Markets are always changing — and sometimes the rules of finance do, too. I believe markets are efficient, which means my investment portfolio is pretty much all index funds. My enthusiasm for indexing is based on evidence from the Before Times, when the question of a corporation’s index-worthiness was straightforward.
Large Cap Growth
Core portfolio strength may matter more than ever
Join the experts at Harbor Capital and PanAgora for a product due diligence session exploring the Harbor PanAgora Dynamic Large Cap Core ETF (INFO).
What to Watch This Earnings Season
The second quarter wraps up today, and it was a good one. With the S&P 500 having returned more than 14% (including dividends) with just one trading day left, it will almost certainly end up being the best quarter for the index since the second quarter of 2020. Technology was the leader despite the June weakness.
Mag 7, Memory and Semiconductors: The Quiet Market Rotation
The Mag 7 has been the single largest driver of the stock market’s performance three straight years, accounting for over 20% of the S&P 500’s performance. However, there is a performance divergence happening in 2026 as the S&P 500 continues to go up, while the Mag7 go down.
AI Power Crunch Has Investors Seeking Next IPO Winners
The artificial intelligence boom has a power problem, and Wall Street is betting billions on companies that promise to solve it — even if some of the technology hasn’t been fully developed yet.
Beneath the Surface: Uncovering True Diversification in Emerging Markets
At first glance, allocating to emerging markets appears to add diversification to a portfolio. Look more closely, and the reality is more nuanced. In the late 1990s, the MSCI EM index was dominated by materials and telecoms, driven by the growth of mobile telephony and the internet bubble.
Third Quarter Commentary: Tailwinds Return as Energy Prices Ease
Global stocks surged during the second quarter as oversold conditions in March and de-escalation in the Middle East created ripe conditions for a rally. In the United States, the large-cap S&P 500 index climbed by 13%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 index increased by nearly 25% (yCharts).
June Review: Markets Remain Resilient Amid Oil and Inflation Uncertainty
June saw strong market fundamentals once again in conflict with macroeconomic uncertainties, creating a choppy market. While a durable peace plan with Iran is seemingly underway, investors have regarded the negotiations with caution, pricing in potential setbacks.
Google’s Power Struggles Are Killing Its AI Mojo
With the artificial intelligence race moving so rapidly, even a momentary lag can be costly. Alphabet Inc.’s Google is learning this the hard way: The search giant rapidly caught up with
The Q2 Flowdown: ETFs Smash Records to Start Summer
Markets may have ended the first quarter with a thud, but stocks put another record run in the books to close out the first half of 2026. The U.S. ETF market had already shattered records, crossing the $15 trillion threshold and cruising past $1 trillion in net inflows right before summer officially began.
S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index: Home Price Growth Remains Constrained
Home prices fell for a second straight month in April according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller index, as the housing slowdown intensifies. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the national index dropped 0.1% month-over-month and was up 0.8% year-over-year.
S&P Factor Performance Highlights Momentum in June & Q2
As growth stumbled, the S&P 500 Momentum Index captures a 7.5% gain in June and a 44% gain in the second quarter.
S&P Winning Streak for July at Risk With Volatile End to Month
July is a great time to buy stocks. In fact, it’s been the best month for the S&P 500 Index in the past two decades. Bulls are finding comfort in that history ahead of what stands to be an eventful stretch.
Meta Is Building a Cloud Business to Sell Excess AI Compute
Meta Platforms Inc. is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business that will sell access to AI computing power and models, setting up a new vector of competition with industry leaders like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Has Stock Market Exuberance Become Irrational?
A strong quarter across major indexes. The second quarter is winding down and what a quarter it has been with the S&P 500 up 12.6% quarter to date, while the Nasdaq-100 and Russell 2000 are both up over 20%. Despite some twists and turns, the path of least resistance for stocks broadly remained up and to the right for much of the last three months.
