Join the industry’s leading strategists for the Midyear Market Outlook Symposium—a comprehensive briefing designed to help advisors audit their current allocations and prepare for the opportunities of the next six months
We invite you to join NEOS Investments, an award-winning ETF issuer, for a timely discussion on how advisors can evaluate options-based income ETFs, cut through the noise, and identify strategies designed to seek consistent monthly income with a focus on tax efficiency across client portfolios.
Get ready for an absolute blockbuster of a summer, and then some. While mega-cap tech stocks have been busy hogging the headlines on the corporate event calendar, a quiet transformation has been taking place just off the exchange floors. The IPO market, which spent the better part of the last few years stuck in a defensive crouch, has officially smashed the accelerator to start 2026.
As a symbol of economic vibrancy and opportunity, it’s hard to beat the public market. Its storied venues, where everything from butter to trillion-dollar tech companies are bought and sold, are a foundation of the modern world.
For weeks now, media reports have been suggesting that Washington and Tehran are moving closer to a memorandum of understanding (MOU). In practical terms, that would extend the current ceasefire by roughly 60 days and create a window to negotiate a more durable peace agreement.
The U.S. economy appears resilient, judging from key economic measures. AI-driven capex continues to power investment, support equity markets, and sustain a wealth effect that has propped up consumption. Real GDP growth remains positive. Private sector balance sheets are in generally good condition and many higher income and wealthy households have benefited from equity markets gains.
Climate change has become a defining force in geopolitics. As governments respond to record heat waves, floods, wildfires and droughts, their policies and economic posturing are reshaping manufacturing, trade and energy security across the capital markets.
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?
A seemingly endless appetite for buying US stock dips has propelled Vanguard Group’s S&P 500-tracking ETF past $1 trillion in assets, making it the first fund of its kind to reach a milestone once thought unimaginable for the ETF industry.
The IPO market may be entering one of its largest cycles in years, but the next wave may be defined less by breadth than by scale. Instead of hundreds of companies listing, a smaller group of AI and strategic infrastructure leaders could reset the market on their own.
Wealth today is more complex than ever. Investments, taxes, estate planning, insurance, and even family dynamics are deeply interconnected, and decisions in one area can have meaningful consequences in another.
Stocks extended their advance for a ninth consecutive week, with the S&P 500 rising more than 5 percent in May on the heels of April’s 10 percent rally. This nine-week run coincides with the market’s March 30 bottom, when early signs of a potential off-ramp or ceasefire in the Middle East began to emerge.
Even if the Middle East war does find a lasting settlement, the specter of inflation appears poised to hang over the markets. Indeed, while employment data had, up until recently, been the primary focus for investors, arguably, inflation reports have now moved into the ‘leaderboard’ position.
Learn what's in store for the remainder of 2026 and the challenges that lie ahead in our mid-year outlook for U.S. stocks and the economy.
A strong business isn’t always a winning stock at every moment, and 2025 was a good reminder of that. Developed market equities finished the year up more than 20%, but quality stocks lagged. That’s why Parametric favors a multifactor approach to capture factor risk premia.
Get ready for a magnificent month, and then some. Mega-cap tech stocks dominate the corporate event calendar in June, already highlighted by NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address at Computex 2026 in Taiwan earlier this week, one of many major conferences.
Last week, several Fed members signaled the central bank may have to raise interest rates to cool price inflation.
Wellington Management Co. agreed to buy the asset-management division of Hartford Insurance Group Inc. as the Boston-based investment firm pushes ahead with a wealth expansion.
Given its focus, the launch presents a milestone for the asset management community. ASD blends a sophisticated index design with structural corporate philanthropy to create an ETF that resonates with those invested financially and emotionally.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released its May Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), with the headline composite index at 54.5. This was higher than the forecast of 53.7 and keeps the index in expansion territory for a 23rd consecutive month.
More and more Americans are feeling financially behind in 2026. More than eight in 10 have reported having at least one financial regret from 2025, according to a recent survey from Omni Calculator. 28% said making rushed decisions without enough planning were the leading cause of financial mistakes.
The May U.S. Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) from S&P Global inched down 0.3 points to 50.7, indicating slower expansion in the services sector. The latest reading was lower than the forecast of 50.9 and was among the weakest months of expansion in the past 2.5 years.
A private credit fund jointly managed by Future Standard and KKR & Co. sold $900 million of junk bonds on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, in a rare high-yield offering by a publicly traded credit fund.
Google parent Alphabet Inc. is poised to enter the municipal-bond market’s prepaid energy space by participating in a $1 billion transaction out of California, a major development in the evolution of a booming segment.
A key source of demand for corporate bonds may be fading now that managers of company pension funds have more than enough money on hand to pay their retirees.
