When it comes to systematic investing, numbers tell only part of the story. Traditional quantitative models rely on prices, earnings, and balance sheet data, but words matter too.
The rise in U.S. Treasury (UST) yields, specifically the ten-year note, since late February has captured the attention of global investors in a very visible fashion. Just a couple of weeks ago, headlines were blaring that the UST 10-year yield had reached its highest level since the beginning of 2025, leaving market participants to wonder: What comes next?
New York City is facing one of the most significant fiscal challenges in recent memory. The NYC Comptroller has projected a $2.2 billion budget shortfall for FY2026, growing to a $10.4 billion gap in FY2027 (Source: New York City Comptroller, January 2026). That is a two-year deficit of roughly $12.6 billion.
US stocks headed for a positive open on Monday as traders remained hopeful that Washington and Tehran would strike a peace deal, even amid a rise in oil prices.
The dollar is supposed to be dying. We’ve heard that argument for the better part of a decade, and it’s getting louder, not quieter. Dollar dominance isn’t fading. In fact, the events of late April 2026 just delivered the loudest counter-signal in years.
What is unusual about today, and I mean genuinely unusual, historically unusual, is that the people building the equivalent of Newcomen's engine today know exactly (or think they do) what they are building. They are not just pumping water. They “know” the vast potential.
The SpaceX initial public offering prospectus is more than 400 pages of rocket fuel-grade ambition. It is also an extended warning for investors in Tesla Inc. who aren’t named Elon Musk.
It’s been more than three years since Silicon Valley Bank lost a quarter of its deposits in a day, kicking off a string of bank rescues. The shocking speed of that run was attributed, in part, to the rapid spread of information on social media and the efficiency of digital banking.
As more individuals turn to non-traditional financial advice — offered through social media, artificial intelligence, or other online services and platforms — advisors will be tasked with fostering a greater sense of trust with the public.
Last Friday closed with the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.60%, a one-year high, and the doom commentary about rising interest rates was waiting before the bell even rang. Hyperinflation. Bond market breakdown. Paradigm shift. A 1981 fair-value retest.
Elon Musk has bucked the trend of industrial conglomerate breakups, including such illustrious companies as General Electric and Honeywell International Inc., and decided to form a somewhat unwieldy company that makes rockets, spacecraft, satellites, antennas, modems and now computer chips. With SpaceX’s purchase of Musk’s xAI in February, the world’s leading space company was married to an AI startup and the X social media platform.
Reassessing legacy systems through a modern lens can help firms identify where closed, context-aware platforms may offer a stronger foundation for communication governance, operational efficiency and regulatory confidence. Open AI models helped kickstart automation in compliance. Closed platforms will likely make it sustainable.
The stagflation narrative dominating financial social media isn’t completely wrong. That’s what makes it so dangerous. After more than 30 years of managing client portfolios through actual inflationary cycles, not watching them on YouTube, I’ve learned that the most damaging investment advice isn’t built on outright lies.
US equities continue to march higher in 2026 despite geopolitical uncertainties, supported by resilient economic data and strong corporate earnings. Much of the market narrative remains focused on mega-cap technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
To understand the full impact of AI on advisor productivity, it’s important to look beyond speed alone. The more relevant question is whether efficiency gains are creating meaningful breathing room or simply raising expectations and expanding the scope of work.
Nvidia Corp. co-founder Jensen Huang joined US President Donald Trump on his visit to China as a last-minute addition, thrusting AI and technology into the spotlight before a high-stakes Beijing summit.
A scorching rally in Intel Corp. shares is threatening huge losses for traders wagering that they’re due to fall. But that isn’t stopping them from placing those bets.
Oil rose after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to his latest peace proposal, prolonging the effective closure of the crucial Strait of Hormu
Gen Z is coming of age in a world very different from that of their parents. Advisors who want to connect with this cohort need be conscious, not only of Gen Z’s biases and unique perspectives, but also of their own preconceptions and tendencies.
SpaceX also is ramping up its spending. The company said in April it’s struck an agreement for the right to acquire artificial intelligence startup Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or to pay $10 billion for the companies’ work together.
LPL Research examines overlooked tech growth, assessing strong earnings, AI skepticism, and valuation opportunities for investors.
In a recent (unscientific) Franklin Templeton social media poll, we asked investors what they felt was the biggest risk to the global economy over the next 12 months. Nearly half (45%) of respondents highlighted high oil prices as their greatest fear factor.
Volatility, tighter margins, and rising client expectations are prompting many Advisors to reassess whether their current broker-dealer or firm is still the best long-term fit. If you’re considering a transition, in this article we will discuss 10 essential questions to help guide your decision.
Without a clear owner, even the best marketing plans collect dust, while client work takes priority. But during those times when you're laser-focused on serving clients, the marketing that should be growing your practice isn't happening. Ideal prospects are finding someone else. Referral sources go quiet.
