Markets are always changing — and sometimes the rules of finance do, too. I believe markets are efficient, which means my investment portfolio is pretty much all index funds. My enthusiasm for indexing is based on evidence from the Before Times, when the question of a corporation’s index-worthiness was straightforward.
Large Cap Growth
Core portfolio strength may matter more than ever
Join the experts at Harbor Capital and PanAgora for a product due diligence session exploring the Harbor PanAgora Dynamic Large Cap Core ETF (INFO).
Is AI Inflationary or Deflationary?
The AI boom goes from strength to strength. Big technology companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into chips, data centers and power-hungry infrastructure. One estimate puts annual AI infrastructure investment above $650 billion in 2025 and potentially over $800 billion in 2026..
Open vs. Closed AI: What Advisory Firm Leaders Need to Know
Before your firm starts using AI across operations, client service, reporting, or advisor workflows, there’s one basic question leadership needs to answer: what kind of AI are we talking about?
State Street Goes Heads Up With Qs, Launches Nasdaq 100 ETF
Investors now have more optionality when looking for Nasdaq 100 exposure. State Street Investment Management (SSIM) just launched the State Street SPDR Portfolio Nasdaq 100 ETF (QNDX). It will invariably go heads up with the Qs, namely the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) and the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM).
AI Trade’s Bruising Week Forces Investors to Be More Selective
This roller-coaster week for tech stocks from Seoul to New York fueled by extreme investor positioning and worries over chip demand is sending a strong signal: the case for the artificial-intelligence trade is still strong, but the days of everything going up in a straight line appear to be over.
Bond Traders Stunned as Losses on SpaceX’s New Debt Keep Growing
SpaceX’s blockbuster bond sale is weakening so quickly in the secondary market that traders say they can’t recall another recent deal that widened this sharply.
Market Broadening, AI, and the Case for Diversification
As the market continues to broaden in 2026, a balanced approach matters more than ever.
AI Is a Secular Growth Unicorn
AI is both a foundational technology and the ultimate replacement product, which we believe explains why it has attracted unprecedented levels of capital and why the investment opportunities are so compelling.
More Moving Parts Than Usual: A Mid-2026 Market Perspective
Halfway through 2026, this market perspective is harder to write with confidence than most. That’s not a phrase I use lightly. Over four decades of markets, there have been plenty of uncertain moments, but the number of significant, unresolved issues I’m watching right now is unusually high.
Rosenbluth Discusses Thematics & RAFI Acquisition on Schwab Network
VettaFi currently has index products tied to ETFs issued by American Century, Victory Capital, and ALPS ETFs, but the addition of RAFI products issued by Invesco and PIMCO that are fundamentally weighted is really exciting, according to Rosenbluth.
AI Backlash Is the Risk Wall Street Fears Can Stop Tech Stocks
Market professionals already on edge about the staying power of soaring artificial intelligence stocks are starting to grapple with another risk: public anger toward the technology.
Trump Orders US to Speed Quantum Adoption, Boost Cyber Defenses
President Donald Trump signed executive orders Monday aimed at accelerating quantum research, laying the groundwork for federal agencies to adopt the technology and strengthen US defenses against cyberattacks.
Alphabet’s Dow Debut Shows Index Headache in Tech-Driven Economy
Alphabet Inc.’s addition to the Dow Jones Industrial Average marks another step in the benchmark’s effort to catch up with a market increasingly defined by Big Tech.
SK Hynix, Micron Solidify the Memory Chip as Runaway Star of AI
With back-to-back announcements this week, SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. have solidified the memory chip market as the hottest part of the AI industry.
Gold, Fort Knox, and the Dollar’s Future
According to Gleason, the freezing of Russian assets following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine accelerated the global push toward de-dollarization. Nations around the world took notice that access to the dollar-based financial system could be restricted, increasing the appeal of gold as a reserve asset that cannot be frozen or sanctioned by foreign governments.
Why the Tech Giants Are Always in the Room
On May 5, 2026, researchers from Cleveland Clinic, RIKEN, and IBM successfully simulated a 12,635-atom protein complex using quantum-centric supercomputing, a problem relevant to drug discovery that classical computing could not match at comparable speed and accuracy.
Tech Stocks Lead Bounce After $1.3 Trillion Rout on Nasdaq 100
US technology stocks rebounded, lifting key indexes, after the latest flareup of concerns about the scale of the artificial-intelligence-fueled rally wiped nearly $1.3 trillion from the market capitalization of Nasdaq 100 companies over the first two days of the week.
