Smart Beta

With many of the big financial reports out of the way, the S&P 500 blended EPS growth rate for Q1 stands at 7.2%. Thus far only 12% of S&P 500 constituents have released results.

It’s been another strong year for ETF demand. ETFs gathered approximately $350 billion of new money year-to-date through April 16.

A reintroduction of SLR relief to balance treasury market stability and systemic risk would likely produce several market effects.

A divide has recently developed between soft and hard economic data. At a time when conditions are changing rapidly, understanding the difference between the two is terribly important.

Emerging-market (EM) stocks might not seem an obvious choice for anxious investors during a trade war. But history suggests that past volatility peaks have created favorable moments to invest in EM stocks.

The hype cycle around artificial intelligence (AI) often moves faster than the capabilities it touts.

Eitelman began by assessing the health of the U.S. economy through hard and soft data. He explained that hard data refers to measures of actual spending and economic activity, while soft data refers to how companies and consumers respond to surveys.

Tariff uncertainty, a weakening US dollar, and surging Treasury yields are flashing warning signs for investors. Explore how political risks, fiscal policy, and global volatility are reshaping capital flows and market confidence.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation compares three growth stocks: NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO), focusing on their valuations and market metrics.

A fundamental lesson in finance is a security’s price should be the present value of all future cash flows. Cash flows typically consist of a regular string of dividend payments and an assumed liquidation value at the end of the time horizon.

U.S. defensives and international lead.a

Compare corporate and municipal bonds, including risks, returns, and tax benefits. Learn which bond type fits your investment goals.

Markets were rattled by tariff announcements in early April. Here are three takeaways for investors considering preferred securities, investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds.

Inflation risk has been a significant topic of discussion in the mainstream media for the last few years.

In nominal terms, the yellow metal set multiple new all-time highs this week, exceeding $3,300 an ounce for the first time ever on Wednesday. And on an inflation-adjusted basis, gold also notched a new record price, surpassing the longstanding record set in 1980.

Today we are going to look at some of the uncertainties in our world and then explore some ways to gain a little certainty.

President Trump’s tariffs bring déjà vu for the euro-area economy: it’s back to slower growth and lower rates.

Investing in stocks so far in 2025 has not been for the faint of heart. Some market indices have undergone wild swings, flirting with bear-market territory

U.S. trade policy has evolved significantly in a matter of weeks.

Emerging-market (EM) stocks might not seem an obvious choice for anxious investors during a trade war. But history suggests that past volatility peaks have created favorable moments to invest in EM stocks.

The first quarter of 2025 marked a significant departure from the preceding two years, which had been characterized by an improving global economy and correspondingly positive market returns. Market performance in Q1 was dominated by abrupt, short-term policy shifts rather than longer-term economic trends, and tariffs became the foremost concern for market participants.

Retail sales surged as consumers seemingly bought ahead of tariffs while a volatile stock market experienced a sharp mid-week sell-off.

While the April 2 tariff announcements were more severe than anticipated, Vanguard’s active fixed income managers were well-prepared for the subsequent market reaction.

Less favorable seasonal technicals, increased focus on municipal-specific policy risks, and severe volatility spurred by higher-than-anticipated tariff increases weighed heavily
on sentiment and resulted in deeply negative total returns and significant underperformance versus Treasuries in March and early April.

Talk of a recession is everywhere. The case is simple: Liberation Day delivered the biggest increase in tariffs in a century. Consumer prices will rise. Purchasing power will decline. Recession…right?

Rapid U.S. policy changes pose challenges for investors accustomed to a global financial system anchored in U.S. markets and assets.

The deferral of “reciprocal” tariffs on most U.S. trading partners suggests that the peak of tariff uncertainty may have passed.

Banks blew Q1 earnings expectations out of the water, benefitting from high trading volumes, but CEO commentary remains cautious for 2025.

Stock markets have been rattled by trade war tensions and economic uncertainty driven by US tariff policies. Yet history suggests that equities have usually performed well in the aftermath of peak market volatility.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard or read the word recession in the last week, well, I’d have enough not to be financially worried about one. Add a dollar for every mention of tariffs and I’d be comfortably flushed with cash.

Right now we are in an incredibly complicated environment with regard to U.S. tariff policy gyrations and its whipsawing impact on global equity markets. One thing we can confidently assert is that however the trade negotiations play out, there will be higher tariffs and this will be negative for U.S. growth.

LPL Financial LLC announced today that financial advisor Steve Jones of Tenacity Investment Group has joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer, Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and custodial platforms.

While we remain open to changes in market conditions, as well as periodic “fast, furious, prone-to-failure” advances that can relieve the oversold “compression” produced by market losses, we are presently on high alert for a possibly abrupt and cascading market and economic dislocation in the weeks ahead.

Simply stated, the U.S. doesn’t save and invest enough. As a result, we pay for too many of our imports by borrowing from our trading partners.

With Congress out for the next two weeks for Easter recess and a short trading week in New York, it should be a quieter week – though tariff-related news continues to capture headlines.

Covered call strategies have been around for a very long time, but covered call ETFs have recently enjoyed a massive increase in popularity.

One of the most volatile market weeks in years was sparked by tariff announcements earlier this month. President Donald Trump's 10% universal tariff went into effect on April 5th, followed by his controversial reciprocal tariffs on April 9th.

The month of April will unfortunately go down in financial market folklore as being one of the more noteworthy on record.

In this article, we examine everything from the yield curve to CAPE ratios to gain a sense of where we are, and where we might be headed next.

Measures announced so far this year have pushed the effective U.S. tariff rate above 20%. The astonishing jump has raised import taxes to a level not seen in about a century.

CIO Sean Taylor assesses a better-than-expected quarter for emerging markets and takes stock of the drivers that may support the asset class in what could be difficult months ahead for global markets.

As homeowner insurance rates rise, advisors share ways individuals can create a financial safety net should catastrophe impact their homes.