Over the past few weeks, a rising tide of optimism has been gathering in the equity markets. This positive momentum reached a crescendo last week when Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that, in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen for commercial vessels after being closed for approximately seven weeks beginning in late February.
Today we're going to look at the underlying data and find that while the world is not ending anytime soon, there are actually good reasons for the disparity in forecasts. So, it’s okay if you’re confused. The stock market just hit an all-time high, energy is volatile and will be a negative on global growth, to say the least.
The first quarter was defined by overlapping macro shocks and a violent shift in market leadership, punctuated by the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. As capital surged into physical assets such as energy, materials, and defense, software and other digital businesses faced a historic repricing.
Over the last few weeks, we have published real-time market commentary as the correction proceeded. The goal was to help investors navigate the more dire outcomes promoted on social media. A largely unexpected outcome was that the S&P 500 outlook changed dramatically in a matter of days.
The famed economist John Maynard Keynes said almost a century ago that “markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” He was referring to the unpredictable nature of investor sentiment: an amorphous, hard-to-define concept that nonetheless plays a major role across various asset classes.
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked Thursday, even as a handful of Chinese vessels lined up to escape, with a very fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran yet to improve traffic flows in the region.
Writing a book can bolster your credibility as a financial advisor, but it does something else that’s equally as valuable: It tells people who you are before you ever meet them.
For centuries the so-called cannon shot rule determined who controlled the seas. The legal concept, codified by Dutch jurist Cornelius van Bynkershoek in 1702, was simple: The distance a cannonball reached from shore set the maritime boundary of a coastal state.
US stocks rallied after President Donald Trump’s announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war spurred relief across markets.
If the economic life of AI hardware is shorter than its accounting life, reinvestment needs are higher than reported depreciation suggests. What appears to be capital deepening by hyperscalers is largely capital churn.
The defining statistic of the so-called K-shaped economy is a little hard to define.
Discover why Strait of Hormuz disruptions extend beyond oil, how supply shocks are transmitting into agriculture markets, and what third-order commodity effects may mean for portfolios.
Sovereign bonds rose around the world as concern the Middle East conflict will derail global economic growth revived demand for beaten-down government debt.
Meta Platforms Inc. was looking like the best Big Tech stock in the market when the year began. But investors’ fears of legal risks and heavy spending on artificial intelligence are bubbling to the surface, culminating in last week’s 11% rout.
Eve oversees dozens of brainiac office hands; monitors countless earning calls; keeps tabs on CEOs; parses corporate filings; conducts due diligence; brainstorms stock picks.
An approach I have recommended for years is to interview planners, ask questions, and persist until you get clear answers. Under a relatively new SEC rule, getting those answers is becoming more difficult.
There are at least two conflicting narratives about Gen Z and young millennials. One is that they are extremely risk averse — afraid even to go out of the house, much less on a date.
March Madness is losing much of what made it mad. Signs of the shift were clear last year. Cinderella teams, the low-seeded upstarts that are supposed to deliver upsets and attention, didn’t surprise anyone.
Engaging with client family members may seem tricky, but it can start with simple questions to the client first. In fact, asking your client about the personalities and desires of their loved ones may be a way of deepening your understanding of your client’s financial needs.
The US and Israel’s war on Iran is forcing world governments to intervene to shore up energy supplies, with ongoing missile fire from both sides disrupting flows through a key waterway.
US stocks dropped on Monday, continuing on from the biggest weekly drop since October, as the prospect of a prolonged war in Iran sent energy prices soaring and stoked fears over inflation.
Artificial intelligence has become one of the defining investment themes of this cycle. Yes, we may be hearing about the AI pullback as a valuation reset. However, that doesn’t change the underlying scale of adoption for this theme. And that’s evident even “under the hood” of ETFs.
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT 3.5, positioning around artificial intelligence-related companies has become a (perhaps “the”) critical decision for equity investors. AI investment spending by companies far exceeds current revenue generation from end-market use cases, leaving highly leveraged players facing existential risks.
President Donald Trump said the US will provide insurance guarantees and naval escorts to ensure safe passage for oil tankers and other vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to head off a potential energy crisis caused by the war with Iran.
By now you’ve likely seen the news that the Department of War (DOW) issued a Friday-evening ultimatum to Anthropic, maker of the Claude AI chatbot, demanding unrestricted military access to its technology.
It’s no secret for financial advisors today that cracking the millennial client base is a key part of their work. Every day, U.S. millennials inherit major sums of money and are unsure of how to steward their new assets.
The bulk of “Everybody Loses” sends the reader on a lurid journey through the sportsbook ecosystem. Funt is a talented investigative reporter with a velvet prose hand, but “Everybody Loses” features some key omissions. These oversights, however, are minor, and perhaps even necessary in such a tightly focused, powerful work.
Income rather than price is the primary driver of FRN returns. As policy rates and SOFR move, FRN coupons adjust accordingly, allowing income to rise in higher-rate environments and decline when rates fall.