Stocks Are Expensive. But Don’t Panic
When investors feel like the stock market is toppy, as many do now, they often compare what they expect stocks and bonds to pay. The yield on stocks should offer a premium over bonds to compensate for higher risk, and it usually does.
Iran Peace Deal Leads Equities Higher
Equities rallied after President Trump announced an agreement with Iran to end their conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ finished the holiday-shortened week with solid gains, led by the technology sector.
SpaceX’s Quickfire Investment-Grade Rating Brings Out Skeptics
SpaceX is seeking to raise between $20 billion and $25 billion from a debut bond offering on Tuesday, after attracting about $30 billion of investor orders even before the sales process had formally begun, according to people with knowledge of the matter. At that size, the deal would rank among the biggest of the year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.
Fed Signals Keep Rate Risks in Focus
U.S. equities posted a modest advance during the holiday-shortened trading week despite a Wednesday sell-off following a more hawkish than expected Federal Reserve meeting under its new chair, Kevin Warsh.
When Flows Meet a Hawkish Fed
Here’s the setup most investors are underrating right now. Over the next two weeks, the tape will trade on plumbing rather than fundamentals. We just cleared the largest options expiration in history. Quarter-end pension selling comes next, and then July 1 reopens the passive-money firehose into a market that already routes forty cents of every S&P 500 dollar into ten stocks.
Crypto Critic Nouriel Roubini Finds a Use for the Blockchain
Nouriel Roubini, the economist known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis and later for his sharp criticism of crypto, is putting one of his investment products on the blockchain.
How a US-Iran Deal Could Influence the Economy and Financial Markets
The US-Iran conflict – and its impact on oil prices – has dominated headlines over the past three months. Higher oil prices have pushed inflation to a three‑year high, reshaping the Federal Reserve’s rate outlook.
Physical AI & Global Reshoring Beyond the Humanoid Hype
Humanoid robots grab headlines, but they are just a fraction of the physical AI ecosystem. Autonomous robots, drones, cobots, and eVTOLs are rapidly scaling across industrial and defense sectors.
A Quarter Century of Data Says the Airline Opportunity Could Just Be Getting Started
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. and Iran have reached a peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the 21-mile chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply normally flows.
Meet the New Boss. Different from the Old Boss.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
A New Market Calls for Fresh Investing Strategies
As geopolitical factors increasingly impact returns in a changing market, active portfolio management will become an increasingly necessary approach for advisors seeking to navigate uncertainty and deliver consistent results.
Space ETFs: How SpaceX Is Reshaping the Theme
The emergence of leveraged ETFs tied to Space Exploration Technologies (more familiarly known as SpaceX) points to strong investor demand for concentrated exposure.
The Price of Gold is Less About Gold & More About the Erosion of the Dollar
Gold is often misunderstood. It is not a growth asset, and it produces no cash flow. Its role is to maintain purchasing power — not outperform. It reflects the currency’s declining value.
Money Illusion — A User’s Manual
You know the term “Money Illusion”: mistakenly believing that today’s dollars have the same purchasing power as the dollars of ten or twenty years ago. As with any illusion, fake replaces real, image supplants fact, and fog obscures truth. We’re here to help you sort it out.
SpaceX Bankers Kick Off Marketing for Debut High-Grade Bond Sale
SpaceX is selling investment-grade bonds for the first time in what’s expected to be the start of a massive borrowing spree to fund the company’s AI ambitions following its record $75 billion IPO.
Are Backyard Data Centers an Answer to AI's Biggest Problem?
Data center developers are struggling to connect to the power grid and, not unrelatedly, connect with people. Perhaps half the data center projects due to start operating this year won’t arrive on time, according to Currence, an artificial intelligence analytics firm.
Covered Call ETFs Have Boomed – But Can They Be More?
Investors have plenty of reasons to celebrate the covered call ETF boom. Covered call strategies have offered new ways to add income to portfolios. Challenges in fixed income were a catalyst for assets to flow into traditional covered call ETFs.
Social Insecurity, Surprise Edition
We all know that Congress is never going to allow Social Security not to be paid. This begs a number of questions. Will the shortfall be addressed by tax increases, benefit reductions, increasing the retirement age, changing the inflation measures, means testing or some combination of these and other solutions?
Glass and Light: The Infrastructure Layer of the Quantum Market Is Missing
Co-packaged optics, the technology of integrating lasers and optical components directly into network switches rather than using pluggable modules, is becoming the standard architecture for large-scale GPU clusters, and Nvidia needed to lock in supply for the buildout it is planning.
Are We All Active Investors Now?
