Thematic ETFs have come a long way since they made their full debut in the ETF ecosystem.
August's ZHVI came in at $349,770, up 0.47% from July and up 0.40% from August 2022. However after adjusting for inflation, the real figures are 0.09% month-over-month and -6.45% year-over-year. Nominal home values have increased for 5 straight months while "real" home values have only increased for 3 straight months.
Labor strikes aren’t cheap. Equipment sits idle. Supply chains get gummed up. Workers lose wages, shareholders lose profits, governments lose tax revenue. All these effects can have an adverse impact on economic growth, employment and inflation.
The European Central Bank is likely at or very near its peak policy rate, but we don’t expect rate cuts in the near term.
The Franklin Templeton Fixed Income team believe that issuers that think critically about the environment in which they operate could outperform throughout the full market cycle compared with those who are slower to adapt.
Banks have reemerged as a potential pain point for the investment community, as rating agencies recently embarked on a downgrade cycle in the sector.
To widen your audience, deepen client bonds, and carve out a strong market presence, a webinar strategy is your ticket to success.
US five- and 10-year yields rose to the highest levels since 2007 after hotter-than-anticipated inflation data in Canada and rising oil prices added to global concerns about resurgent price pressures.
Given the uncertainty over a recession, there are other incremental steps that investors may want to consider instead. These include making adjustments to a portfolio’s market beta and credit exposure.
A return to the Great Moderation Era looks unlikely, which might lead to an increasingly volatile—and somewhat unfamiliar—inflationary, economic, and geopolitical landscape.
Celebrating an exciting milestone: Franklin Income Fund turns 75. Learn more about this flagship strategy and read some fun facts from back in 1948.
Rather than reacting to financial challenges and opportunities as they arise, local entrepreneurs are embracing new perspectives on change management by preparing for change beforehand.
Have you ever wondered why your closing ratio on seminar attendees rarely exceeds 40%?
Now seems like a good time to talk about wrappers and which ones are best for different situations. How do you decide whether to use an ETF, a mutual fund, or something else?
When markets are in a rising tide, all boats (aka stocks) can benefit. When the waters are choppier, active equity selection aims to identify the sounder vessels. Tony DeSpirito reviews five reasons why he believes the new environment is setting up to favor an active approach.
The FOMC will make some close calls and tough decisions.
Confidence is returning to the bond markets and one sign is corporations’ willingness to start taking on debt again with new issuance.
Markets are convinced that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is going to pause its interest rate campaign after it finalizes its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday, September 20.
Despite substantial growth and huge advancements in public policy support, clean energy has had an abysmal stretch in the stock market the last two and a half years.
Rising interest rates are giving sellers an opportunity to broaden their opportunity set.
Here’s how I apply behavioral finance to help clients to think differently about their investing.
Warren Buffett has advised investors to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful. New research confirms Buffett’s admonition.
Credit Research Analysts Greg Schantz and Julian Wellesley dive into why they favor European banks vs US banks and why they see a potential opportunity in Yankee bank bonds.
Economists are playing a game of “can-you-top-this this,” seeing who can ramp up their US economic growth forecasts the most.
Competing narratives have emerged to describe the state of the U.S. economy.
Soft consumer confidence and property-market woes are playing a large role in the slowdown of China’s economy.
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for U.S. growth, employment, interest rates and inflation.
AI, with its data analysis and predictive power, can revolutionize investing. However, humans remain a crucial part of the process. Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions provides use cases into how different investors can harness AI to achieve their desired outcomes and workflows.
The Energizer Bunny! That’s the term that best describes the U.S. economy.
BlackRock and Human Interest have found that American workers earning less than the national average are not saving due to lack of access to saving tools. Broadening access requires an intuitive and automated approach to retirement savings.
If held until the bond is redeemed (either by call or maturity), the annual yield earned for the life of a bond is known upfront at the time of purchase. Knowing the return on an investment upfront makes long-term financial planning a much easier task.
Hear from Jeff Schulze, Head of Economic and Market Strategy at ClearBridge Investments, about the state of the US economy. Get his perspective on the Federal Reserve’s next potential moves.
Some investment trends seem obvious — people are watching more streaming movies, consumers like shopping online, and more people are buying electric cars. So why don’t these ETFs always work?
Municipals posted negative total returns amid rising interest rates. Issuance exceeded tempered expectations, while demand waned as performance struggled.