With his move to impose new global tariffs, US President Donald Trump isn’t just trying to repair a trade policy dismantled by a Supreme Court rebuke. He’s also declaring the world’s largest economy is facing a profound balance-of-payments crisis.
It’s no surprise, then, that the majority of your marketing efforts are probably geared toward digital viewers. Here’s why print marketing is still worth your time and attention in a digital world, along with six print pieces to focus on first.
The article from the Wall Street Journal titled “Why My Generation Is Turning to Financial Nihilism” by Kyla Scanlon argues that Gen Z is embracing high-risk financial behavior out of despair and detachment, but the data shows something very different.
Artificial intelligence is a genuinely useful technology, but its impact will be uneven, gradual and impossible to predict. That’s the boring truth, however unlikely it is to go viral.
Before making a Roth conversion, always work with your advisor and consider the importance of timing and taxes to get the most out of the conversion. Just like Dr. Dre, you may need to make some charitable deductions to decrease your tax bill.
If you’re still attempting to make investment decisions without fully integrating geopolitics into your analysis, you’re operating at a significant disadvantage in today’s markets.
Novo Nordisk A/S’s chief executive officer asked investors to stick with him after a dire sales forecast caused a share price rout, saying a surge in prescriptions for cheaper obesity drugs will eventually revive growth.
Precious metals, cryptocurrency, and currency speculation appeal to fear-driven parts of us that want certainty, protection, or a shortcut to wealth. Unfortunately, for most investors, that promise is never fulfilled.
President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a major step to reset fractured ties with a surprise deal on Monday to slash tariffs, bringing much-needed relief to India’s economy.
At GMO, we have always defined a bubble as a two-standard deviation divergence of the price of any asset class above its long-term real price trend. The U.S. stock market has now been in bubble territory for a prolonged period. Sooner or later, the bubble will burst and the price will return to its historic level.
Gold surged to a record above $5,500 an ounce, extending a breakneck rally fueled by a weaker dollar and investor flight from sovereign bonds and currencies to a ninth day.
It’s possible to make your communication with clients both more impactful and more efficient if you’re smart and strategic about using the tools you have available. Let’s take a look at how to leverage some of the most common communication tools effectively for your firm.
Amazon.com Inc. is cutting 16,000 corporate jobs in an effort to remove layers of bureaucracy and “increase ownership,” becoming the latest company to target managers for layoffs in recent years.
Investors wondering about payoffs from the pile of cash being spent on artificial intelligence should get some clues when Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. post earnings after the close Wednesday.
Investing in line with our beliefs, whether about social issues, environmental concerns, or politics, can feel principled and emotionally satisfying. But markets don’t care about our convictions.
The next chapter of the aggregation success story won't be written by deal pace alone. Success will increasingly depend on the ability to attract, develop, and retain exceptional talent across diverse markets and service areas.
Anthropic PBC is finally having its own ChatGPT moment. A powerful new version of its Claude chatbot can now take actions on a computer, and the broad repercussions of that advance are impossible to predict.
Each year on January 28, Data Privacy Day underscores the global imperative to protect personal information in an increasingly digital environment. For high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families, this responsibility carries exponential weight.
The rise of AI follows a fundamentally different competitive logic than earlier technological revolutions. With massive capital requirements, high operating expenses, low switching costs, and intensifying regulatory scrutiny, success will depend less on scale and more on financial resilience and political influence.
OpenAI is ruling out the more obvious downsides for users of its free and $8-a-month ChatGPT Go tiers who will start seeing ads. Advertisers won’t influence the chatbot’s answers but rather post banners with images at the bottom of the screen.
Today, we continue my 2026 economic and market forecast. Last week, I described our current environment as The Bipolar Economy, and noted that the real goal here isn’t to tell you what will happen. It’s to help you know what could happen so you can be prepared.
Silver has been on a tear, rising fourfold in the last few years. To help investors assess whether silver is in a bubble, we take a new approach by examining a recent phenomenon: the recurring pattern of micro-bubbles.
President Donald Trump and the governors of several US Northeastern states agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction that would compel technology companies to effectively fund new power plants.
Silver pulled back from a record high as investors took profits after a blistering rally and as the US refrained from imposing import tariffs on critical minerals.
Most DC plan participants share the same goal of a comfortable retirement. It’s the journey that differs and much depends on personal investment knowledge, risk comfort level and other qualities, according to the latest research by AllianceBernstein (AB).
Wall Street loves few things more than a good acronym to describe a trading thesis. Think FANG, FOMO/YOLO and TACO.
Clients, they remember (your messaging because) they are living it and being it. That’s one way to make yourself memorable — have something that is easy to remember and connect with.
According to just about every significant economic indicator, including the December jobs numbers released Friday, the US economy is doing fine. Not great, mind you: Job growth stalled in 2025. But unemployment is low, gross domestic product growth is solid, and inflation is seemingly trending downward.
