Every time the US stock market gets heavier, the Wall Street marketing machine kicks into high gear. The cycle returns to a favorite narrative: geographic diversification. Retail investors are urged to ditch their concentrated domestic stocks and buy single-country ETFs to capture untapped and uncorrelated growth cycles abroad. More Barchart news There is no crystal…
Warning: A key part of the options market you can rely on is no longer working. I’m referring to the fact that implied volatility is selectively rising, sending call option premiums into the stratosphere. Everyone is scrambling to buy short-term upside exposure, paying huge premiums for the privilege. More Barchart news There are many cases,…
Markets have been rising since April 1, creating renewed concerns about market valuation. Some major metrics, such as Shiller’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, have soared to all-time highs. Normally, when the market reaches such a high valuation, a correction or slowdown occurs. By now, investors should know that volatility comes with the territory, but it has…
Captivity Two months after Vanguard launched its BondBuilder suite of target-maturity bond ETFs, the lineup of 10 funds has amassed about $242 million in combined assets, a solid start in a corner of the bond ETF market where holders have a significant advantage. The flows reflect a growing appetite for funds that behave more like…
Going by the new 52-week highs and 52-week lows from Tuesday’s trading, the bulls are back in control. Yesterday, the bulls flipped the switch. For the first time in a long time, new 52-week highs on both the NYSE and Nasdaq easily surpassed new 52-week lows. I don’t know how long this will last, but…
I know, I know. Short-term bonds? Like big investments? Blasphemy, right? But listen to me. I think there’s more than a slim chance that between all those fancy covered call ETFs, closed-end funds with double-digit yields, and dividend stocks that “should” rebound in 2026, the year could belong to some of the dullest ETFs on…
Marijuana may soon be reclassified as a Schedule III drug, and the news has sent cannabis ETFs, ahem, higher. The Trump administration’s potentially friendlier stance on bud follows a similar initiative to downgrade the drug from its current schedule I status, which was ultimately vaporized during the Biden administration. The likely rescheduling would mean more…
JJ Gouin / Shutterstock.com Living solely on Social Security could create an income shortfall in retirement. Not only are benefit cuts possible, but COLAs often fail. It’s smart to supplement your Social Security with ETFs that can generate steady income. If you’re thinking about retiring or know someone who is, there are three quick questions…
The recent bitcoin sell-off is shedding new light on crypto ETFs, and financial advisors are scrambling to stay on the sidelines. While the broader financial planning community, along with much of traditional Wall Street, initially held a cautious view of digital currencies, cryptocurrencies have been gaining momentum since the first spot bitcoin ETFs were launched…
Ready or not, global 401(k), dual share classes are coming. F/m Investments introduced the first ETF mutual fund share classes last Friday, a bridge the company hopes to use to gain access to retirement plans. It represents one of the first prospectuses submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval of dual share classes…