US equities continued to climb higher in May, with the S&P 500 Index rising 5.1%. Further de-escalation of geopolitical tension in the Middle East has paved the way for the market’s 19.5% advance from the late-March lows.
For the dollar-denominated investor weighing how to position for the back half of 2026, last week tightened a thesis we have been building all year.
Rising office delinquencies within commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) reflect genuine pressures from shifting work patterns, higher interest rates, and greater refinancing risk.
Taylor Topoussis and Chris Galipeau discuss high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
LPL Research analyzes stock valuations, finding them fair given growth, rates, inflation, and AI-driven earnings outlook despite risks.
Every family has a money story. It gets passed down quietly, invisibly, in the way families talk around the dinner table or on long walks together.
Gas prices fell for a third straight week, reaching their lowest level since late April. As of June 1st, weekly prices were down 17 cents for regular and down 14 cents for premium gasoline.
As advisors, our role is not to solve fiscal policy; it is to ensure our clients are positioned to weather the uncertainty that comes from that gap, stay committed to their long-term plans, and not let macroeconomic anxiety drive short-term decisions they will regret.
Individual expertise matters. But in complex situations, making good decisions also depends on your financial professionals sharing information. When you support and expect their collaboration, you are no longer the communication relay.
While the mass affluent market may not be feeling the brunt of inflation woes or the rising cost of living, its financial planning is still being impacted by current economic headwinds.
Investors are about to get a read on the durability of the soaring rally in cybersecurity stocks when two of the industry’s major players report earnings in the coming days.
The announced expansion comes as the US races to provide huge amounts of electricity for AI data centers, with nuclear power emerging as one of the big winners. The Trump administration is pushing to quadruple output from nuclear plants which will require a leap in uranium fuel production to meet the challenge.
Caution has become the most expensive position on Wall Street. A hot inflation reading this week — sending the annual gauge to its highest in about three years — landed alongside fresh strikes in the Persian Gulf and enduring expectations that the Federal Reserve may need to keep policy tight.
Investors are pouring money back into municipal bonds as higher yields and the approaching summer reinvestment season draw cash into the tax-exempt market.
Geopolitical risks are still lingering in the background, but the story lately has been all about earnings. A strong 1Q26 season, paired with a steady drumbeat of upbeat management commentary, has helped push the S&P 500 to 21 record highs this year.
Businesses are racing to build the physical infrastructure that makes AI usable at scale – data centers, the graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware stack, power, and cooling.
If you’re not familiar with the name Leopold Aschenbrenner, you should be. A 24-year-old wunderkind, Aschenbrenner was hired by OpenAI in 2023 to work on the company’s “superalignment” team, essentially trying to figure out how to keep AI systems safe once they become smarter than the people building them.
Economies around the world aren’t just reliant on AI investments for growth. The appreciation of AI stocks has supported spending, which is following “K-shaped” patterns. A significant correction to the valuations of tech leaders would therefore be even more likely to result in recession.
A little more than six months ago there were narratives circulating that national housing prices were in an even bigger bubble than the one twenty years ago and headed for an “inevitable” collapse. Given that national home prices dropped about 27% from peak to bottom in the last housing bust, that would be something to worry about.
The global defense industry continues to move rapidly from legacy, heavy-hardware platforms to agile, unmanned systems. Today, the Trump Administration announced that it’s pursuing funding deals for drone companies in an effort to increase domestic production in today’s defensive landscape.
The ETF landscape includes a wide variety of innovative, intriguing funds that look to meet investor goals. From equities to fixed income, all kinds of strategies offer intriguing spins on areas like income and dividends.
U.S. manufacturing hit its highest level in four years, as the S&P Global PMI climbed 0.6 points to 55.1 in May. For a second straight month, the expansion was largely driven by defensive stockpiling as companies continue bracing for supply disruptions and price hikes linked to conflict in the Middle East.
Goldman Sachs announced a partnership with Anthropic in early May, though you probably shouldn’t view it as just a cool innovation story. It is infrastructure in motion. When institutions like Goldman move, pay attention to what problem they believe they are solving.
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.
The essential feature of a useful alternative asset isn’t that it’s unusual or exotic, but that its returns aren’t tightly linked to the risks that already dominate the portfolio. The value of an alternative asset comes from the way it interacts with the other assets in the portfolio.
Before I recommend what to do, I want to first state what not to do. Don’t invest as if you think you know what long-term inflation will be. Will we return to the double-digit inflation of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s? The answer is: Nobody knows.
The assumption that muni equals tax-free is deeply embedded in how the asset class gets discussed and presented. But for high-net-worth clients in high-tax states, the gap between partially exempt and fully exempt is material enough to be worth a conversation.
The industry is entering a more customized phase of liability-driven investing, he said. While earlier stages focused on adding duration and raising fixed-income allocations, better-funded plans are now tinkering at the margins to more precisely match their holdings with their obligations.