Markets Broaden as AI Costs Rise and Inflation Pressures Linger
In our view, this divergence continues to reflect how the buildout of artificial intelligence (AI) is influencing both the economy and markets as it progresses across the value chain, even as the associated costs continue to climb.
Economic Resilience, Fading Inflation Supporting Value Rotation
The sharp retreat in oil prices has dramatically altered the market narrative. Just weeks ago, investors feared a renewed inflation shock from the conflict with Iran. Instead, crude has fallen back toward pre-conflict levels, Treasury yields have declined, and markets have begun rotating aggressively away from the large tech hyperscaler, the Magnificent Seven, that dominated recently and toward more cyclical and value-oriented sectors.
Benchmarks Are Broken: Remedying Fixed Income
Benchmarks are broken. That was the premise established in a conversation with Samarth Sanghavi, head of fixed income index product at TMX VettaFi, when the problem was first addressed in a previous article. TMX VettaFi creates innovative index solutions, and with the premise established that benchmarks are indeed broken, here is the fix.
Megacap Weakness, AI Momentum, and Hawkish Fed Repricing Drive Markets
Geopolitics, artificial intelligence, and inflation each took their turn commanding market attention last week. U.S. equities were mixed, as a pullback in technology names masked broadening performance beneath the surface.
Moving Averages of the Ivy Portfolio and S&P 500: June 2026
Valid until the market close on July 31, 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.
Chip Stocks’ Best Quarter Ever Is Ending With Some Wild Swings
Chip stocks are heading for their best quarter ever, extending an extraordinary start to the year driven by insatiable demand for artificial intelligence equipment. But after recent jitters sent the stocks tumbling, investors are wondering how much further the rally can go.
An Epic David vs. Goliath Stock Battle Is Underway
Meme mania swept through Wall Street in 2021. Retail investors gathered on social media and coordinated trading strategies to short squeeze high-profile hedge funds.
Record Retail Inflows: Where Is All The Money Coming From?
The money is REAL. The question was never whether it exists. It’s who’s spending it, and what they borrowed to do it. When the wall of cash and the bottom half finally commit to risk at the same moment the Fed turns hawkish, that’s not the start of something. That’s the part of the cycle where the careful investor gets paid to be careful.
Four Lessons Brexit Taught Me About Gold and Protecting Your Wealth
Ten years ago this week, the world watched the United Kingdom vote to walk away from the European Union. While the political class was clutching its pearls and every talking head on television was promising Armageddon by Christmas, I told you something different.
Rotation Nation. Large-Cap Growth on Sale.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
What Makes an Advisory Firm Easy to Refer? (And Why Many Fail This Test)
Whether you’re a seasoned RIA owner looking to accelerate organic growth or a next-gen Advisor building your practice from the ground up, the same fundamentals apply: say clearly who you help, show up consistently where prospects look, and make sure your online presence tells the right story.
Markets: What to Watch Midway Through 2026
It’s hard to believe we’re nearing the halfway point of 2026 – and what an eventful start it’s been. Markets have pushed through a geopolitically driven energy shock, rising inflation pressures and accelerating disruption from the artificial intelligence boom.
Can AI Deliver Lasting Growth?
AI infrastructure spending is driving record equity market raisings and has lifted expectations for long-term GDP growth in the US. But what will happen to growth when the AI capex surge has peaked? Today’s elevated long-bond yields suggest that the market expects AI-related productivity gains to support faster growth over the longer term.
What the Top 10 Active ETFs YTD Can Tell Us
The top 10 active ETFs YTD by fund flows show some intriguing trends and successful names that may pique the interest.
The SPIVA Scorecard Does Not Capture the Actual Experience of Investors
The way the SPIVA U.S. Scorecard evaluates performance is not well aligned with the experience of investors. Adjusting for this reveals a more balanced view of active fund performance. While active and passive U.S. equity funds perform similarly, active bond funds tend to outperform.
