This impressive performance, fueled largely by the prominent allocation to the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, highlights the strong adoption of ETFs and VOO's role as the premier choice for U.S. equity exposure amidst a challenging macro environment. This success helped the entire ETF industry surpass its previous trillion-dollar record.

This article argues that a grateful mindset is a powerful strategy for improving financial and investment decision-making, citing research that links gratitude to better outcomes and overall well-being.

Some clients don’t want to expose everything and may find it annoying to be asked deeply personal questions. I do think, with some work, everyone can come around to share more about themselves if they are approached correctly. Here are some suggestions.

You don’t need a massive budget or an in-house team to market effectively. You need a focused, sustainable approach designed for small firms like yours. Here’s what that looks like in action — and how to start seeing results without burning out.

Referrals aren’t dead; they’ve evolved. When clients know you are there for more than their investments and when every moment reinforces the value you bring to your clients, referrals become a natural outcome.

Google, once seen as lagging after the launch of ChatGPT, is now surging in the AI race with its new Gemini 3 model winning praise and driving investor confidence.

Investor certainty about a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December has surged to approximately 80%, driven by signals from Fed officials and recent mixed economic data, especially regarding the labor market.

As investors shift away from volatile artificial intelligence stocks, the health-care sector has emerged as the clear winner this month, with the S&P 500 Health Care Index up 10%. This rotation, fueled by aggressive buying from hedge funds and mutual funds, reflects investor interest in defensive value amid concerns over an AI stock bubble.

Jeff Schulze, Head of Economic and Market Strategy at ClearBridge Investments, discusses key spending, employment and other policy factors he is following as we look forward to 2026.

Like ducks on a pond, markets often appear calm on the surface while churning furiously underneath. For financial markets, above the surface, attention has focused on equity market valuations and record-tight levels of credit spreads, but a deeper look reveals even more extreme dynamics below.

In a recent episode of the Money Metals podcast, host Mike Maharrey sits down with Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT, MFTA, editor and publisher of The Daily Gold, to unpack where gold and silver are in the current cycle.

Yes, we may be in the second market bubble of this century. Alternatively, the market may be pricing in a shift as fundamental as the transition to either electricity or the internet. Either way, investors must think clearly, act deliberately, and avoid the kind of blind speculation that turned past booms into bloodbaths.

Investors are needy. Insatiable, really. But it makes sense: If an investor buys a share of a company, they’re going to want some benefit from it.

Kalshi Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Tarek Mansour got my attention when he claimed last week that prediction markets could rival stock exchanges in a few years. Of course, this does not mean that people will buy and sell stocks on Kalshi, but that prediction markets will be where information is aggregated and prices set, with the New York Stock Exchange and its ilk relegated to processing orders.

The release of OpenAI's ChatGPT three years ago sparked an artificial intelligence mania on Wall Street, fundamentally reshaping the stock market landscape. This AI-driven frenzy has minted new market leaders, made the S&P 500 significantly more concentrated, and served as the dominant driving force behind the current bull market in US stocks.

Emerging market (EM) equities have seen exceptional outperformance in 2025, with major countries like South Korea and Brazil posting massive gains. The primary driver of this trend has been a weakening U.S. dollar, which historically encourages capital flow outside the United States. The critical question now for investors is whether this dollar weakness marks the start of a multi-year downtrend or is simply a temporary correction.

Today’s massive and still-growing investments in AI and its accompanying infrastructure could well pay off like the internet did, following the investment boom of the late 1990s. But, for now, the gains from AI look more muted, and the macro downsides larger, than in the case of the dot-com bubble.

This article reviews historical and contemporary attempts by world leaders—from Nixon's price controls to European energy subsidies—to contain costs, ultimately illustrating the limits of policy intervention in combating inflation. While some measures provided temporary relief, the persistent challenge of high prices remains a central political concern.

On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research, Todd Rosenbluth, discussed the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF.

JD Gardner, Founder of Aptus Capital Advisors, goes inside the decision to launch the lowest-cost buffer ETFs and the outsized role investor behavior plays in long-term returns. Stacey Morris, Head of Energy Research at VettaFi, spotlights the latest leaders and laggards in energy ETFs and what could drive the sector in the months ahead.

Despite facing rising tariffs and trade barriers globally since the U.S.-China trade war began in 2017, Chinese exports have surprisingly continued to grow. Total annual exports have expanded by 58% since 2017, reaching a staggering $3.58 trillion, which is a performance far better than many analysts predicted given the severity of the trade conflict.

This article explores gold's role as a distinct, independent alternative asset class, discussing its diversification benefits, and practical ways for investors to gain exposure.

Retail earnings ahead of Black Friday show a clear split: value-focused discounters like TJX and Walmart are thriving, while Target and home improvement stores struggle with consumer pullback on discretionary items. This shift reflects broader economic pressure, as consumers trade down due to high prices, weakening income sentiment, and increased reliance on credit.

Advisors spend hours gathering information via different systems that should already be talking to each other. But by the time they make sense of it, the market has moved on. I’ve seen even well-established firms face this problem because their systems rarely communicate smoothly.