Equities extend gains as earnings and semiconductors lead markets higher. Consumer confidence remains subdued despite economic resilience. Inflation is easing gradually but remains above the Fed’s targey.
Recent Federal Reserve communications have turned more hawkish, reflecting concern that persistent supply-driven price pressures could begin to feed into inflation expectations. But unlike in prior cycles, today’s environment is not defined by supply shocks alone.
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 reality is, the American people wouldn’t accept the level of taxation necessary to maintain the warfare/welfare state. There would be a tax revolt. So, the government resorts to a less obvious tax.
Many debates in defined contribution (DC) circles focus on fees, new asset classes, and ever more complex solutions. But the biggest improvement available to plan participants may come from something far simpler: how their fixed income is managed.
Risk appetite remains firmly intact as optimism surrounding a potential resolution to the war with Iran continues to improve investor sentiment. The S&P 500 has now advanced for eight consecutive weeks, with price action remaining remarkably resilient throughout the recovery.
The next IPO wave may create a different kind of portfolio challenge for institutions already holding private stakes in companies like SpaceX and OpenAI.
Valid until the market close on June 30, 2026
This article provides an update on the monthly moving averages we track for the S&P 500 and the Ivy Portfolio after the close of the last business day of the month.
The U.S. government’s decision to invest $2 billion directly into nine quantum-computing companies through minority equity stakes—not just grants—signals a major shift toward treating quantum as a strategic commercial industry, with potential implications for investors seeking targeted exposure through funds like the WisdomTree Quantum Computing Fund (WQTM).
May is 529 Month. As college costs rise, learn five practical ways to maximize your plan’s tax benefits, flexibility and growth potential to prepare for the future.
Commodity market trends: Commodity markets have been on an impressive, and volatile, run so far this decade, with leadership oscillating between energy and precious metals. Not surprising, after commodities’ “Lost Decade” of the 2010s, given the asset class tends to move in long capital cycles.
Equity investors are facing monumental questions about their allocation strategies in a new market regime. Market concentration has risen sharply, valuations have climbed to record highs in parts of the market and factor volatility has dominated returns.
Since early April, U.S. stocks have rallied sharply despite an ongoing war, rising inflation fueled by soaring oil prices (near $100/barrel), higher bond yields (up 0.6 to 0.7 percentage points), and frothy valuations (21 times projected earnings vs. a historical average of 17 times for the S&P 500 Index).
On the surface, last week looked engineered to embarrass our positioning. The dollar index climbed to a six-week high above 99.3 by Friday and finished the week roughly flat at those levels.
California continues to demonstrate fiscal resilience, supported by strong liquidity balances and the absence of projected cash‑flow borrowing through FY 2026–27. However, Medicaid cost pressures, a progressive tax structure highly sensitive to equity market swings, and constitutional spending constraints remain key differentiators between California and other large states.
An unexpected rap on your front door is sometimes cause for anxiety. You are not sure who or what is out there, wanting to get in.
A tidal wave of conversions has siphoned an unprecedented amount of capital out of mutual funds and into the ETF wrapper. Last year’s record 60 mutual-fund-to-ETF conversions in 2025 across 31 firms pushed total converted assets past $260 billion, and the past five years have now seen a grand total of 203 conversions.
Inflation remains a hot topic, directly impacting everything from your grocery bill to interest rates. As of the latest data, two key inflation gauges — the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — show that prices are still above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, with the core PCE at 3.3% and core CPI at 2.8%.
Personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was down 0.05% in April and was up 2.68% year-over-year. However, when adjusted for inflation using the BEA's PCE Price Index, real personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was down 0.44% month-over-month and down 1.04% year-over-year.
With the release of April's report on personal incomes and outlays, we can now take a closer look at "real" disposable personal income per capita. To two decimal places, disposable income per capita was up down 0.10% month-over-month. But when adjusted for inflation, real disposable income per capita was down 0.50%.
An abundance of cash in US funding markets appears to be driven by deeper structural shifts that are unlocking billions of dollars in balance-sheet capacity at the biggest banks, Wall Street strategists say.
Bankers are preparing to sell a jumbo debt package to support the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. It’s a risky deal and comes at a moment when the bond markets have been wobbling.
In a relatively light week for traditional economic data, a mix of corporate earnings, business surveys, Federal Reserve minutes, and the latest read on the consumer from the University of Michigan helped paint an increasingly clear picture for investors.
It’s the first word that comes to mind to describe Q1 2026 U.S. company earnings. S&P 500 earnings growth is looking set to reach 28% year over year (yoy), more than double the consensus estimate of 12% at the start of the reporting season.
The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has transitioned from an equity market narrative to a defining force in fixed income. Hyperscalers (Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG/L), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and Oracle (ORCL)) are shifting from internal cash flows to substantial bond issuance to fund massive data center, graphics processing unit (GPU), and power infrastructure buildouts.