The consensus is wrong, and the Fed has not engineered a “soft landing.” A recession is all but certain in the first half of next year, according to Jeffrey Gundlach.
Measuring, anticipating and controlling the cost of healthcare are all difficult.
How long will the Federal Reserve continue quantitative tightening (QT)? How large will its balance sheet be when QT ends? These important questions impact financial market liquidity, the anchor of asset values. We assess the likely path of QT in the years ahead.
ETFs are the instrument of choice for millions of investors in the U.S. Through a single trade and for a relatively low price, an investor gains broad exposure to a market, sector or niche.
For the savvy private wealth investor, portfolio diversity is key to success. Investing in infrastructure is one option that can help you both optimize your portfolio and make a positive and meaningful impact on your local community.
In this first episode, Franklin Templeton Institute’s Tony Davidow discusses the democratization of alternative investments and related topics with CAIA’s John Bowman.
This month, the Census Bureau released its annual report on household income data for 2022. Last year the median (middle) average household income fell by 2.3% to $74,580. Let's take a closer look at the quintile averages, which dates from 1967, along with the statistics for the top 5%.
Let's do some analysis of the Consumer Price Index, the best-known measure of inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) divides all expenditures into eight categories and assigns a relative size to each. The pie chart illustrates the components of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers, the CPI-U.
Incorporating debt planning into your services helps your clients achieve a more comprehensive and sustainable financial future.
Normalizing economic activity and the slow but steadily growing lag effect will result in a recession.
I've updated this series to include the August release of the consumer price index as the deflator and the monthly employment update. The latest hypothetical real (inflation-adjusted) annual earnings are at $49,010, down 8.1% from over 50 years ago. Hourly earnings are below their all-time high after adjusting for inflation.
Since the beginning of the year, economic data has continued to defy the recession calls of 2022.
Over the last year and a half, we have seen some of the highest inflation rates since the second of the two recessions in the early 1980s. Recently, we have started to slowly make our way back down and are currently at levels seen during the early 1990s recession. Here is a table showing the annualized change in Headline and Core CPI, not seasonally adjusted, for each of the past six months.
ESG has dominated advisors’ minds when it comes to looking at the current generation of young prospective clients. It remains a popular investment approach for millennial and Gen Z clients per surveys.
Known as “onsemi” for short, this Knowledge Leader is a global leader in intelligent power and sensing solutions for industries ranging from automotive to industrial, and from 5G & cloud power to medical solutions.
PIMCO’s Global Advisory Board discusses economic and geopolitical factors shaping the long-term global outlook.
There has been lots of speculation lately regarding China’s economic “decline” or potential economic “perils,” so much so that newspaper articles about the coming demise of China’s miracle economic growth over the previous decades continue to take (our) time away from other, perhaps, more important topics.
Higher yields on cash have allowed some de-risking.
Changes in sentiment may drive the performance of the Eurozone equity markets, even with disappointing economic data.
Our commentary on household income distribution focuses on average household incomes over the 50+ year history of this data series. The analysis offers some fascinating insights into U.S. household incomes, but misses the implications of age for income. In this update, we examine household income from a different perspective with a focus on age bracket.
Municipal bonds are an often overlooked corner of the fixed income space. Because they are tax exempt, munis give investors efficient, low-risk income. Join the experts at Goldman Sachs and VettaFi for a webcast discussing a muni strategy that prioritizes 1-to-15-year maturities within the investment grade municipal bond universe.
The headline number for the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index decreased to 91.3 in August, as small business owners continued to report inflation as their biggest problem. The latest reading was worse than the forecast of 91.6 and marked the 20th consecutive month the index has been below the series average of 98.
We expect yields to fall later this year and into 2024 as inflation continues to cool.
The U.S. dollar has dropped to its lowest level against other currencies in 15 months. In this environment, a wide range of assets stand to profit, not least of which is the AI-infused U.S. technology sector. However, no space stands more ready to benefit from this environment than emerging markets..
Today's economic conditions are attractive for BDCs (business development companies), and some benefit from businesses seeking alternative financing sources.
In the final part of our series on global supply chains, portfolio managers Inbok Song and Sherwood Zhang look at the companies that are reconfiguring their networks and portfolio manager Vivek Tanneeru gives his assessment on the investment opportunities.
A hard landing in China would rattle Asian economies.
Oil has entered a new uptrend after finally breaking out from nearly a year-long bottom formation. Support from OPEC+, notably Saudi Arabia’s one million barrel per day production cut for the remainder of the year, has been a major driver of the rally.