Treasury yields edged lower, with the 10-year nearing 4%, as data affirming labor-market weakness and remarks from Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran bolstered expectations for an interest-rate cut next month.

Wall Street’s macro traders are headed for their best year since 2009 as clients rushed to place bets on changing interest rate policies by central banks around the world.

Meta Platforms Inc. is in talks to spend billions on Google’s AI chips, the Information reported, adding to a monthslong share rally as the search giant has made the case it can rival Nvidia Corp. as a leader in artificial intelligence technology.

The ALPS Electrification Infrastructure ETF (ELFY) is drawing investor attention as U.S. electricity demand heads for its fastest growth in decades, driven by artificial intelligence data centers, manufacturing reshoring, and expanding electric vehicle infrastructure.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang turned heads earlier this month when he told the Financial Times he believes China will win the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race due to the country’s expanding power capacity and lack of regulatory bottlenecks that slow things down here in the U.S.

Amid concerns that the traditional 60/40 investment mix no longer works, financial experts are recommending a 20 percent allocation to gold as a necessary portfolio adjustment. This shift is driven by the fact that gold is increasingly viewed as the most reliable hedge against inflation and government spending, unlike bonds which have lost their safe-haven status. Consequently, investors are initiating a "quiet revolution" by moving billions into gold ETFs.

Bitcoin miners are landing contracts with some of the world’s largest technology companies. This happens as they pivot from cryptocurrency mining to artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to recent research from CoinShares.

This article explores the future of stablecoins as an everyday payment instrument by drawing parallels to the free-banking era (1837–1863) in the United States, when commercial entities issued their own, often chaotic, banknotes.

The article argues that making productive use of AI requires strong critical thinking, statistical, and analytical abilities, a necessity challenged by weakening standards in math and reading in educational institutions.

From a purely economic standpoint, imposing taxes on credit unions or ending taxes on banks would have the same outcome. If Congress were serious about fairness, either option would be a logical choice.

In this new series, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and widely known as “Mr. Valuation”, begins the process of constructing a F.I.R.E. Dividend Growth Portfolio from the ground up. F.I.R.E., which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early, is built on the idea of creating enough growing income to eventually support early retirement.

Returns from emerging market bonds hinge on five factors, our economic research suggests. And for the first time in two decades, four of these are now favourable, heralding a new phase of outperformance for the asset class.

While financial innovations often emerge on the system’s periphery, beyond the reach of regulation, if they prove to be systemically important, they end up being integrated into the system’s regulated core. Stablecoins are likely to follow this trajectory.

Although the September employment report surprised to the upside, the overall stance of the US labor market remains weak, something that was underscored by the third consecutive increase in the rate of unemployment, from 4.1% in June to 4.4% in September.

Transitioning to an independent RIA model involves complex challenges, from navigating compliance and non-solicitation agreements to setting up scalable technology. This article highlights how specialist partners, specifically Terrana Group’s Advisor Transition Consultants, provide the strategic guidance and hands-on support needed for a seamless and profitable move.

After a gangbuster stock market rally since the early-April lows, many of the prior highfliers have taken a breather amid AI bubble and valuation concerns.

Many of you may have recently seen a chart circulating on the internet suggesting a nationwide collapse in home prices is on the way, that we are in the “biggest bubble in history,” the collapse is “inevitable and nothing can stop it.”

Markets traded with an unusual mix of strong micro data and fragile macro sentiment last week and nowhere was that clearer than the reaction to Nvidia’s excellent earnings. The fundamentals showed strong demand, a robust product cycle, and clean forward guidance—yet the stock slumped after an early surge.

Those who have defaulted into TDFs need to un-default and take back risk control over their lifetime savings. Safe assets include Treasury bills and short-to-intermediate TIPS, even though their returns are low. The price of safety is low, but reliable, returns.

This article walks readers through the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet to explain how it now acts as the primary provider of liquidity to financial markets. It details the Fed’s reserve management tools, including the well-known QE and QT, to show exactly how it injects or withdraws reserves from the banking system.

A third straight week of market turbulence left US equity investors searching for any edge on how to position ahead of what is normally a strong seasonal stretch for stocks.

A flood of debt sales from Big Tech risks overwhelming buyers and could weaken the credit market on both sides of the Atlantic.

The U.S. economy’s recent growth has a distinctive engine: large‑scale capital expenditures (capex) tied to artificial intelligence (AI). Firms such as Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Meta Platforms, and Amazon have announced massive investments in data centers, servers, networking equipment, and AI infrastructure.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he’s advocating an interest-rate cut in December, though the US central bank can probably take more of a meeting-by-meeting approach starting in January once it receives a flood of economic data.

This article explores the growing changes and challenges facing the Federal Reserve. It argues that due to political pressure and fiscal irresponsibility from Congress, the Fed is losing its policy effectiveness and its long-held tradition of consensus voting is breaking down, leading to an era of unpredictable decisions.

AI looks like a classic investment bubble to us, with very high valuations and signs of rampant speculation. But we recognize that while many investors harbor fears that AI might be a bubble, they are far from sure of that fact and tend to assume the market is appropriately priced as a fairly strong prior.