The goal isn’t to be perfect; it’s to make fewer mistakes than last year because investing success doesn’t come from reading motivational quotes or watching market TikToks at midnight.
US equities edged higher on Friday, as December’s payrolls report did little to change the outlook for leaving interest rates on hold. Traders remain on alert for a possible Supreme Court ruling on whether President Donald Trump’s tariffs are legal.
President Donald Trump is set to outline his vision for rebuilding Venezuela’s battered oil sector Friday in a meeting with representatives from 17 energy companies, including crude producers, refiners and commodity traders.
Money managers like Blackstone Inc. and Pretium who binged on single-family rentals in the wake of the financial crisis took blow after blow as housing prices shot up. But the cohort has since cooled its buying, and the attacks slowed.
Current and potential clients notice advisors who are thought leaders with a strong personal brand, but thought leadership is more than just the communication shared from a podium or social media platform — it’s also one-on-one conversations and small gatherings that drive change in individuals’ lives.
The defining feature of every bubble is the same: a growing inconsistency between the long-term returns that investors expect in their heads - based on extrapolation of the past, and the long-term returns that properly relate prices to likely future cash flows - based on valuations. Every bubble smuggles the same tragic past into the same tragic future by packaging it with new wrinkles that convince investors that this time is different. Ultimately, they still end the same way.
Michael serves as Head of Distribution for Eventide. He is responsible for Eventide's product, distribution, and education strategy. Mr. Schnackenberg leads Eventide's Sales, Marketing, Key Accounts, and Eventide Center for Faith and Investing teams.
With silver and gold both surging significantly higher over the past couple of weeks, a correction was inevitable. When an asset price quickly rises, at some point, it will ultimately become oversold. Investors book profits, and the price corrects.
In this year-end reflection, we eschew the typical theater of market predictions to instead examine the "knew-it-all-along" effect and the cognitive illusions that make past volatility seem orderly.
Tesla’s surging valuation reflects Wall Street’s immense faith in Elon Musk’s AI and robotics vision, even as the company’s core automotive fundamentals face significant pressure.
Social Media
Reading Between the Lines: NLP for Long-Horizon Factor Investing (Part 1 of 2)
When it comes to systematic investing, numbers tell only part of the story. Traditional quantitative models rely on prices, earnings, and balance sheet data, but words matter too.
Are Bessent’s Hands Tied?
The rise in U.S. Treasury (UST) yields, specifically the ten-year note, since late February has captured the attention of global investors in a very visible fashion. Just a couple of weeks ago, headlines were blaring that the UST 10-year yield had reached its highest level since the beginning of 2025, leaving market participants to wonder: What comes next?
The Muni Brief: NYC’s Pied-à-Terre Tax
New York City is facing one of the most significant fiscal challenges in recent memory. The NYC Comptroller has projected a $2.2 billion budget shortfall for FY2026, growing to a $10.4 billion gap in FY2027 (Source: New York City Comptroller, January 2026). That is a two-year deficit of roughly $12.6 billion.
US Futures Rise as Traders Remain Hopeful of US-Iran Peace Deal
US stocks headed for a positive open on Monday as traders remained hopeful that Washington and Tehran would strike a peace deal, even amid a rise in oil prices.
Dollar Dominance Remains Alive And Well (Part 1)
The dollar is supposed to be dying. We’ve heard that argument for the better part of a decade, and it’s getting louder, not quieter. Dollar dominance isn’t fading. In fact, the events of late April 2026 just delivered the loudest counter-signal in years.
The Future Arrives Unevenly
What is unusual about today, and I mean genuinely unusual, historically unusual, is that the people building the equivalent of Newcomen's engine today know exactly (or think they do) what they are building. They are not just pumping water. They “know” the vast potential.
SpaceX Writes Tesla’s Future in the Stars
The SpaceX initial public offering prospectus is more than 400 pages of rocket fuel-grade ambition. It is also an extended warning for investors in Tesla Inc. who aren’t named Elon Musk.
Banks Need to Prepare for a High-Speed Run
It’s been more than three years since Silicon Valley Bank lost a quarter of its deposits in a day, kicking off a string of bank rescues. The shocking speed of that run was attributed, in part, to the rapid spread of information on social media and the efficiency of digital banking.
Building Trust as Finance Shifts From Traditional Advice
As more individuals turn to non-traditional financial advice — offered through social media, artificial intelligence, or other online services and platforms — advisors will be tasked with fostering a greater sense of trust with the public.
Rising Interest Rates: Why The Narrative Fails Against The Data
Last Friday closed with the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.60%, a one-year high, and the doom commentary about rising interest rates was waiting before the bell even rang. Hyperinflation. Bond market breakdown. Paradigm shift. A 1981 fair-value retest.
Musk Is Leading SpaceX Into the Conglomerate Trap
Elon Musk has bucked the trend of industrial conglomerate breakups, including such illustrious companies as General Electric and Honeywell International Inc., and decided to form a somewhat unwieldy company that makes rockets, spacecraft, satellites, antennas, modems and now computer chips. With SpaceX’s purchase of Musk’s xAI in February, the world’s leading space company was married to an AI startup and the X social media platform.