New research shows that stocks have historically been a poor hedge against inflation over anything but very long horizons.
Even though past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, investors should prepare for continued market volatility this month.
High-yield bonds, often referred to as “junk” or “speculative grade,” are corporate bonds that command a higher interest rate than other bonds. This higher yield is essentially compensation for the increased risk of default that investors assume when purchasing these securities.
Resilient consumer spending has been a pillar of the US economy. While activity may soften, we think the consumer will help the coming slowdown stay mild.
With government stimulus over, accumulated savings starting to become depleted, rents soaring, and student loans about to switch back on, it appears a credit cycle has begun where borrowers struggle to fulfill their financial commitments.
On the interest rate front, the Federal funds rate is now close to systematic benchmarks that have historically been consistent with prevailing core inflation, nominal GDP growth, and unemployment.
Tony Davidow, Senior Alternatives Investment Strategist, at Franklin Templeton Institute, shares some takeaways from a panel discussion on the topic.
For some organizations, a partial outsourcing of their investment program is preferable to total outsourcing. Despite this, some OCIO providers will still try very hard to sell companies on a full OCIO solution.
When you step back and think about it, it is hard to believe that this hugely important retirement benefit has only been around for just over 40 years.
Dina Ting, Franklin Templeton ETFs’ Head of Global Index Portfolio Management, explores the positive trends that are making a case for holding UK equities.
The August jobs report confirms the labor market's continued slowdown, which is for now consistent with the Fed's soft-landing desires—but not without warning signs.
Pop Quiz! Without recourse to your text, your notes, or a Google search, what line item is the largest asset in Uncle Sam's financial accounts?
A staff report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York titled “Capital Management and Wealth Inequality” comes to some remarkable Marxist conclusions.
Back in the 1980s, President Reagan took enormous political heat (Sam Donaldson comes to mind) for being fiscally irresponsible. His offense? Presiding over a budget deficit that peaked at 5.9% of GDP in Fiscal Year 1983.
Diversifying a portfolio means spreading the investments across a variety of asset classes, industries and geographies.
Your most advanced competitors can efficiently deliver exceptional levels of tax optimization and portfolio personalization to every client, of every size. And they can show that they save or defer more in taxes than they charge most clients in fees. Join Smartleaf and VettaFi for a webcast unpacking what it takes to deliver personalization and tax optimization at scale.
Barclays Plc is trying to work out how to make the best of its payments business in its quest to increase the appeal of its shares. One option is selling a stake in the unit that handles card transactions for shopkeepers and other businesses, Bloomberg News reports.
There’s a growing consensus that we need more housing and less office space as cities move forward with plans to transform themselves in a post-pandemic world.
Crypto exchange-traded-products issuer 21Shares and Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management are seeking to offer the first US ETF that invests directly in Ether.
Seven mega-cap US-based companies – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Nvidia, Tesla, and Meta (Facebook) – have stayed top of mind for many investors this year.
Restricting the money supply will help contain inflation.
In general, portfolios can be split into growth assets and principal protecting assets. Growth assets tend to have greater risk coupled with greater income/reward.
Investors believe that U.S. government debt is risk free. Why shouldn't they? Every economic and financial textbook, media outlet, and bond guru says so.
Last week we changed our economic forecast because the economy has remained stronger than we expected. We delayed the start of the recession to the first quarter of 2024 rather than the last quarter of 2023.
As multi-asset income investors, we seek to help a wide range of clients meet their income needs. The benefits of an income-centric approach are especially relevant for investors as they enter retirement – and that’s especially true today. We bring that to life with two case studies.
There are differing opinions all around, but some reputable sources like Goldman Sachs are saying it’s increasingly unlikely. Yet the Fed is going to be raising rates further, from what it looks like because inflation is higher than they want.
Xylem is a leading innovator of water solutions. This Knowledge Leader harnesses smart technology to provide water, wastewater, and energy solutions to a diverse range of sectors, from agriculture and aquaculture to commercial buildings and energy.
There’s one question I try to answer with any beaten-down stock: Is this a good company with temporary, solvable issues?
Tax Planning
Thematic ETF Trends to Watch Entering 2024
Thematic ETFs have come a long way since they made their full debut in the ETF ecosystem.