SpaceX Pushes US Share Sales to Record $251 Billion at Midyear
Wall Street bankers are on a high after record-setting offerings from SpaceX and Google parent Alphabet Inc., lifting expectations for deal activity in the rest of 2026. More deals are on the way, including a steady stream of initial public offerings in the coming weeks, and a potential mega-deal for Anthropic PBC as soon as October.
Europe’s Boldest Tech Startups Are Reaching for US SPACs Again
European firms in critical sectors like nuclear energy and quantum computing are flocking to the US, despite efforts by European authorities and bourses to make the region’s markets more appealing and accessible.
Microsoft’s $530 Billion Rout Sets Up Its Worst Month Since 2008
Microsoft Corp. shares are heading for their worst month in years as investors continue to fret about how the software giant will fare in a world marked by artificial intelligence.
Tech Rally Grounded in Fundamentals
As expectations have shifted toward slower growth, higher inflation, and higher rates, investors have rotated back to sectors like large-cap technology and semiconductors, capable of delivering durable earnings in a tougher macro environment.
From Tech Giants to MANGOS: A New ETF Trend Emerges
During the past month, the ETF market has seen a wave of excitement surrounding a concentrated group of companies. While investors still want exposure to the tech giants that have dominated the past few years, the successful launch of SpaceX in early June created widespread anticipation for planned IPOs like Anthropic and OpenAI.
Is AI Inflationary or Deflationary?
The AI boom goes from strength to strength. Big technology companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into chips, data centers and power-hungry infrastructure. One estimate puts annual AI infrastructure investment above $650 billion in 2025 and potentially over $800 billion in 2026..
Open vs. Closed AI: What Advisory Firm Leaders Need to Know
Before your firm starts using AI across operations, client service, reporting, or advisor workflows, there’s one basic question leadership needs to answer: what kind of AI are we talking about?
State Street Goes Heads Up With Qs, Launches Nasdaq 100 ETF
Investors now have more optionality when looking for Nasdaq 100 exposure. State Street Investment Management (SSIM) just launched the State Street SPDR Portfolio Nasdaq 100 ETF (QNDX). It will invariably go heads up with the Qs, namely the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) and the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM).
AI Trade’s Bruising Week Forces Investors to Be More Selective
This roller-coaster week for tech stocks from Seoul to New York fueled by extreme investor positioning and worries over chip demand is sending a strong signal: the case for the artificial-intelligence trade is still strong, but the days of everything going up in a straight line appear to be over.
Bond Traders Stunned as Losses on SpaceX’s New Debt Keep Growing
SpaceX’s blockbuster bond sale is weakening so quickly in the secondary market that traders say they can’t recall another recent deal that widened this sharply.
Market Broadening, AI, and the Case for Diversification
As the market continues to broaden in 2026, a balanced approach matters more than ever.
AI Is a Secular Growth Unicorn
AI is both a foundational technology and the ultimate replacement product, which we believe explains why it has attracted unprecedented levels of capital and why the investment opportunities are so compelling.
More Moving Parts Than Usual: A Mid-2026 Market Perspective
Halfway through 2026, this market perspective is harder to write with confidence than most. That’s not a phrase I use lightly. Over four decades of markets, there have been plenty of uncertain moments, but the number of significant, unresolved issues I’m watching right now is unusually high.
Rosenbluth Discusses Thematics & RAFI Acquisition on Schwab Network
VettaFi currently has index products tied to ETFs issued by American Century, Victory Capital, and ALPS ETFs, but the addition of RAFI products issued by Invesco and PIMCO that are fundamentally weighted is really exciting, according to Rosenbluth.
AI Backlash Is the Risk Wall Street Fears Can Stop Tech Stocks
Market professionals already on edge about the staying power of soaring artificial intelligence stocks are starting to grapple with another risk: public anger toward the technology.
Trump Orders US to Speed Quantum Adoption, Boost Cyber Defenses
President Donald Trump signed executive orders Monday aimed at accelerating quantum research, laying the groundwork for federal agencies to adopt the technology and strengthen US defenses against cyberattacks.