Thanks to strong gains in markets over recent years, the 60/40 default portfolio has quietly morphed into a bundle of expensive U.S. growth equities and credit exposures offering narrow spreads over Treasuries.
Contrary to what legal television series portray, verdicts rarely turn on a single moment of drama. They take shape gradually, as evidence accumulates and a broader narrative comes into focus.
US growth stocks underperformed in early 2026 amid AI disruption fears and an unresolved conflict in the Middle East. But these stresses could create favorable conditions for selective, diversified investors to unlock long-term growth potential in a rotating market.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
Leading with bad news can feel wrong and even confrontational at some level, but the psychology research supports it, the behavioral finance supports it, the career math supports it, and the clients who stay through multiple cycles apply the final confirmation stamp.
Some people do much better with change than others. It isn’t that they can’t change or they actively resist it. Rather, they experience more fear, more concern and they need more clarity about what the change means to them.
Private credit is more inherently complex than the traditional bond market. In comparison, private credit information comes at a deficit. That’s because private credit loans are essentially bespoke agreements between a lender and a private borrower.
Almost two-thirds of fund managers permit some level of “nuclear exposure,” with 34% allowing investments in nuclear weaponry, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s fourth-annual ESG and defense survey.
Global equity markets moved modestly higher this week as first-quarter earnings season continued to deliver strong results.
Despite the move lower late last week, U.S. Treasury yields are still holding well above recent lows and close to highs not seen in more than a year. By contrast, risk assets are firmly bid: U.S. equities have been routinely touching new historical highs, and credit spreads over Treasuries remain tight.
The White House’s decision to take a 9.9% stake in Intel Corp. is looking like very shrewd business indeed. Since the government bought in at $20.47 a share last August, the American chipmaker’s surging stock price has delivered the US a $43 billion return.
Gold has dropped more than 11 percent from its all-time high of just over $5,102 an ounce in January, and selling pressure continues to dominate the market. A well-established mainstream narrative is driving the bearish sentiment.
Tax Planning
2026 Midyear Market Outlook Symposium
Join the industry’s leading strategists for the Midyear Market Outlook Symposium—a comprehensive briefing designed to help advisors audit their current allocations and prepare for the opportunities of the next six months
Rethinking Tax-Efficient Income Generation
We invite you to join NEOS Investments, an award-winning ETF issuer, for a timely discussion on how advisors can evaluate options-based income ETFs, cut through the noise, and identify strategies designed to seek consistent monthly income with a focus on tax efficiency across client portfolios.
The New-Issue Window Flies Open: Inside 2026's Red-Hot First-Half IPO Rush
Get ready for an absolute blockbuster of a summer, and then some. While mega-cap tech stocks have been busy hogging the headlines on the corporate event calendar, a quiet transformation has been taking place just off the exchange floors. The IPO market, which spent the better part of the last few years stuck in a defensive crouch, has officially smashed the accelerator to start 2026.
A Universe of Potential Opportunity Lies Beyond the Public Markets
As a symbol of economic vibrancy and opportunity, it’s hard to beat the public market. Its storied venues, where everything from butter to trillion-dollar tech companies are bought and sold, are a foundation of the modern world.
Oil Market Underestimates Frictions Beyond a Deal
For weeks now, media reports have been suggesting that Washington and Tehran are moving closer to a memorandum of understanding (MOU). In practical terms, that would extend the current ceasefire by roughly 60 days and create a window to negotiate a more durable peace agreement.
The Quiet Erosion Beneath U.S. Growth
The U.S. economy appears resilient, judging from key economic measures. AI-driven capex continues to power investment, support equity markets, and sustain a wealth effect that has propped up consumption. Real GDP growth remains positive. Private sector balance sheets are in generally good condition and many higher income and wealthy households have benefited from equity markets gains.
Climate Power Plays: Energy, Geopolitics and the Repricing of Risk
Climate change has become a defining force in geopolitics. As governments respond to record heat waves, floods, wildfires and droughts, their policies and economic posturing are reshaping manufacturing, trade and energy security across the capital markets.
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?
Vanguard’s VOO Hits $1 Trillion of Assets in ETF Industry First
A seemingly endless appetite for buying US stock dips has propelled Vanguard Group’s S&P 500-tracking ETF past $1 trillion in assets, making it the first fund of its kind to reach a milestone once thought unimaginable for the ETF industry.
Four Watchpoints for 2026’s Potential Mega IPO Class
The IPO market may be entering one of its largest cycles in years, but the next wave may be defined less by breadth than by scale. Instead of hundreds of companies listing, a smaller group of AI and strategic infrastructure leaders could reset the market on their own.