From Open Models to Closed Platforms: The Next Generation of AI-Backed RegTech Is Here
Reassessing legacy systems through a modern lens can help firms identify where closed, context-aware platforms may offer a stronger foundation for communication governance, operational efficiency and regulatory confidence. Open AI models helped kickstart automation in compliance. Closed platforms will likely make it sustainable.
The Stagflation Narrative: What Doomers Get Wrong – Part II
The stagflation narrative dominating financial social media isn’t completely wrong. That’s what makes it so dangerous. After more than 30 years of managing client portfolios through actual inflationary cycles, not watching them on YouTube, I’ve learned that the most damaging investment advice isn’t built on outright lies.
Rethinking US Equity Exposure Through Sectors
US equities continue to march higher in 2026 despite geopolitical uncertainties, supported by resilient economic data and strong corporate earnings. Much of the market narrative remains focused on mega-cap technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
The Productivity Paradox: Why AI Is Making Advisors Busier
To understand the full impact of AI on advisor productivity, it’s important to look beyond speed alone. The more relevant question is whether efficiency gains are creating meaningful breathing room or simply raising expectations and expanding the scope of work.
Nvidia’s CEO Joins Trump in China With AI in the Spotlight
Nvidia Corp. co-founder Jensen Huang joined US President Donald Trump on his visit to China as a last-minute addition, thrusting AI and technology into the spotlight before a high-stakes Beijing summit.
Intel’s $440 Billion Six-Week Surge Has Short Sellers Circling
A scorching rally in Intel Corp. shares is threatening huge losses for traders wagering that they’re due to fall. But that isn’t stopping them from placing those bets.
Oil Climbs as Hormuz Stays Shut After Trump Rebuffs Iran’s Offer
Oil rose after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to his latest peace proposal, prolonging the effective closure of the crucial Strait of Hormu
Crossing the Digital Divide: 6 Keys for Marketing to Gen Z
Gen Z is coming of age in a world very different from that of their parents. Advisors who want to connect with this cohort need be conscious, not only of Gen Z’s biases and unique perspectives, but also of their own preconceptions and tendencies.
SpaceX Flags at Least $55 Billion Investment in Chip Plant
SpaceX also is ramping up its spending. The company said in April it’s struck an agreement for the right to acquire artificial intelligence startup Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or to pay $10 billion for the companies’ work together.
AI Wave Continues to Power Technology Earnings Boom
LPL Research examines overlooked tech growth, assessing strong earnings, AI skepticism, and valuation opportunities for investors.
Are Markets Complacent?
In a recent (unscientific) Franklin Templeton social media poll, we asked investors what they felt was the biggest risk to the global economy over the next 12 months. Nearly half (45%) of respondents highlighted high oil prices as their greatest fear factor.
10 Smart Questions Financial Advisors Should Ask Before Making a Move
Volatility, tighter margins, and rising client expectations are prompting many Advisors to reassess whether their current broker-dealer or firm is still the best long-term fit. If you’re considering a transition, in this article we will discuss 10 essential questions to help guide your decision.
Your Marketing Isn't Failing — It Just Doesn't Have an Owner
Without a clear owner, even the best marketing plans collect dust, while client work takes priority. But during those times when you're laser-focused on serving clients, the marketing that should be growing your practice isn't happening. Ideal prospects are finding someone else. Referral sources go quiet.
Strait of Hormuz Standoff Reignites Volatility
Over the past few weeks, a rising tide of optimism has been gathering in the equity markets. This positive momentum reached a crescendo last week when Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that, in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen for commercial vessels after being closed for approximately seven weeks beginning in late February.
Divergent Data
Today we're going to look at the underlying data and find that while the world is not ending anytime soon, there are actually good reasons for the disparity in forecasts. So, it’s okay if you’re confused. The stock market just hit an all-time high, energy is volatile and will be a negative on global growth, to say the least.
Q1 2026 Baird Chautauqua International and Global Growth Fund Commentary
The first quarter was defined by overlapping macro shocks and a violent shift in market leadership, punctuated by the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. As capital surged into physical assets such as energy, materials, and defense, software and other digital businesses faced a historic repricing.
S&P 500 Outlook: The 8.2% Rally & What Comes Next
Over the last few weeks, we have published real-time market commentary as the correction proceeded. The goal was to help investors navigate the more dire outcomes promoted on social media. A largely unexpected outcome was that the S&P 500 outlook changed dramatically in a matter of days.
Differentiating Between Fundamentals and Investor Sentiment
The famed economist John Maynard Keynes said almost a century ago that “markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” He was referring to the unpredictable nature of investor sentiment: an amorphous, hard-to-define concept that nonetheless plays a major role across various asset classes.