Alphabet’s Dow Debut Shows Index Headache in Tech-Driven Economy
Alphabet Inc.’s addition to the Dow Jones Industrial Average marks another step in the benchmark’s effort to catch up with a market increasingly defined by Big Tech.
SK Hynix, Micron Solidify the Memory Chip as Runaway Star of AI
With back-to-back announcements this week, SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. have solidified the memory chip market as the hottest part of the AI industry.
Gold, Fort Knox, and the Dollar’s Future
According to Gleason, the freezing of Russian assets following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine accelerated the global push toward de-dollarization. Nations around the world took notice that access to the dollar-based financial system could be restricted, increasing the appeal of gold as a reserve asset that cannot be frozen or sanctioned by foreign governments.
Why the Tech Giants Are Always in the Room
On May 5, 2026, researchers from Cleveland Clinic, RIKEN, and IBM successfully simulated a 12,635-atom protein complex using quantum-centric supercomputing, a problem relevant to drug discovery that classical computing could not match at comparable speed and accuracy.
Tech Stocks Lead Bounce After $1.3 Trillion Rout on Nasdaq 100
US technology stocks rebounded, lifting key indexes, after the latest flareup of concerns about the scale of the artificial-intelligence-fueled rally wiped nearly $1.3 trillion from the market capitalization of Nasdaq 100 companies over the first two days of the week.
Stocks Are Expensive. But Don’t Panic
When investors feel like the stock market is toppy, as many do now, they often compare what they expect stocks and bonds to pay. The yield on stocks should offer a premium over bonds to compensate for higher risk, and it usually does.
Iran Peace Deal Leads Equities Higher
Equities rallied after President Trump announced an agreement with Iran to end their conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ finished the holiday-shortened week with solid gains, led by the technology sector.
SpaceX’s Quickfire Investment-Grade Rating Brings Out Skeptics
SpaceX is seeking to raise between $20 billion and $25 billion from a debut bond offering on Tuesday, after attracting about $30 billion of investor orders even before the sales process had formally begun, according to people with knowledge of the matter. At that size, the deal would rank among the biggest of the year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.
Fed Signals Keep Rate Risks in Focus
U.S. equities posted a modest advance during the holiday-shortened trading week despite a Wednesday sell-off following a more hawkish than expected Federal Reserve meeting under its new chair, Kevin Warsh.
When Flows Meet a Hawkish Fed
Here’s the setup most investors are underrating right now. Over the next two weeks, the tape will trade on plumbing rather than fundamentals. We just cleared the largest options expiration in history. Quarter-end pension selling comes next, and then July 1 reopens the passive-money firehose into a market that already routes forty cents of every S&P 500 dollar into ten stocks.
Crypto Critic Nouriel Roubini Finds a Use for the Blockchain
Nouriel Roubini, the economist known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis and later for his sharp criticism of crypto, is putting one of his investment products on the blockchain.
How a US-Iran Deal Could Influence the Economy and Financial Markets
The US-Iran conflict – and its impact on oil prices – has dominated headlines over the past three months. Higher oil prices have pushed inflation to a three‑year high, reshaping the Federal Reserve’s rate outlook.
Physical AI & Global Reshoring Beyond the Humanoid Hype
Humanoid robots grab headlines, but they are just a fraction of the physical AI ecosystem. Autonomous robots, drones, cobots, and eVTOLs are rapidly scaling across industrial and defense sectors.
A Quarter Century of Data Says the Airline Opportunity Could Just Be Getting Started
On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. and Iran have reached a peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the 21-mile chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply normally flows.
Meet the New Boss. Different from the Old Boss.
Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
A New Market Calls for Fresh Investing Strategies
As geopolitical factors increasingly impact returns in a changing market, active portfolio management will become an increasingly necessary approach for advisors seeking to navigate uncertainty and deliver consistent results.