The Value of an Integrated Wealth Strategy
Wealth today is more complex than ever. Investments, taxes, estate planning, insurance, and even family dynamics are deeply interconnected, and decisions in one area can have meaningful consequences in another.
AI Drives Stock Market Higher Despite Uneven Growth
Stocks extended their advance for a ninth consecutive week, with the S&P 500 rising more than 5 percent in May on the heels of April’s 10 percent rally. This nine-week run coincides with the market’s March 30 bottom, when early signs of a potential off-ramp or ceasefire in the Middle East began to emerge.
Could the ‘I’ in AI Stand for Inflation?
Even if the Middle East war does find a lasting settlement, the specter of inflation appears poised to hang over the markets. Indeed, while employment data had, up until recently, been the primary focus for investors, arguably, inflation reports have now moved into the ‘leaderboard’ position.
2026 Mid-Year Outlook: U.S. Stocks and Economy
Learn what's in store for the remainder of 2026 and the challenges that lie ahead in our mid-year outlook for U.S. stocks and the economy.
Factor Investing Endures Despite Tough 2025 for Quality Stocks
A strong business isn’t always a winning stock at every moment, and 2025 was a good reminder of that. Developed market equities finished the year up more than 20%, but quality stocks lagged. That’s why Parametric favors a multifactor approach to capture factor risk premia.
AI Stocks Enter a Crucial Month as Major Tech Events Crowd the Calendar
Get ready for a magnificent month, and then some. Mega-cap tech stocks dominate the corporate event calendar in June, already highlighted by NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address at Computex 2026 in Taiwan earlier this week, one of many major conferences.
Rate Hikes: The Right Medicine at the Wrong Time
Last week, several Fed members signaled the central bank may have to raise interest rates to cool price inflation.
Wellington to Buy Hartford Funds for $1.9 Billion in Wealth Push
Wellington Management Co. agreed to buy the asset-management division of Hartford Insurance Group Inc. as the Boston-based investment firm pushes ahead with a wealth expansion.
Investing With Purpose: Defiance Launches Autism Impact ETF
Given its focus, the launch presents a milestone for the asset management community. ASD blends a sophisticated index design with structural corporate philanthropy to create an ETF that resonates with those invested financially and emotionally.
ISM Services PMI: Continued Expansion in May
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released its May Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), with the headline composite index at 54.5. This was higher than the forecast of 53.7 and keeps the index in expansion territory for a 23rd consecutive month.
The True Cost of Indecision in 2026
More and more Americans are feeling financially behind in 2026. More than eight in 10 have reported having at least one financial regret from 2025, according to a recent survey from Omni Calculator. 28% said making rushed decisions without enough planning were the leading cause of financial mistakes.
S&P Global Services PMI: Slower Expansion in May
The May U.S. Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) from S&P Global inched down 0.3 points to 50.7, indicating slower expansion in the services sector. The latest reading was lower than the forecast of 50.9 and was among the weakest months of expansion in the past 2.5 years.
FS KKR Sells $900 Million Bonds in Rare Junk-Rated BDC Deal
A private credit fund jointly managed by Future Standard and KKR & Co. sold $900 million of junk bonds on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, in a rare high-yield offering by a publicly traded credit fund.
AI Funding Boom Reaches Muni Market With Google-Tied Bond Sale
Google parent Alphabet Inc. is poised to enter the municipal-bond market’s prepaid energy space by participating in a $1 billion transaction out of California, a major development in the evolution of a booming segment.
Company Pension Funds Stuffed With Bonds Ease Up on Debt Buying
A key source of demand for corporate bonds may be fading now that managers of company pension funds have more than enough money on hand to pay their retirees.
AOR Update: Resilience
US equities continued to climb higher in May, with the S&P 500 Index rising 5.1%. Further de-escalation of geopolitical tension in the Middle East has paved the way for the market’s 19.5% advance from the late-March lows.
Records on the Tape. Savings at a Three-Year Low.
For the dollar-denominated investor weighing how to position for the back half of 2026, last week tightened a thesis we have been building all year.
CMBS: A Tale of Two (office) Markets?
Rising office delinquencies within commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) reflect genuine pressures from shifting work patterns, higher interest rates, and greater refinancing risk.
Strong Earnings Season Complete! Where Will the Market Focus Now?
Taylor Topoussis and Chris Galipeau discuss high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
Add Context, and Stock Market Valuations are Fair
LPL Research analyzes stock valuations, finding them fair given growth, rates, inflation, and AI-driven earnings outlook despite risks.
How to Pass Down Your Values Along with Your Wealth
Every family has a money story. It gets passed down quietly, invisibly, in the way families talk around the dinner table or on long walks together.
Gas Prices Drop to 1-Month Low
Gas prices fell for a third straight week, reaching their lowest level since late April. As of June 1st, weekly prices were down 17 cents for regular and down 14 cents for premium gasoline.