Hormuz Traffic Still Blocked as Iran Tries to Formalize Control
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked Thursday, even as a handful of Chinese vessels lined up to escape, with a very fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran yet to improve traffic flows in the region.
From Advisor to Authority: The Strategic Value of Authoring a Book
Writing a book can bolster your credibility as a financial advisor, but it does something else that’s equally as valuable: It tells people who you are before you ever meet them.
The US and Iran Have Blueprints for a Hormuz Deal
For centuries the so-called cannon shot rule determined who controlled the seas. The legal concept, codified by Dutch jurist Cornelius van Bynkershoek in 1702, was simple: The distance a cannonball reached from shore set the maritime boundary of a coastal state.
US Stocks Rally on Ceasefire, Goldman Warns of Short Squeeze
US stocks rallied after President Donald Trump’s announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war spurred relief across markets.
When Will AI Be Both Powerful and Profitable?
If the economic life of AI hardware is shorter than its accounting life, reinvestment needs are higher than reported depreciation suggests. What appears to be capital deepening by hyperscalers is largely capital churn.
The K-Shaped Economy’s Defining Statistic Has Some Problems
The defining statistic of the so-called K-shaped economy is a little hard to define.
The Hormuz Domino Effect: From Energy Shock to Food Crisis
Discover why Strait of Hormuz disruptions extend beyond oil, how supply shocks are transmitting into agriculture markets, and what third-order commodity effects may mean for portfolios.
Government Bonds Rally Around the World on Slowdown Concerns
Sovereign bonds rose around the world as concern the Middle East conflict will derail global economic growth revived demand for beaten-down government debt.
Meta Faces $310 Billion Market Value Drop on Legal, AI Concerns
Meta Platforms Inc. was looking like the best Big Tech stock in the market when the year began. But investors’ fears of legal risks and heavy spending on artificial intelligence are bubbling to the surface, culminating in last week’s 11% rout.
Meet Eve, the AI Brain Behind an Ex-Coatue Trader’s New Fund
Eve oversees dozens of brainiac office hands; monitors countless earning calls; keeps tabs on CEOs; parses corporate filings; conducts due diligence; brainstorms stock picks.
Why A Financial Advisor Might Avoid Some Of Your Questions
An approach I have recommended for years is to interview planners, ask questions, and persist until you get clear answers. Under a relatively new SEC rule, getting those answers is becoming more difficult.
Why Are Young People Taking So Many Unwise Financial Risks?
There are at least two conflicting narratives about Gen Z and young millennials. One is that they are extremely risk averse — afraid even to go out of the house, much less on a date.
What’s March Without the Madness? Good for NCAA Business
March Madness is losing much of what made it mad. Signs of the shift were clear last year. Cinderella teams, the low-seeded upstarts that are supposed to deliver upsets and attention, didn’t surprise anyone.
Build Your Practice by Building the Whole Family Relationship
Engaging with client family members may seem tricky, but it can start with simple questions to the client first. In fact, asking your client about the personalities and desires of their loved ones may be a way of deepening your understanding of your client’s financial needs.
World Races to Protect Oil Flows as Iran Attacks Continue
The US and Israel’s war on Iran is forcing world governments to intervene to shore up energy supplies, with ongoing missile fire from both sides disrupting flows through a key waterway.
US Stocks Extend Declines as Oil Spike Fuels Inflation Concerns
US stocks dropped on Monday, continuing on from the biggest weekly drop since October, as the prospect of a prolonged war in Iran sent energy prices soaring and stoked fears over inflation.
AI-Enhanced ETFs: The Next Evolution of Quant Investing
Artificial intelligence has become one of the defining investment themes of this cycle. Yes, we may be hearing about the AI pullback as a valuation reset. However, that doesn’t change the underlying scale of adoption for this theme. And that’s evident even “under the hood” of ETFs.
Hype vs. High Conviction
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT 3.5, positioning around artificial intelligence-related companies has become a (perhaps “the”) critical decision for equity investors. AI investment spending by companies far exceeds current revenue generation from end-market use cases, leaving highly leveraged players facing existential risks.
Trump Says US Will Escort, Insure Oil Tankers Amid Iran War
President Donald Trump said the US will provide insurance guarantees and naval escorts to ensure safe passage for oil tankers and other vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to head off a potential energy crisis caused by the war with Iran.
Why the Pentagon-Anthropic Showdown Proves AI Defense Spending Is Just Getting Started
By now you’ve likely seen the news that the Department of War (DOW) issued a Friday-evening ultimatum to Anthropic, maker of the Claude AI chatbot, demanding unrestricted military access to its technology.
How Financial Advisors Can Best Reach Millennial Clients
It’s no secret for financial advisors today that cracking the millennial client base is a key part of their work. Every day, U.S. millennials inherit major sums of money and are unsure of how to steward their new assets.
