News & Insights
LPL: Another Big Up Year With A Sharp Drawdown
Another Strong Year for Stocks — Even With a Sharp Pullback As 2025 winds toward the finish line, the stock market appears on track for another impressive year. With only 24 trading days left and the S&P 500 up roughly 14%, the backdrop remains supportive: companies just delivered one of the strongest earnings seasons in […]
Visual Capitalist: Which Countries Hold The Most Gold Reserves?
Which Countries Hold the World’s Largest Gold Reserves in 2024? Evaluator Funds Market Insights Gold continues to play a critical role in the global financial system, especially during periods of inflation, geopolitical tension, and currency instability. Central banks around the world have been steadily expanding their gold holdings in recent years—a trend that helped push […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended November 21
Labor market shows mixed signalsA delayed September employment release indicated that job growth was stronger than anticipated heading into the government shutdown. Employers added 119,000 positions, outpacing expectations, yet the unemployment rate edged up to 4.4%, marking its highest reading since late 2021. Markets react to shifting Fed expectationsInterest-rate sentiment swung sharply during the week. […]
LPL: Why Market Pullbacks In 2025 Have Been Shallow And Short
Periods of market volatility often give long-term investors the chance to add high-quality assets at better prices. Historically, “buying the dip” has rewarded those willing to stay active when markets wobble. But since the trade-policy-driven pullback in April, meaningful corrections have nearly disappeared. As markets have rallied sharply from the spring lows—led by high-beta and […]
Visual Capitalist: Population Change In North American Cities Since 2005
How Populations Have Shifted Across North American Cities Since 2005 Over the last two decades, population patterns across North America have moved in dramatically different directions. While many cities in the South and West have experienced rapid expansion, a number of major northern metros have seen only modest growth—or even declines. Using data from the […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended November 14
Is a Fed Rate Cut Still on the Table? Investor expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December cooled noticeably last week. By Friday afternoon, pricing in the futures market pointed to roughly a 46% chance of a quarter-point cut at the Fed’s December 10 meeting, based on CME FedWatch data. That’s a sharp […]
QT Is Ending—But Does That Mean QE Is Around the Corner?
The Federal Reserve is preparing to wrap up its balance-sheet reduction program—better known as quantitative tightening (QT)—on December 1. Since the process began, more than $2 trillion has rolled off the Fed’s balance sheet, largely through a steep decline in the overnight reverse repo facility. Recent instability in short-term funding markets, however, prompted policymakers to […]
Visual Capitalist: The Global Cost Of Living Index 2025
🌍 Mapped: The Global Cost of Living Index 2025 Source: Visualization originally published by Visual Capitalist using data from Numbeo. Summary and commentary adapted for our readers. Key Insights Numbeo’s Global Cost of Living Index compares the relative price of goods, services, and rent around the world, with New York City as the baseline (100). […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended November 7
Earnings Continue to Outperform Even though major stock indexes ended the week lower, company earnings remained a bright spot. As of Friday, about 91% of S&P 500 companies had reported third-quarter results—and an impressive 82% topped profit expectations. That’s the strongest showing in four years and well above the long-term average of around 75%. Data […]
Global X: The Race To Human-Level Reasoning
Artificial Intelligence: The Next Leap Toward Human-Like Reasoning The concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI)—machines capable of thinking and reasoning much like humans—is moving rapidly from theory to reality. Recent advances in large language models and the global expansion of AI-focused data centers are accelerating this evolution. These developments are beginning to reshape industries by […]