRIL), and ARK DIET Q4 Buffer ETF (ARKT).
The future of wealth management — especially in the HNW segments — depends on advisors' ability to provide tailored, cross-disciplinary solutions. Case design is central to delivering that value.
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be a prime catalyst for large-cap ETFs tilted toward growth. Companies integral to meeting the hardware demands of AI infrastructure buildout may be Broadcom, Palantir, and Nvidia. All three are core holdings currently in the VictoryShares Free Cash Flow Growth ETF (GFLW).
Equity bulls are lining up to wager the S&P 500 will surge past 7,000 now that it looks as if a seasonal bout of volatility has passed.
Investors expect the Federal Reserve to cut its policy rate on Oct. 29, and once more by the end of the year. Right now, amid enormous uncertainty about where the economy is headed, the case for cutting is weak. The Fed would be wiser to pause.
Earlier this week, several of my friends texted me in frustration, letting me know that they couldn’t place trades on Coinbase or Robinhood. The culprit wasn’t market volatility or government regulation, but something far more mundane: a cloud outage.
If gold were the perfect hedge for inflation—it isn’t—then gold prices divided by the overall price level would be constant over time. However, real gold prices (adjusted for inflation by dividing by the CPI price level) are currently at multi-decade highs.