Markets are always changing — and sometimes the rules of finance do, too. I believe markets are efficient, which means my investment portfolio is pretty much all index funds. My enthusiasm for indexing is based on evidence from the Before Times, when the question of a corporation’s index-worthiness was straightforward.
Intel Shares Soar After Trump Says It Struck Apple Chip Deal
Intel Corp.’s stock surged Thursday after US President Donald Trump said the chipmaker will work alongside Apple Inc. to design and produce semiconductors domestically.
SpaceX-Tesla Inc. Is Inching Closer. Watch Out, Nvidia?
For Elon Musk, the public market debut of SpaceX could hardly have gone better. It priced at the dictated $135 per share and has since jumped by almost half, adding more than $870 billion in just three trading sessions to an already huge market capitalization.
SpaceX Stole the Show, but These Market-Moving Events Could Drive Stocks Next
It’s a busy finish to the first half on the corporate event calendar. The bulls have the lead, but the bears have had their moments of glory so far this year. A handful of key AGMs, conferences, and earnings events will keep investors on their toes amid a colorful macro backdrop.
Why We’re Staying at the Tech Party…and What Would Make Us Leave
The questions in our inbox have gotten louder lately. Are we reliving 1999? Has the tech rally reached the dangerous ‘Euphoria’ bubble stage we first discussed in our 2026 Outlook? And is the recent surge in initial public offerings (IPOs)— led by SpaceX on Friday— diluting existing holders just as valuations were already drawing scrutiny?
Apple Investors Are Tired of AI Promises, Want Tangible Progress
Apple Inc. investors are losing patience with the company’s talk about becoming a more formidable presence in artificial intelligence and want to start seeing some results.
SpaceX Extends Gains Into Fourth Day as Post-IPO Rally Hits 58%
SpaceX gained for a fourth straight day, cementing the company’s place among the world’s most valuable stocks after it surpassed Amazon.com Inc.
Bull Market Pullback: Why The 4.5% Dip Held The 50-DMA
The catalyst that turns a healthy pullback into something deeper won’t be a single oil-soaked CPI print. It’ll be the moment forward earnings expectations start to roll over while valuations sit at the high end of history. We aren’t there yet.
The Rise of the American State-Owned Enterprise
The slippery slope never fails. Go back to the 1979 Chrysler bailout and we can find the roots of the US government’s current predilection for getting involved in stocks and bonds.
Alternative Allocations: The Convergence of Public and Private Equity
On June 12, SpaceX went public with a US$2 trillion valuation—the largest initial public offering (IPO) ever, by far. It has been the most anticipated IPO in more than two decades and likely ushers in a series of high-profile IPOs in the coming months, including for OpenAI and Anthropic.
Markets Rally as Investors Weigh Inflation, the Fed and SpaceX IPO
Markets returned to positive territory for the week, with the turning point occurring Thursday after the announcement of a potential deal with Iran that would extend the ceasefire while reopening the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since February 27.
Peace Prospects, Inflation Pressures, and SpaceX’s Historic IPO Drive Markets
The Iran conflict, inflation reports, and the largest initial public offering of all time each took its turn in the spotlight last week. The fragile ceasefire with Iran looked ready to collapse after Iran shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter, and the U.S. retaliated with strikes on Iran.
Marvell Needs Lots of Growth to Achieve Huang’s $1 Trillion Call
Jensen Huang may see Marvell Technology Inc. as the stock market’s “next trillion-dollar company,” but it’s going to take a lot of growth for the chipmaker to even sniff that lofty level.
The Hormuz Peace Dividend Goes to Stocks, Not Bonds
Financial markets generally displayed exuberance Monday after the US and Iran agreed to an interim peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices fell to the lowest since early March and the S&P 500 Index surged, leaving it just a few points below its all-time high reached at the start of the month.
SpaceX Set to Overtake Amazon in Value as It Soars for Third Day
SpaceX shares jumped on Tuesday, putting the firm on track to overtake Amazon.com Inc. as the fifth largest publicly traded company in the world just days after its blockbuster debut.
Warsh’s First FOMC Meeting Will Put Policy and Fed Independence in Focus
New Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will preside over his first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 16-17, stepping in at a complex moment with inflation at a three-year high as oil prices remain elevated, labor market risks easing with job growth averaging ~140,000 year to date versus only 10,000 last year, and hawkish voices on the Fed gaining traction.
Introducing the IPO Class of 2026
The U.S. initial public offering (IPO) market appears to be entering one of its most consequential periods in years. After a long drought following the 2021 issuance boom, a healthier macro backdrop, improved risk appetite, and a long queue of mature private companies have reopened the new-issue window.