Funt Book Explains Why “Everybody Loses”
The bulk of “Everybody Loses” sends the reader on a lurid journey through the sportsbook ecosystem. Funt is a talented investigative reporter with a velvet prose hand, but “Everybody Loses” features some key omissions. These oversights, however, are minor, and perhaps even necessary in such a tightly focused, powerful work.
What Drives Returns in Floating Rate Notes?
Income rather than price is the primary driver of FRN returns. As policy rates and SOFR move, FRN coupons adjust accordingly, allowing income to rise in higher-rate environments and decline when rates fall.
Trump Pegs New Tariffs to a Payments Crisis Experts Doubt
With his move to impose new global tariffs, US President Donald Trump isn’t just trying to repair a trade policy dismantled by a Supreme Court rebuke. He’s also declaring the world’s largest economy is facing a profound balance-of-payments crisis.
Don’t Count Print Out: Strategic Print Marketing for Financial Advisors
It’s no surprise, then, that the majority of your marketing efforts are probably geared toward digital viewers. Here’s why print marketing is still worth your time and attention in a digital world, along with six print pieces to focus on first.
Financial Nihilism & The Trap Young Investors Are Walking Into
The article from the Wall Street Journal titled “Why My Generation Is Turning to Financial Nihilism” by Kyla Scanlon argues that Gen Z is embracing high-risk financial behavior out of despair and detachment, but the data shows something very different.
The AI Panic Ignores Something Important — the Evidence
Artificial intelligence is a genuinely useful technology, but its impact will be uneven, gradual and impossible to predict. That’s the boring truth, however unlikely it is to go viral.
What Can Dr. Dre’s Career Teach Us About a Roth Conversion Strategy?
Before making a Roth conversion, always work with your advisor and consider the importance of timing and taxes to get the most out of the conversion. Just like Dr. Dre, you may need to make some charitable deductions to decrease your tax bill.
GeoMacro Has Arrived
If you’re still attempting to make investment decisions without fully integrating geopolitics into your analysis, you’re operating at a significant disadvantage in today’s markets.
Novo Chief Asks for Investors’ Patience as Shares Plunge
Novo Nordisk A/S’s chief executive officer asked investors to stick with him after a dire sales forecast caused a share price rout, saying a surge in prescriptions for cheaper obesity drugs will eventually revive growth.
Declining Dollar? Don’t Let Fear Drive High-Risk Investment Choices
Precious metals, cryptocurrency, and currency speculation appeal to fear-driven parts of us that want certainty, protection, or a shortcut to wealth. Unfortunately, for most investors, that promise is never fulfilled.
Trump’s Surprise Trade Deal With India Resets Fractured Ties
President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a major step to reset fractured ties with a surprise deal on Monday to slash tariffs, bringing much-needed relief to India’s economy.
Valuing AI: Extreme Bubble, New Golden Era, or Both
At GMO, we have always defined a bubble as a two-standard deviation divergence of the price of any asset class above its long-term real price trend. The U.S. stock market has now been in bubble territory for a prolonged period. Sooner or later, the bubble will burst and the price will return to its historic level.
Gold Tops $5,500 as Record Rally Gains Pace on Debasement Trade
Gold surged to a record above $5,500 an ounce, extending a breakneck rally fueled by a weaker dollar and investor flight from sovereign bonds and currencies to a ninth day.
Effective Client Communication Strategies for Busy Advisory Firms
It’s possible to make your communication with clients both more impactful and more efficient if you’re smart and strategic about using the tools you have available. Let’s take a look at how to leverage some of the most common communication tools effectively for your firm.
Amazon to Cut 16,000 Corporate Positions to Trim Bureaucracy
Amazon.com Inc. is cutting 16,000 corporate jobs in an effort to remove layers of bureaucracy and “increase ownership,” becoming the latest company to target managers for layoffs in recent years.
Microsoft and Meta Earnings Put a Focus on Payoffs From AI Spending
Investors wondering about payoffs from the pile of cash being spent on artificial intelligence should get some clues when Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. post earnings after the close Wednesday.
Markets Don’t Care How You Feel About Investments
Investing in line with our beliefs, whether about social issues, environmental concerns, or politics, can feel principled and emotionally satisfying. But markets don’t care about our convictions.
A Talent Crisis Lurks Behind RIA Aggregator Growth
The next chapter of the aggregation success story won't be written by deal pace alone. Success will increasingly depend on the ability to attract, develop, and retain exceptional talent across diverse markets and service areas.
Anthropic’s Next Big AI Hit Could Also Bruise the Jobs Market
Anthropic PBC is finally having its own ChatGPT moment. A powerful new version of its Claude chatbot can now take actions on a computer, and the broad repercussions of that advance are impossible to predict.
How Sequoia Financial Group Safeguards Your Information Every Day
Each year on January 28, Data Privacy Day underscores the global imperative to protect personal information in an increasingly digital environment. For high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families, this responsibility carries exponential weight.