Zillow Home Value Index: "Real" Values Increases for Third Straight Month
August's ZHVI came in at $349,770, up 0.47% from July and up 0.40% from August 2022. However after adjusting for inflation, the real figures are 0.09% month-over-month and -6.45% year-over-year. Nominal home values have increased for 5 straight months while "real" home values have only increased for 3 straight months.
More Labor Strife Is Coming to the US Economy
Labor strikes aren’t cheap. Equipment sits idle. Supply chains get gummed up. Workers lose wages, shareholders lose profits, governments lose tax revenue. All these effects can have an adverse impact on economic growth, employment and inflation.
ECB Prioritizes Fighting Inflation Above Avoiding Recession
The European Central Bank is likely at or very near its peak policy rate, but we don’t expect rate cuts in the near term.
Weathering the Storm: Exploring Climate Change Adaptation and the Investor’s Imperative
The Franklin Templeton Fixed Income team believe that issuers that think critically about the environment in which they operate could outperform throughout the full market cycle compared with those who are slower to adapt.
Do We Really Need to Be Worried About the Banking Sector?
Banks have reemerged as a potential pain point for the investment community, as rating agencies recently embarked on a downgrade cycle in the sector.
Boost Client Engagement and Growth with Webinars
To widen your audience, deepen client bonds, and carve out a strong market presence, a webinar strategy is your ticket to success.
Treasury Yields at Highest Levels Since 2007 on Price Concerns
US five- and 10-year yields rose to the highest levels since 2007 after hotter-than-anticipated inflation data in Canada and rising oil prices added to global concerns about resurgent price pressures.
A Recession Is Possible, but Far From Certain. So How Should You Consider Positioning Your Portfolio?
Given the uncertainty over a recession, there are other incremental steps that investors may want to consider instead. These include making adjustments to a portfolio’s market beta and credit exposure.
Say Goodbye…to Great Moderation?
A return to the Great Moderation Era looks unlikely, which might lead to an increasingly volatile—and somewhat unfamiliar—inflationary, economic, and geopolitical landscape.
A Pioneering Income Strategy Celebrates 75 Years
Celebrating an exciting milestone: Franklin Income Fund turns 75. Learn more about this flagship strategy and read some fun facts from back in 1948.
The Top Five Strategies for Working with Small Business Owners
Rather than reacting to financial challenges and opportunities as they arise, local entrepreneurs are embracing new perspectives on change management by preparing for change beforehand.
How Pre-Screening Avoids “Plate Lickers” at Seminars
Have you ever wondered why your closing ratio on seminar attendees rarely exceeds 40%?
VettaFi Voices On: Choosing Your Wrapper
Now seems like a good time to talk about wrappers and which ones are best for different situations. How do you decide whether to use an ETF, a mutual fund, or something else?
5 Factors Favoring Stock Selection
When markets are in a rising tide, all boats (aka stocks) can benefit. When the waters are choppier, active equity selection aims to identify the sounder vessels. Tony DeSpirito reviews five reasons why he believes the new environment is setting up to favor an active approach.
Fed Preview: Done, Or More To Be Done?
The FOMC will make some close calls and tough decisions.
Get Active Exposure as Corporate Confidence Returns in Bonds
Confidence is returning to the bond markets and one sign is corporations’ willingness to start taking on debt again with new issuance.
To Increase or Not to Increase: That Is the Question
Markets are convinced that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is going to pause its interest rate campaign after it finalizes its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday, September 20.
Turbulence on the Path to Transformation
Despite substantial growth and huge advancements in public policy support, clean energy has had an abysmal stretch in the stock market the last two and a half years.
Seller Financing of Real Estate is Back
Rising interest rates are giving sellers an opportunity to broaden their opportunity set.
How I Apply Behavioral Finance to Achieve Better Client Outcomes
Here’s how I apply behavioral finance to help clients to think differently about their investing.
Buffett was Right About Sentiment and the VIX as Predictors of Returns
Warren Buffett has advised investors to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful. New research confirms Buffett’s admonition.
Shifting Trends Favor European Banks vs. US Banks for the First Time in Years
Credit Research Analysts Greg Schantz and Julian Wellesley dive into why they favor European banks vs US banks and why they see a potential opportunity in Yankee bank bonds.
Bidenomics Is Having an Unusual Effect on Deficits
Economists are playing a game of “can-you-top-this this,” seeing who can ramp up their US economic growth forecasts the most.
Schwab Market Perspective: Tension
Competing narratives have emerged to describe the state of the U.S. economy.
