Liquidity: The Toll Collector
Why long-term investors shouldn’t pay for flexibility they don’t need. By Kevin Bruce, CFA®, CFP, Analyst, Alternative Due Diligence Many advisors share the same core playbook with clients: think long-term, stay invested, diversify, and do not let short-term volatility derail the plan. It is the foundation of wealth creation. We remind clients that cash (the …
11 Charts on the State of the Labor Market
We finally got more timely data on the labor market and since it’s been a while, I thought I’d put together 11 charts showing what’s happening in the labor market. The big picture is that the labor market continues to cool, with weak hiring but also relatively low firings. Job Growth Cools, A Lot …
Active Manager Outlook – 2026
By Michael Barczak, CFA®, VP, Investment Due Diligence Carson Investment Research’s 2026 Market Outlook is almost here, and in the meantime the Investment Research Team wanted to look at how active managers have performed in 2025, what may be the causes were of any trends we noticed, and what our views for 2026 suggest about …
The Fed Comes Bearing Gifts
A rare split is opening inside the Federal Reserve. Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist, and Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Wealth, dig into what that tension really means as growth projections move higher and rate cuts keep coming. They break down the widening gap between market expectations and the Fed’s own outlook, …
Don’t Stop Believing
“Just a small town girl, livin’ in a lonely world. She took the midnight train goin’ anywhere… Don’t stop believin’, hold on to that feelin’.” Journey, “Don’t Stop Believin’” After peaking on October 28 and seeing a more than 5% mild pullback into late November, the S&P 500 moved back to new all-time highs on …
Charts of the Week: Dec. 8 – 12
Charts of the Week: Dec. 8 – 12 Thanks for reading this week’s Charts of the Week! We’ll continue to highlight key charts and themes shaping markets. Be sure to check back every Monday for the latest update!
A Deeper Dive in Tech’s 2025 Outperformance
The technology sector is on track to be the highest-returning S&P 500 sector of stocks in 2025. This outperformance can in part be explained by better-than-average earnings revisions for the sector relative to the broader market. And this fundamental strength in tech stocks has been led by the largest companies in the sector. A Strong …
Takeaways from Five Unusual Things Markets Did in 2025
The S&P 500 could still top 20% three years in a row, something that’s only happened one other time since 1929. The EAFE Value Index is ahead of the Russell 1000 Growth Index by almost 20%-points—the last time EAFE Value outperformed in a year both were higher was 2006. The Bloomberg Gold Index is up …
The Fed Comes Bearing Gifts
The Federal Reserve cut rates once again, taking policy rates down to the 3.50-3.75% range. This was as expected, but the chatter before the meeting was that this would be a “hawkish cut”. On the contrary, as I’ll discuss below. But even otherwise, it’s hard to say a cut is hawkish when it comes on …
10 Years Ago
“If you are going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill 10 years ago yesterday I was doing some work at home in our basement and suddenly heard a large crash in our garage. I ran upstairs to see what it was and saw that the entire ceiling had collapsed. Parts of the ceiling were hanging …
Is Reacceleration in the Cards?
In this week’s episode of Facts vs Feelings, Ryan Detrick and Sonu Varghese dig into the market’s latest shift toward a potential economic reacceleration, looking at rising global yields, what the renewed steepening of the yield curve may signal, and how broadening market leadership is shaping their outlook. They go through the rebound in tech, …