Why AI Is Unlike Previous Tech Booms
The rise of AI follows a fundamentally different competitive logic than earlier technological revolutions. With massive capital requirements, high operating expenses, low switching costs, and intensifying regulatory scrutiny, success will depend less on scale and more on financial resilience and political influence.
Sam Altman’s ‘Last Resort’ for ChatGPT Looks a Lot Like Facebook
OpenAI is ruling out the more obvious downsides for users of its free and $8-a-month ChatGPT Go tiers who will start seeing ads. Advertisers won’t influence the chatbot’s answers but rather post banners with images at the bottom of the screen.
The Bipolar Economy, Part 2
Today, we continue my 2026 economic and market forecast. Last week, I described our current environment as The Bipolar Economy, and noted that the real goal here isn’t to tell you what will happen. It’s to help you know what could happen so you can be prepared.
The Silver Surge: Micro Bubble or Reasonable Climb?
Silver has been on a tear, rising fourfold in the last few years. To help investors assess whether silver is in a bubble, we take a new approach by examining a recent phenomenon: the recurring pattern of micro-bubbles.
Trump Moves to Make Tech Giants Pay for Surging Power Costs
President Donald Trump and the governors of several US Northeastern states agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction that would compel technology companies to effectively fund new power plants.
Silver Falls After Trump Holds Off on Critical Mineral Tariffs
Silver pulled back from a record high as investors took profits after a blistering rally and as the US refrained from imposing import tariffs on critical minerals.
What Makes DC Plan Participants Tick?
Most DC plan participants share the same goal of a comfortable retirement. It’s the journey that differs and much depends on personal investment knowledge, risk comfort level and other qualities, according to the latest research by AllianceBernstein (AB).
Ned Davis Distills Political Angst Into ‘Big MAC’ Equity Trade
Wall Street loves few things more than a good acronym to describe a trading thesis. Think FANG, FOMO/YOLO and TACO.
How to Nail the Right Social Media Strategy for Your Practice
Clients, they remember (your messaging because) they are living it and being it. That’s one way to make yourself memorable — have something that is easy to remember and connect with.
Americans Are Right to Be Worried About the Labor Market
According to just about every significant economic indicator, including the December jobs numbers released Friday, the US economy is doing fine. Not great, mind you: Job growth stalled in 2025. But unemployment is low, gross domestic product growth is solid, and inflation is seemingly trending downward.
New Year’s Resolutions For 2026 – Investor Version
The goal isn’t to be perfect; it’s to make fewer mistakes than last year because investing success doesn’t come from reading motivational quotes or watching market TikToks at midnight.
Stocks Rise as Traders Weigh Jobs Data, Brace for Tariff Ruling
US equities edged higher on Friday, as December’s payrolls report did little to change the outlook for leaving interest rates on hold. Traders remain on alert for a possible Supreme Court ruling on whether President Donald Trump’s tariffs are legal.
Trump to Meet Energy Executives, Outline Plan for Venezuela
President Donald Trump is set to outline his vision for rebuilding Venezuela’s battered oil sector Friday in a meeting with representatives from 17 energy companies, including crude producers, refiners and commodity traders.
Trump Bid to Ban Corporate Homebuying Blindsides Wall Street
Money managers like Blackstone Inc. and Pretium who binged on single-family rentals in the wake of the financial crisis took blow after blow as housing prices shot up. But the cohort has since cooled its buying, and the attacks slowed.
How Thought Leadership & Marketing Strategies Can Boost a Practice’s Growth
Current and potential clients notice advisors who are thought leaders with a strong personal brand, but thought leadership is more than just the communication shared from a podium or social media platform — it’s also one-on-one conversations and small gatherings that drive change in individuals’ lives.
How the Bubble Manipulates Time
The defining feature of every bubble is the same: a growing inconsistency between the long-term returns that investors expect in their heads - based on extrapolation of the past, and the long-term returns that properly relate prices to likely future cash flows - based on valuations. Every bubble smuggles the same tragic past into the same tragic future by packaging it with new wrinkles that convince investors that this time is different. Ultimately, they still end the same way.
ETF 360 | Michael Schnackenberg of Eventide
Michael serves as Head of Distribution for Eventide. He is responsible for Eventide's product, distribution, and education strategy. Mr. Schnackenberg leads Eventide's Sales, Marketing, Key Accounts, and Eventide Center for Faith and Investing teams.
Why Did Gold and Silver Tank on Monday?
With silver and gold both surging significantly higher over the past couple of weeks, a correction was inevitable. When an asset price quickly rises, at some point, it will ultimately become oversold. Investors book profits, and the price corrects.
When the Future Becomes the Past
In this year-end reflection, we eschew the typical theater of market predictions to instead examine the "knew-it-all-along" effect and the cognitive illusions that make past volatility seem orderly.
Tesla’s Musk Premium in Focus With SpaceX IPO on the Horizon
Tesla’s surging valuation reflects Wall Street’s immense faith in Elon Musk’s AI and robotics vision, even as the company’s core automotive fundamentals face significant pressure.