China Hits a Speed Bump. Could the Road Ahead Feature More Stimulus?
Soft consumer confidence and property-market woes are playing a large role in the slowdown of China’s economy.
U.S. Economic Outlook, September 2023
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for U.S. growth, employment, interest rates and inflation.
Copilot, Not Autopilot: How Generative AI Augments, but Doesn’t Replace Active Management
AI, with its data analysis and predictive power, can revolutionize investing. However, humans remain a crucial part of the process. Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions provides use cases into how different investors can harness AI to achieve their desired outcomes and workflows.
Keeping an Eye on the Fed’s Projections
The Energizer Bunny! That’s the term that best describes the U.S. economy.
Lack of Access Is a Crucial Factor to Preventing Retirement Savings
BlackRock and Human Interest have found that American workers earning less than the national average are not saving due to lack of access to saving tools. Broadening access requires an intuitive and automated approach to retirement savings.
Locking in Target Returns
If held until the bond is redeemed (either by call or maturity), the annual yield earned for the life of a bond is known upfront at the time of purchase. Knowing the return on an investment upfront makes long-term financial planning a much easier task.
Anatomy of a Recession Update: What Is a Recession, Exactly?
Hear from Jeff Schulze, Head of Economic and Market Strategy at ClearBridge Investments, about the state of the US economy. Get his perspective on the Federal Reserve’s next potential moves.
How Analysts Look at Trends to Invest in Stocks and ETFs
Some investment trends seem obvious — people are watching more streaming movies, consumers like shopping online, and more people are buying electric cars. So why don’t these ETFs always work?
Munis Fall Short Of Seasonal Expectations In August
Municipals posted negative total returns amid rising interest rates. Issuance exceeded tempered expectations, while demand waned as performance struggled.
Gundlach: There Will be a Recession in the First Half of 2024
The consensus is wrong, and the Fed has not engineered a “soft landing.” A recession is all but certain in the first half of next year, according to Jeffrey Gundlach.
Measuring The Cost Of Healthcare
Measuring, anticipating and controlling the cost of healthcare are all difficult.
Fed’s Quantitative Tightening (Qt) Will Face Constraints
How long will the Federal Reserve continue quantitative tightening (QT)? How large will its balance sheet be when QT ends? These important questions impact financial market liquidity, the anchor of asset values. We assess the likely path of QT in the years ahead.
What’s the Right Price for an ETF?
ETFs are the instrument of choice for millions of investors in the U.S. Through a single trade and for a relatively low price, an investor gains broad exposure to a market, sector or niche.
Impact of Local Infrastructure Investments on a Portfolio
For the savvy private wealth investor, portfolio diversity is key to success. Investing in infrastructure is one option that can help you both optimize your portfolio and make a positive and meaningful impact on your local community.
Alternative Allocations: The State of the Alternative Investments Industry
In this first episode, Franklin Templeton Institute’s Tony Davidow discusses the democratization of alternative investments and related topics with CAIA’s John Bowman.
U.S. Household Incomes: A 50+ Year Perspective
This month, the Census Bureau released its annual report on household income data for 2022. Last year the median (middle) average household income fell by 2.3% to $74,580. Let's take a closer look at the quintile averages, which dates from 1967, along with the statistics for the top 5%.
Inside the Consumer Price Index: August 2023
Let's do some analysis of the Consumer Price Index, the best-known measure of inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) divides all expenditures into eight categories and assigns a relative size to each. The pie chart illustrates the components of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers, the CPI-U.
The Importance of Debt Management
Incorporating debt planning into your services helps your clients achieve a more comprehensive and sustainable financial future.
The Lag Effect Will Trigger a Recession
Normalizing economic activity and the slow but steadily growing lag effect will result in a recession.
Middle-Class Hourly Wages as of August 2023
I've updated this series to include the August release of the consumer price index as the deflator and the monthly employment update. The latest hypothetical real (inflation-adjusted) annual earnings are at $49,010, down 8.1% from over 50 years ago. Hourly earnings are below their all-time high after adjusting for inflation.
Economic Data Points Diverge
Since the beginning of the year, economic data has continued to defy the recession calls of 2022.
Inflationary Insights: Breaking Down the August CPI
Over the last year and a half, we have seen some of the highest inflation rates since the second of the two recessions in the early 1980s. Recently, we have started to slowly make our way back down and are currently at levels seen during the early 1990s recession. Here is a table showing the annualized change in Headline and Core CPI, not seasonally adjusted, for each of the past six months.