America's Tab: What 100% Debt-to-GDP Means for Advisors
As advisors, our role is not to solve fiscal policy; it is to ensure our clients are positioned to weather the uncertainty that comes from that gap, stay committed to their long-term plans, and not let macroeconomic anxiety drive short-term decisions they will regret.
Clear Communication Helps Your Financial Team Help You
Individual expertise matters. But in complex situations, making good decisions also depends on your financial professionals sharing information. When you support and expect their collaboration, you are no longer the communication relay.
How Advisors Can Adapt as the Needs of the Mass Affluent Change
While the mass affluent market may not be feeling the brunt of inflation woes or the rising cost of living, its financial planning is still being impacted by current economic headwinds.
AI Fuels $280 Billion Cybersecurity Rally as Earnings Test Looms
Investors are about to get a read on the durability of the soaring rally in cybersecurity stocks when two of the industry’s major players report earnings in the coming days.
Biggest US Nuclear Fuel Enricher Is Scaling Up in Bet on AI Boom
The announced expansion comes as the US races to provide huge amounts of electricity for AI data centers, with nuclear power emerging as one of the big winners. The Trump administration is pushing to quadruple output from nuclear plants which will require a leap in uranium fuel production to meet the challenge.
Wall Street Dumps Crash Hedges as Most-Shorted Stocks Jump 30%
Caution has become the most expensive position on Wall Street. A hot inflation reading this week — sending the annual gauge to its highest in about three years — landed alongside fresh strikes in the Persian Gulf and enduring expectations that the Federal Reserve may need to keep policy tight.
Muni Funds Lure Near-Record Cash as Reinvestment Season Nears
Investors are pouring money back into municipal bonds as higher yields and the approaching summer reinvestment season draw cash into the tax-exempt market.
Market Focus Shifts From Earnings to Macro Catalysts
Geopolitical risks are still lingering in the background, but the story lately has been all about earnings. A strong 1Q26 season, paired with a steady drumbeat of upbeat management commentary, has helped push the S&P 500 to 21 record highs this year.
Investment Discipline Amid the AI Infrastructure Boom
Businesses are racing to build the physical infrastructure that makes AI usable at scale – data centers, the graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware stack, power, and cooling.
The $13.7 Billion Hedge Fund That’s Betting Big on AGI Infrastructure
If you’re not familiar with the name Leopold Aschenbrenner, you should be. A 24-year-old wunderkind, Aschenbrenner was hired by OpenAI in 2023 to work on the company’s “superalignment” team, essentially trying to figure out how to keep AI systems safe once they become smarter than the people building them.
Trying Tango
Economies around the world aren’t just reliant on AI investments for growth. The appreciation of AI stocks has supported spending, which is following “K-shaped” patterns. A significant correction to the valuations of tech leaders would therefore be even more likely to result in recession.
More Slow Home Price Growth Ahead
A little more than six months ago there were narratives circulating that national housing prices were in an even bigger bubble than the one twenty years ago and headed for an “inevitable” collapse. Given that national home prices dropped about 27% from peak to bottom in the last housing bust, that would be something to worry about.
White House Drone Funding News Sent DRNZ 15% Higher
The global defense industry continues to move rapidly from legacy, heavy-hardware platforms to agile, unmanned systems. Today, the Trump Administration announced that it’s pursuing funding deals for drone companies in an effort to increase domestic production in today’s defensive landscape.
ProShares Leaders Q&A on Dividend Aristocrat Suite
The ETF landscape includes a wide variety of innovative, intriguing funds that look to meet investor goals. From equities to fixed income, all kinds of strategies offer intriguing spins on areas like income and dividends.
S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI™: Highest Level Since May 2022
U.S. manufacturing hit its highest level in four years, as the S&P Global PMI climbed 0.6 points to 55.1 in May. For a second straight month, the expansion was largely driven by defensive stockpiling as companies continue bracing for supply disruptions and price hikes linked to conflict in the Middle East.
Goldman Sachs Didn't Partner With Anthropic to Write Better Emails
Goldman Sachs announced a partnership with Anthropic in early May, though you probably shouldn’t view it as just a cool innovation story. It is infrastructure in motion. When institutions like Goldman move, pay attention to what problem they believe they are solving.
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.
Record Extremes, Alternative Investments, and the Hippo
The essential feature of a useful alternative asset isn’t that it’s unusual or exotic, but that its returns aren’t tightly linked to the risks that already dominate the portfolio. The value of an alternative asset comes from the way it interacts with the other assets in the portfolio.
High Inflation May Continue: How It Could Affect Your Investing
Before I recommend what to do, I want to first state what not to do. Don’t invest as if you think you know what long-term inflation will be. Will we return to the double-digit inflation of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s? The answer is: Nobody knows.
