How Technological Innovations Impact the Stock Market
Investors and the financial media tend to focus on macroeconomic concerns such as inflation, labor markets, and the Fed. While these topics are important, history shows that the economy and markets grow over long periods of time due to technological innovation and gains in productivity. It’s for this reason that recent developments in artificial intelligence have captured the attention of investors and economists. They have also led to disagreements about...
What Dow 40,000 Means for Consumer Net Worth
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached 40,000 for the first time recently as markets continue to rebound from a 5% decline earlier this year. While this has felt like a difficult year for many investors due to inflation, high interest rates, and growth concerns, the reality is that the broad market has achieved 23 new all-time highs. Other asset classes, including international stocks, commodities, and even gold, have surged alongside...
How Earnings Can Guide Investors in Difficult Markets
With markets nervous about stubborn inflation, a gradually slowing labor market, and the timing of the first Fed rate cut, investors are more focused on this corporate earnings season than usual. This is because while the economy has avoided a “hard landing” corporate earnings only began to rebound in the second half of 2023. Since the stock market tends to follow the trajectory of earnings in the long run, many...
Why Cash Is Not a Long-Term Investment
In times of market uncertainty, investors often seek the safety of cash. This has been true over the past several years as markets have swung due to the pandemic, geopolitical events, Fed rate hikes, inflation, gridlock in Washington, technology trends, and more. More recently, the possibility of worse-than-expected inflation and a delay of the first Fed rate cut have led to renewed investor concerns. At the same time, interest rates...