Gen Z Clients: The Active ETF Investing Generation?
ESG has dominated advisors’ minds when it comes to looking at the current generation of young prospective clients. It remains a popular investment approach for millennial and Gen Z clients per surveys.
From Motorola’s Shadow to Global Luminary
Known as “onsemi” for short, this Knowledge Leader is a global leader in intelligent power and sensing solutions for industries ranging from automotive to industrial, and from 5G & cloud power to medical solutions.
Shifting Macro Trends in the Aftershock Economy
PIMCO’s Global Advisory Board discusses economic and geopolitical factors shaping the long-term global outlook.
Is China’s Economy in Bad Shape?
There has been lots of speculation lately regarding China’s economic “decline” or potential economic “perils,” so much so that newspaper articles about the coming demise of China’s miracle economic growth over the previous decades continue to take (our) time away from other, perhaps, more important topics.
Higher Rates: Positive Values
Higher yields on cash have allowed some de-risking.
Europe Sentiment: So Bad It's Good
Changes in sentiment may drive the performance of the Eurozone equity markets, even with disappointing economic data.
Median Household Incomes by Age Bracket: 1967-2022
Our commentary on household income distribution focuses on average household incomes over the 50+ year history of this data series. The analysis offers some fascinating insights into U.S. household incomes, but misses the implications of age for income. In this update, we examine household income from a different perspective with a focus on age bracket.
Why Municipal Bonds Matter
Municipal bonds are an often overlooked corner of the fixed income space. Because they are tax exempt, munis give investors efficient, low-risk income. Join the experts at Goldman Sachs and VettaFi for a webcast discussing a muni strategy that prioritizes 1-to-15-year maturities within the investment grade municipal bond universe.
Inflation Remains Biggest Problem for Small Businesses
The headline number for the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index decreased to 91.3 in August, as small business owners continued to report inflation as their biggest problem. The latest reading was worse than the forecast of 91.6 and marked the 20th consecutive month the index has been below the series average of 98.
Treasury Yields: Where Do They Go From Here?
We expect yields to fall later this year and into 2024 as inflation continues to cool.
Emerging Markets and a Falling Dollar: Risk Assets Around the World Stand to Benefit from a Weaker U.S. Currency
The U.S. dollar has dropped to its lowest level against other currencies in 15 months. In this environment, a wide range of assets stand to profit, not least of which is the AI-infused U.S. technology sector. However, no space stands more ready to benefit from this environment than emerging markets..
High Rates and Lower Bank Lending May Lift BDCs
Today's economic conditions are attractive for BDCs (business development companies), and some benefit from businesses seeking alternative financing sources.
Investing in an Emerging World Order. Part 3
In the final part of our series on global supply chains, portfolio managers Inbok Song and Sherwood Zhang look at the companies that are reconfiguring their networks and portfolio manager Vivek Tanneeru gives his assessment on the investment opportunities.
Spillovers From China’s Malaise
A hard landing in China would rattle Asian economies.
Breaking Down the Breakout in Oil
Oil has entered a new uptrend after finally breaking out from nearly a year-long bottom formation. Support from OPEC+, notably Saudi Arabia’s one million barrel per day production cut for the remainder of the year, has been a major driver of the rally.
Stocks Have Been a Poor Inflation Hedge
New research shows that stocks have historically been a poor hedge against inflation over anything but very long horizons.
September, The Market’s Most Feared Month, Could Be A Golden Opportunity
Even though past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, investors should prepare for continued market volatility this month.
Understanding High-Yield Bonds
High-yield bonds, often referred to as “junk” or “speculative grade,” are corporate bonds that command a higher interest rate than other bonds. This higher yield is essentially compensation for the increased risk of default that investors assume when purchasing these securities.
What Is It About the US Consumer?
Resilient consumer spending has been a pillar of the US economy. While activity may soften, we think the consumer will help the coming slowdown stay mild.
A Consumer Credit Cycle Has Begun
With government stimulus over, accumulated savings starting to become depleted, rents soaring, and student loans about to switch back on, it appears a credit cycle has begun where borrowers struggle to fulfill their financial commitments.
Central Bankers Wandering in the Woods
On the interest rate front, the Federal funds rate is now close to systematic benchmarks that have historically been consistent with prevailing core inflation, nominal GDP growth, and unemployment.