The Hidden Tax Drag in Municipal Bond Portfolios: What Advisors Are Missing
The assumption that muni equals tax-free is deeply embedded in how the asset class gets discussed and presented. But for high-net-worth clients in high-tax states, the gap between partially exempt and fully exempt is material enough to be worth a conversation.
Company Pension Funds Stuffed With Bonds Ease Up on Debt Buying
The industry is entering a more customized phase of liability-driven investing, he said. While earlier stages focused on adding duration and raising fixed-income allocations, better-funded plans are now tinkering at the margins to more precisely match their holdings with their obligations.
Earnings and Semiconductors Power Markets
Equities extend gains as earnings and semiconductors lead markets higher. Consumer confidence remains subdued despite economic resilience. Inflation is easing gradually but remains above the Fed’s targey.
Supply Shocks and AI-Related Demand Blur Inflation Signals for the Fed
Recent Federal Reserve communications have turned more hawkish, reflecting concern that persistent supply-driven price pressures could begin to feed into inflation expectations. But unlike in prior cycles, today’s environment is not defined by supply shocks alone.
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.
Sound Money: The Enemy of Big Government and a Friend to Liberty
The reality is, the American people wouldn’t accept the level of taxation necessary to maintain the warfare/welfare state. There would be a tax revolt. So, the government resorts to a less obvious tax.
The Retirement Hack Hiding Inside Most DC Plans
Many debates in defined contribution (DC) circles focus on fees, new asset classes, and ever more complex solutions. But the biggest improvement available to plan participants may come from something far simpler: how their fixed income is managed.
Technical Take on the Record-High Rally
Risk appetite remains firmly intact as optimism surrounding a potential resolution to the war with Iran continues to improve investor sentiment. The S&P 500 has now advanced for eight consecutive weeks, with price action remaining remarkably resilient throughout the recovery.
Mega IPOs and Institutional Portfolio Risk
The next IPO wave may create a different kind of portfolio challenge for institutions already holding private stakes in companies like SpaceX and OpenAI.
Moving Averages of the Ivy Portfolio and S&P 500: May 2026
Valid until the market close on June 30, 2026
This article provides an update on the monthly moving averages we track for the S&P 500 and the Ivy Portfolio after the close of the last business day of the month.
The U.S. Government Just Became a Quantum Investor
The U.S. government’s decision to invest $2 billion directly into nine quantum-computing companies through minority equity stakes—not just grants—signals a major shift toward treating quantum as a strategic commercial industry, with potential implications for investors seeking targeted exposure through funds like the WisdomTree Quantum Computing Fund (WQTM).
May Is 529 Month: Five Action Steps Every Family Should Take
May is 529 Month. As college costs rise, learn five practical ways to maximize your plan’s tax benefits, flexibility and growth potential to prepare for the future.
Seeds of Opportunity: The Case for Agriculture Investments
Commodity market trends: Commodity markets have been on an impressive, and volatile, run so far this decade, with leadership oscillating between energy and precious metals. Not surprising, after commodities’ “Lost Decade” of the 2010s, given the asset class tends to move in long capital cycles.
Allocate with Intent: Active Equity Strategies for Changing Markets
Equity investors are facing monumental questions about their allocation strategies in a new market regime. Market concentration has risen sharply, valuations have climbed to record highs in parts of the market and factor volatility has dominated returns.
Why Are Stocks So Resilient? Earnings!
Since early April, U.S. stocks have rallied sharply despite an ongoing war, rising inflation fueled by soaring oil prices (near $100/barrel), higher bond yields (up 0.6 to 0.7 percentage points), and frothy valuations (21 times projected earnings vs. a historical average of 17 times for the S&P 500 Index).
The Dollar Bounced. Foreign Markets Didn't Flinch
On the surface, last week looked engineered to embarrass our positioning. The dollar index climbed to a six-week high above 99.3 by Friday and finished the week roughly flat at those levels.
California Municipals: What Matters Now
California continues to demonstrate fiscal resilience, supported by strong liquidity balances and the absence of projected cash‑flow borrowing through FY 2026–27. However, Medicaid cost pressures, a progressive tax structure highly sensitive to equity market swings, and constitutional spending constraints remain key differentiators between California and other large states.
Knocking at the Door
An unexpected rap on your front door is sometimes cause for anxiety. You are not sure who or what is out there, wanting to get in.
The Great Wrapper Migration: Mutual Fund-to-ETF Conversions Cross 200
A tidal wave of conversions has siphoned an unprecedented amount of capital out of mutual funds and into the ETF wrapper. Last year’s record 60 mutual-fund-to-ETF conversions in 2025 across 31 firms pushed total converted assets past $260 billion, and the past five years have now seen a grand total of 203 conversions.