Is Productivity Growth Picking Up?
This week the Fed has its first meeting under new Chair Kevin Warsh. For only the third time in US history, the former Chair, Jerome Powell, will still participate as a regular member of the Board of Governors.
Gold Looks Oversold. Is This the Contrarian Moment Investors Have Been Waiting For?
Gold has always had a way of testing investors’ expectations. Just when the headlines appear most supportive—inflation is rising, geopolitical risk is escalating and confidence in fiat currency is being questioned—gold can suddenly move in the opposite direction.
SpaceX Shares Land in ETF Portfolios
Several ETFs have added exposure to Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX) after the aerospace giant completed the largest initial public offering in market history. Trading on the Nasdaq, SpaceX surged 19% from its initial $135 offering price to close at $160.95 per share, notching a historic $2.1 trillion valuation. Actively managed ETF vehicles were able to use their operational flexibility to add positions in SpaceX at its debut.
BCSM: Where Small-Cap Upside Meets Large-Cap Stability in an Active ETF
Join Baron Capital for a product due diligence session covering Baron SMID Cap ETFTM (BCSM).
Goldman Brings Google to Prepaid Energy Market After Equity Deal
On the heels of arranging a record $85 billion equity-raise for Alphabet Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has scored a lesser-known victory for the tech giant in the municipal bond market.
The IPO Boom: Where Will the Money Come From?
The IPO market is bubbling with excitement. The headlines surrounding the IPOs are hyperbolic, banker fees are enormous, and social media is teeming with bullish sentiment on how high the new shares may trade after going public. While that is all great for clickbait, nobody is asking the most important question. Where will the money come from?
Could the Dollar Be in Trouble – If So, What Then?
This is the underlying question in several books and articles that have been published recently, most notably Kenneth Rogoff’s “Our Dollar, Your Problem,” and Barry Eichengreen’s “Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto” — the latter of which is the subject of this review.
Remembering Dr. Frank Sortino
Dr Frank Sortino passed away last month. He was 94. Frank was a good friend of mine. Frank earned the name Dr. Downside for redefining risk as a measure of not achieving your objectives, which led to the fairly famous Sortino Ratio.
SpaceX Shares Jump in Second Day of Trading After Record IPO
SpaceX shares jumped in their second day of trading, adding to gains following a blockbuster debut that instantly vaulted it into the ranks of the world’s most valuable public companies.
Buyable Pullbacks. Be Prepared.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
Navigating the New Era of Growth With An Active Mandate
Discover how Capital Group’s active CGGR ETF navigates this mega-cap divergence to uncover secular growth beyond tech.
The G-Shaped Economy
Despite everything we have seen in the economic data, which can be confusing, the US consumer has refused to crack. My friend Dr. Ed Yardeni, whom I have known since '98, has the most compelling explanation I have heard for why.
SpaceX Prepares for Debut After $75 Billion IPO Breaks Record
SpaceX made history with a $75 billion IPO that instantly turned it into one of the biggest public companies in the world. Now it has to win over the market.
S&P 500 Steady With All Eyes on SpaceX IPO, Iran Peace Hopes
US stocks opened with a small gain on Friday, supported by optimism about pending trading in SpaceX, which made history with the biggest-ever IPO, and the potential for an interim peace deal in the Iran conflict.
SpaceX-Anthropic-OpenAI Is a Cocktail With a Hangover
That’s SpaceX out of the way. Next, investors will have to absorb the artificial-intelligence titans behind the Claude and ChatGPT chatbots, Anthropic PBC and OpenAI.
Vanguard Overtakes iShares as Largest ETF Provider in Historic Industry Shift
The ETF industry has reached a historic turning point. Vanguard has officially surpassed BlackRock’s iShares to become the largest ETF provider. The milestone underscores a broader structural shift among investors prioritizing low-cost investments in portfolio allocations.
How These ETFs Offer Current Income Without Sacrificing Performance
At a time when the cost of living is rising and market volatility appears to be rising, too, investors may be looking for current income to bolster their portfolios. Current income can especially help investors at or near retirement to adapt to retired life.
Is Any Area of the Market “Affordable”?
The word seems to be spreading that small- and micro-cap stocks have so far been enjoying a stellar 2026. What seems less well known is that the current cycle of market leadership for the two asset classes stretches back to 2025 and has been in place for 14 months.
Split Decisions: What Stock Splits Reveal About Corporations in H1 2026
Dispersion continues to be the definitive story of 2026. As we progress through June and approach the conclusion of the first half of the year, the equity landscape remains distinctly bifurcated. Pockets of deep structural growth stand in contrast to areas grappling with macro headwinds.