Space ETFs: How SpaceX Is Reshaping the Theme
The emergence of leveraged ETFs tied to Space Exploration Technologies (more familiarly known as SpaceX) points to strong investor demand for concentrated exposure.
The Price of Gold is Less About Gold & More About the Erosion of the Dollar
Gold is often misunderstood. It is not a growth asset, and it produces no cash flow. Its role is to maintain purchasing power — not outperform. It reflects the currency’s declining value.
Money Illusion — A User’s Manual
You know the term “Money Illusion”: mistakenly believing that today’s dollars have the same purchasing power as the dollars of ten or twenty years ago. As with any illusion, fake replaces real, image supplants fact, and fog obscures truth. We’re here to help you sort it out.
SpaceX Bankers Kick Off Marketing for Debut High-Grade Bond Sale
SpaceX is selling investment-grade bonds for the first time in what’s expected to be the start of a massive borrowing spree to fund the company’s AI ambitions following its record $75 billion IPO.
Are Backyard Data Centers an Answer to AI's Biggest Problem?
Data center developers are struggling to connect to the power grid and, not unrelatedly, connect with people. Perhaps half the data center projects due to start operating this year won’t arrive on time, according to Currence, an artificial intelligence analytics firm.
Covered Call ETFs Have Boomed – But Can They Be More?
Investors have plenty of reasons to celebrate the covered call ETF boom. Covered call strategies have offered new ways to add income to portfolios. Challenges in fixed income were a catalyst for assets to flow into traditional covered call ETFs.
Social Insecurity, Surprise Edition
We all know that Congress is never going to allow Social Security not to be paid. This begs a number of questions. Will the shortfall be addressed by tax increases, benefit reductions, increasing the retirement age, changing the inflation measures, means testing or some combination of these and other solutions?
Glass and Light: The Infrastructure Layer of the Quantum Market Is Missing
Co-packaged optics, the technology of integrating lasers and optical components directly into network switches rather than using pluggable modules, is becoming the standard architecture for large-scale GPU clusters, and Nvidia needed to lock in supply for the buildout it is planning.
Are We All Active Investors Now?
Markets are always changing — and sometimes the rules of finance do, too. I believe markets are efficient, which means my investment portfolio is pretty much all index funds. My enthusiasm for indexing is based on evidence from the Before Times, when the question of a corporation’s index-worthiness was straightforward.
Intel Shares Soar After Trump Says It Struck Apple Chip Deal
Intel Corp.’s stock surged Thursday after US President Donald Trump said the chipmaker will work alongside Apple Inc. to design and produce semiconductors domestically.
SpaceX-Tesla Inc. Is Inching Closer. Watch Out, Nvidia?
For Elon Musk, the public market debut of SpaceX could hardly have gone better. It priced at the dictated $135 per share and has since jumped by almost half, adding more than $870 billion in just three trading sessions to an already huge market capitalization.
SpaceX Stole the Show, but These Market-Moving Events Could Drive Stocks Next
It’s a busy finish to the first half on the corporate event calendar. The bulls have the lead, but the bears have had their moments of glory so far this year. A handful of key AGMs, conferences, and earnings events will keep investors on their toes amid a colorful macro backdrop.
Why We’re Staying at the Tech Party…and What Would Make Us Leave
The questions in our inbox have gotten louder lately. Are we reliving 1999? Has the tech rally reached the dangerous ‘Euphoria’ bubble stage we first discussed in our 2026 Outlook? And is the recent surge in initial public offerings (IPOs)— led by SpaceX on Friday— diluting existing holders just as valuations were already drawing scrutiny?
Apple Investors Are Tired of AI Promises, Want Tangible Progress
Apple Inc. investors are losing patience with the company’s talk about becoming a more formidable presence in artificial intelligence and want to start seeing some results.
SpaceX Extends Gains Into Fourth Day as Post-IPO Rally Hits 58%
SpaceX gained for a fourth straight day, cementing the company’s place among the world’s most valuable stocks after it surpassed Amazon.com Inc.