Investment Ideas—Building Portfolios During Economic Uncertainty
Tony Davidow, Senior Alternatives Investment Strategist, at Franklin Templeton Institute, shares some takeaways from a panel discussion on the topic.
What Do Investment Outsourcing and Ice Cream Have in Common?
For some organizations, a partial outsourcing of their investment program is preferable to total outsourcing. Despite this, some OCIO providers will still try very hard to sell companies on a full OCIO solution.
Remember These Investing Concepts When Planning Your Future
When you step back and think about it, it is hard to believe that this hugely important retirement benefit has only been around for just over 40 years.
Time to Snag UK Equities From the Brexit Bargain Bin?
Dina Ting, Franklin Templeton ETFs’ Head of Global Index Portfolio Management, explores the positive trends that are making a case for holding UK equities.
Piece of Work: Dissecting Labor Market Trends
The August jobs report confirms the labor market's continued slowdown, which is for now consistent with the Fed's soft-landing desires—but not without warning signs.
The Fed's Financial Accounts: What Are Uncle Sam's Largest Assets?
Pop Quiz! Without recourse to your text, your notes, or a Google search, what line item is the largest asset in Uncle Sam's financial accounts?
Widening Wealth and Inequality Gaps Have Limits
A staff report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York titled “Capital Management and Wealth Inequality” comes to some remarkable Marxist conclusions.
Fiscal Madness
Back in the 1980s, President Reagan took enormous political heat (Sam Donaldson comes to mind) for being fiscally irresponsible. His offense? Presiding over a budget deficit that peaked at 5.9% of GDP in Fiscal Year 1983.
Building Resilient Portfolios: The Power of Diversification
Diversifying a portfolio means spreading the investments across a variety of asset classes, industries and geographies.
What it Takes to Deliver Personalized and Tax-Optimized Portfolios at Scale
Your most advanced competitors can efficiently deliver exceptional levels of tax optimization and portfolio personalization to every client, of every size. And they can show that they save or defer more in taxes than they charge most clients in fees. Join Smartleaf and VettaFi for a webcast unpacking what it takes to deliver personalization and tax optimization at scale.
Barclays Has Much at Stake in the Fintech Future
Barclays Plc is trying to work out how to make the best of its payments business in its quest to increase the appeal of its shares. One option is selling a stake in the unit that handles card transactions for shopkeepers and other businesses, Bloomberg News reports.
Cities Need People, People Need Homes. Both Must Wait.
There’s a growing consensus that we need more housing and less office space as cities move forward with plans to transform themselves in a post-pandemic world.
21Shares and Cathie Wood’s ARK File for First US Spot-Ether ETF
Crypto exchange-traded-products issuer 21Shares and Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management are seeking to offer the first US ETF that invests directly in Ether.
Factors & the Magnificent Seven
Seven mega-cap US-based companies – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Nvidia, Tesla, and Meta (Facebook) – have stayed top of mind for many investors this year.
Europe: Monetary Rehab
Restricting the money supply will help contain inflation.
In Case You Haven’t Noticed
In general, portfolios can be split into growth assets and principal protecting assets. Growth assets tend to have greater risk coupled with greater income/reward.
Risk-Free Government Debt – Fact or Fiction?
Investors believe that U.S. government debt is risk free. Why shouldn't they? Every economic and financial textbook, media outlet, and bond guru says so.
Changes to Our Forecast: Reasons Behind Our Decision
Last week we changed our economic forecast because the economy has remained stronger than we expected. We delayed the start of the recession to the first quarter of 2024 rather than the last quarter of 2023.
Why Investors in Retirement May Want to Consider an Income Approach
As multi-asset income investors, we seek to help a wide range of clients meet their income needs. The benefits of an income-centric approach are especially relevant for investors as they enter retirement – and that’s especially true today. We bring that to life with two case studies.
VettaFi Voices On: The Odds of Avoiding a Recession
There are differing opinions all around, but some reputable sources like Goldman Sachs are saying it’s increasingly unlikely. Yet the Fed is going to be raising rates further, from what it looks like because inflation is higher than they want.
Pioneering Water Solutions for a Thirsty World
Xylem is a leading innovator of water solutions. This Knowledge Leader harnesses smart technology to provide water, wastewater, and energy solutions to a diverse range of sectors, from agriculture and aquaculture to commercial buildings and energy.
Is This Beaten-Down Utility a Buy?
There’s one question I try to answer with any beaten-down stock: Is this a good company with temporary, solvable issues?