Investing

The Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions remain a focal point for markets. While the timing and size of rate cuts are the subject of debate, why the central bank is cutting rates and how the full rate cut cycle might play out are far more important.

Learn how financial leverage, Japanese carry trades, and market pullbacks all contribute to market fragility – and how that can impact investors.

When is the best time to invest your money? The answer is that it’s better to start now than to never start at all.

There are investment methods for managing the emotions that come from market volatility. What should investors know about how they can stick to an investment plan through years and decades?

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 the U.S. stock market as interest rate expectations have fallen.

In times of market uncertainty, many investors seek the safety of cash. This has certainly been true over the past several years as markets have fluctuated dramatically 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 anticipated Fed rate cut have led to renewed investor concerns. At the same time, interest rates on cash are at their highest levels in decades, making it appear that there are attractive “risk-free” returns. How should investors today really think about cash?