Bull Market Pullback: Why The 4.5% Dip Held The 50-DMA
The catalyst that turns a healthy pullback into something deeper won’t be a single oil-soaked CPI print. It’ll be the moment forward earnings expectations start to roll over while valuations sit at the high end of history. We aren’t there yet.
The Rise of the American State-Owned Enterprise
The slippery slope never fails. Go back to the 1979 Chrysler bailout and we can find the roots of the US government’s current predilection for getting involved in stocks and bonds.
Alternative Allocations: The Convergence of Public and Private Equity
On June 12, SpaceX went public with a US$2 trillion valuation—the largest initial public offering (IPO) ever, by far. It has been the most anticipated IPO in more than two decades and likely ushers in a series of high-profile IPOs in the coming months, including for OpenAI and Anthropic.
Markets Rally as Investors Weigh Inflation, the Fed and SpaceX IPO
Markets returned to positive territory for the week, with the turning point occurring Thursday after the announcement of a potential deal with Iran that would extend the ceasefire while reopening the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since February 27.
Peace Prospects, Inflation Pressures, and SpaceX’s Historic IPO Drive Markets
The Iran conflict, inflation reports, and the largest initial public offering of all time each took its turn in the spotlight last week. The fragile ceasefire with Iran looked ready to collapse after Iran shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter, and the U.S. retaliated with strikes on Iran.
Marvell Needs Lots of Growth to Achieve Huang’s $1 Trillion Call
Jensen Huang may see Marvell Technology Inc. as the stock market’s “next trillion-dollar company,” but it’s going to take a lot of growth for the chipmaker to even sniff that lofty level.
The Hormuz Peace Dividend Goes to Stocks, Not Bonds
Financial markets generally displayed exuberance Monday after the US and Iran agreed to an interim peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices fell to the lowest since early March and the S&P 500 Index surged, leaving it just a few points below its all-time high reached at the start of the month.
SpaceX Set to Overtake Amazon in Value as It Soars for Third Day
SpaceX shares jumped on Tuesday, putting the firm on track to overtake Amazon.com Inc. as the fifth largest publicly traded company in the world just days after its blockbuster debut.
Warsh’s First FOMC Meeting Will Put Policy and Fed Independence in Focus
New Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh will preside over his first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 16-17, stepping in at a complex moment with inflation at a three-year high as oil prices remain elevated, labor market risks easing with job growth averaging ~140,000 year to date versus only 10,000 last year, and hawkish voices on the Fed gaining traction.
Introducing the IPO Class of 2026
The U.S. initial public offering (IPO) market appears to be entering one of its most consequential periods in years. After a long drought following the 2021 issuance boom, a healthier macro backdrop, improved risk appetite, and a long queue of mature private companies have reopened the new-issue window.
Is Productivity Growth Picking Up?
This week the Fed has its first meeting under new Chair Kevin Warsh. For only the third time in US history, the former Chair, Jerome Powell, will still participate as a regular member of the Board of Governors.
Gold Looks Oversold. Is This the Contrarian Moment Investors Have Been Waiting For?
Gold has always had a way of testing investors’ expectations. Just when the headlines appear most supportive—inflation is rising, geopolitical risk is escalating and confidence in fiat currency is being questioned—gold can suddenly move in the opposite direction.
SpaceX Shares Land in ETF Portfolios
Several ETFs have added exposure to Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX) after the aerospace giant completed the largest initial public offering in market history. Trading on the Nasdaq, SpaceX surged 19% from its initial $135 offering price to close at $160.95 per share, notching a historic $2.1 trillion valuation. Actively managed ETF vehicles were able to use their operational flexibility to add positions in SpaceX at its debut.
BCSM: Where Small-Cap Upside Meets Large-Cap Stability in an Active ETF
Join Baron Capital for a product due diligence session covering Baron SMID Cap ETFTM (BCSM).