Allocation Views: Optimistic on equities, mindful of inflation
In this month’s Allocation Views, strong corporate fundamentals and resilient growth fuel our continued optimism toward equities into June, despite persistent inflation and more restrictive monetary policy.
AI’s Expansion Runs on Smaller Companies
In addition to a greater range of chips supporting AI development, several factors could cause the current cycle to last longer than expected.
In an Unsettled World, Value Investing Can Add a Layer of Defense
Since early 2025, value stocks have enjoyed a strong run, defying market volatility driven by trade tensions, geopolitical stress and macroeconomic uncertainty. That resilience may seem counterintuitive given value’s historically cyclical profile. Yet, we believe the underlying characteristics of value stocks are proving particularly well suited to today’s evolving market landscape.
Equity Supply Surge: What Historically Comes Next
This past week, the market hit an all-time high. At the same time, Alphabet (GOOG) told investors it would raise $80 billion by selling stock to fund its AI buildout, and the shares fell about 4% on the news.
An Anthropic-OpenAI Price War Would Be Brutal
Things change fast in artificial intelligence. One minute corporate desk jockeys are competing to use AI coding and reasoning tools as much as possible, the next their bosses are complaining about budgets being pulverized and start rationing usage.
SpaceX Valuation Is Cheap for Space Peers But Pricey as AI Stock
The jury is still out on whether SpaceX is primarily a rocket company, as its name suggests, or actually more of a telecom provider or artificial intelligence play. Its expected valuation doesn’t help resolve the confusion.
SpaceX IPO Will Mint Billions for a New Silicon Valley Hierarchy
The initial public offering for SpaceX is poised to generate billions of dollars in profits for the fortunate few investors who got in early on Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company.
Health Care—Positioning for a Potential Recovery
After more than three years of underperformance, our prognosis for global health care stocks remains positive. The sector now offers a broader set of high-quality companies at valuations that appear increasingly disconnected from fair value.
From Stock Repurchases to AI Capex: The New Playbook for Corporate Cash
Equity issuance is all the rage. The SpaceX (SPCX) IPO on Friday, Alphabet’s (GOOGL) up-sized secondary announced last week, and a slew of other major go-public names over the remainder of 2026 (Anthropic, OpenAI) buck the years-long trend of intense buybacks and shareholder-friendly activities by the world’s most valuable companies.
Broader Market Held Firm Despite a Crack in the AI Trade
All major U.S. stock indices fell last week, ending a remarkable run of nine straight weekly gains for the S&P 500. But the headline numbers hide an unusually lopsided story.
Vanguard’s Malloy Says Muni Yields Bolster Second-Half Outlook
Attractive yields and strong credit fundamentals are setting the municipal bond market up for a solid second half of the year, said Paul Malloy, the head of municipals at The Vanguard Group Inc.
A Repricing, Not a Reversal
Begin with the print itself, because the headline flatters the internals only slightly. The bulk of May's gains came from leisure and hospitality, which added 70,000 jobs, nearly half of them in food services and drinking places; local government contributed 55,000, health care 35,000, and manufacturing a modest 7,000, while financial activities actually shed positions.
Growth Without Price Distortion
Every dollar in a growth equity index reflects two decisions: which companies to own and how much of each to hold. Indexes form intricate systematic rules to make the first decision. The second decision—position sizing—is usually determined by market-cap weighting.
The Inflation Impact: 3 ETF Approaches for Managing Risk
With the latest CPI report showing that inflation is likely here to stay, it could be time to pivot towards ETFs with downside protection.
Google-Tied Prepaid Energy Bonds See Flood of Muni Trader Demand
Prepaid energy deals are complicated transactions that allow utilities to lock in cheaper prices over long periods of time. They involve a financial middleman that receives bond proceeds in exchange for making regular payments needed to procure the energy for the utility.
Costs to Hedge the $9 Trillion S&P 500 Rally Jump Ahead of Fed
Sentiment in the US stock market has shifted quickly from fear of missing out to fear of getting wiped out.
Apple Is Handing a Lot of AI Power to Its Huge Rival Google
Tim Cook’s last annual showcase of new software as Apple Inc.’s chief executive officer also marked the start of a deepening relationship with one of his biggest competitors: Alphabet Inc.
Aviation Leasing: Looking Beyond the Fuel Price Shock
The war in Iran is putting pressure on airlines. Higher jet fuel prices are cutting into profit margins, and the risk of a prolonged conflict may reduce travel demand in Europe and Asia. But for lessors, these gathering clouds may come with a silver lining.