Two Measures of Inflation: April 2026
Inflation remains a hot topic, directly impacting everything from your grocery bill to interest rates. As of the latest data, two key inflation gauges — the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — show that prices are still above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, with the core PCE at 3.3% and core CPI at 2.8%.
The Big Four Recession Indicators: Real Personal Income
Personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was down 0.05% in April and was up 2.68% year-over-year. However, when adjusted for inflation using the BEA's PCE Price Index, real personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was down 0.44% month-over-month and down 1.04% year-over-year.
Real Disposable Income Per Capita Down 0.5% in April
With the release of April's report on personal incomes and outlays, we can now take a closer look at "real" disposable personal income per capita. To two decimal places, disposable income per capita was up down 0.10% month-over-month. But when adjusted for inflation, real disposable income per capita was down 0.50%.
US Funding Markets Are Flooded With Cash That’s Here to Stay
An abundance of cash in US funding markets appears to be driven by deeper structural shifts that are unlocking billions of dollars in balance-sheet capacity at the biggest banks, Wall Street strategists say.
The Ellison Family’s $49 Billion Ask Is an Acid Test for Markets
Bankers are preparing to sell a jumbo debt package to support the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. It’s a risky deal and comes at a moment when the bond markets have been wobbling.
Stocks Rise on AI Optimism While Fed Signals Higher Rates for Longer
In a relatively light week for traditional economic data, a mix of corporate earnings, business surveys, Federal Reserve minutes, and the latest read on the consumer from the University of Michigan helped paint an increasingly clear picture for investors.
The Equity Outlook After More ‘Magnificent’ Earnings
It’s the first word that comes to mind to describe Q1 2026 U.S. company earnings. S&P 500 earnings growth is looking set to reach 28% year over year (yoy), more than double the consensus estimate of 12% at the start of the reporting season.
AI’s New Frontier: The Transformation of Investment-Grade Credit
The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has transitioned from an equity market narrative to a defining force in fixed income. Hyperscalers (Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG/L), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and Oracle (ORCL)) are shifting from internal cash flows to substantial bond issuance to fund massive data center, graphics processing unit (GPU), and power infrastructure buildouts.
Diversifying Beyond 60/40 With a More Dynamic Allocation
Thanks to strong gains in markets over recent years, the 60/40 default portfolio has quietly morphed into a bundle of expensive U.S. growth equities and credit exposures offering narrow spreads over Treasuries.
Gilt-y As Charged
Contrary to what legal television series portray, verdicts rarely turn on a single moment of drama. They take shape gradually, as evidence accumulates and a broader narrative comes into focus.
Three Reasons to Stick with Growth Stocks in Rotating Markets
US growth stocks underperformed in early 2026 amid AI disruption fears and an unresolved conflict in the Middle East. But these stresses could create favorable conditions for selective, diversified investors to unlock long-term growth potential in a rotating market.
Fundamental Backdrop Strong. Watch for Pullbacks.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
Why Good Advisors Lead With Bad News
Leading with bad news can feel wrong and even confrontational at some level, but the psychology research supports it, the behavioral finance supports it, the career math supports it, and the clients who stay through multiple cycles apply the final confirmation stamp.
Does Your Team Member Have a “Bad Attitude” or a Reasonable Complaint?
Some people do much better with change than others. It isn’t that they can’t change or they actively resist it. Rather, they experience more fear, more concern and they need more clarity about what the change means to them.
The Case for Active Management in the Private Credit Market
Private credit is more inherently complex than the traditional bond market. In comparison, private credit information comes at a deficit. That’s because private credit loans are essentially bespoke agreements between a lender and a private borrower.
Jefferies Says Investors Boost ‘Nuclear Exposure’: ESG Investing
Almost two-thirds of fund managers permit some level of “nuclear exposure,” with 34% allowing investments in nuclear weaponry, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s fourth-annual ESG and defense survey.
Markets Rally as IPO Momentum Builds
Global equity markets moved modestly higher this week as first-quarter earnings season continued to deliver strong results.
Measuring What Matters in Public and Private Fixed Income
Despite the move lower late last week, U.S. Treasury yields are still holding well above recent lows and close to highs not seen in more than a year. By contrast, risk assets are firmly bid: U.S. equities have been routinely touching new historical highs, and credit spreads over Treasuries remain tight.
Apple is Giving Intel’s Turnaround Some Momentum
The White House’s decision to take a 9.9% stake in Intel Corp. is looking like very shrewd business indeed. Since the government bought in at $20.47 a share last August, the American chipmaker’s surging stock price has delivered the US a $43 billion return.
Two Things Mainstream Pundits Get Wrong in Their Current Gold Narrative
Gold has dropped more than 11 percent from its all-time high of just over $5,102 an ounce in January, and selling pressure continues to dominate the market. A well-established mainstream narrative is driving the bearish sentiment.