Rates Spark: The Impact Is No Longer Transitory
The U.S. 10‑year Treasury yield is projected to climb into a 4.25‑4.5% band before easing back toward 4%, driven by higher nominal and real yields after the war’s shock. Even as the conflict winds down, inflation expectations remain structurally elevated, keeping rates above pre‑war levels. A prolonged war could force the 10‑year below 4% but would raise recession concerns, while European Central Bank hikes threaten to push euro swap curves higher before any policy loosening. Upcoming sovereign auctions in the UK and Finland add further supply pressure to global bond markets.
How Active Management Can Capture Yield In Today's Bond Environment
Late 2025 saw long‑term U.S. Treasury yields climb even as the Fed signaled easing. The divergence stems from stubborn inflation, heightened global bond issuance, and waning central‑bank demand. Active managers now recommend tilting toward intermediate‑term Treasuries, high‑quality corporates, and municipals...
Super Micro Stock Looks Like A Real Gift On Upcoming Business Stabilization
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) posted a blockbuster Q2 FY2026, delivering $12.68 billion in revenue—a 123% year‑over‑year surge that beat estimates by 22%. The company lifted its full‑year revenue outlook to $40 billion, reflecting accelerating demand for AI‑optimized servers. Operating efficiency improved as...
Inside Trump’s Economic Strategy, with EXIM Bank’s John Jovanovic
In a March 2026 Atlantic Council podcast, EXIM Bank chairman John Jovanovic outlined how the Trump administration’s economic strategy hinges on resilient, "free, fair, and functioning" supply chains. He highlighted the bank’s role in financing U.S. exporters amid heightened geopolitical...
UK Mortgage Rates Jump, and Petrol Prices Rise, Amid ‘Trumpflation’ Worries; Oil Price Falls as Bessent Says US Is Letting...
UK mortgage rates edged higher on Monday, with the average two‑year fixed rate climbing to 5.20% and the five‑year rate to 5.25%, reflecting market expectations that the Bank of England will keep policy tight. At the same time, pump prices...
Transitioning Annaly Capital And Its Undervalued Tax-Benefitted Preferred 'I' Shares
Annaly Capital is moving beyond its traditional agency mortgage REIT model, adding residential credit assets and mortgage‑servicing rights. The transition has left its common stock overvalued, trading above book value and showing a history of dividend cuts. In contrast, the...
MIT Research Says One 401(k) Mistake Costs Couples $14,000
MIT Sloan researchers found that many American couples lose an average of $14,000 in retirement wealth because they fail to coordinate 401(k) contributions toward the spouse with the higher employer match. The study, covering 44 million workers from 2003‑2018, shows that...
How Federal Policy Can Supercharge Lithium Price Momentum
Spot lithium prices have surged 125.65% over the past year, with a 35.63% rise year‑to‑date as of February 28 2026. Jacob White of Sprott Asset Management notes expanding demand beyond electric vehicles into energy‑storage systems and AI‑driven infrastructure, while supply disruptions in...
The Gulf’s Expat El Dorado Faces a Costly Recovery After the War
The Gulf’s expatriate‑driven economies face a sharp shock after the US‑Israel‑Iran conflict, with water desalination plants and key tourism infrastructure hit by Iranian attacks. The immediate fallout will hit tourism and aviation hardest, while financial services and data‑center projects risk...
Split Market Seen for Prairie Farmland
Prairie farmland is entering a split market, with premium land still appreciating while average parcels stagnate or decline. After 15‑20 years of steady gains, 2024 saw a 9.3% national price rise and a 13.1% jump in Saskatchewan, but offers per...
Personalized Investment Models for Retirement Plans & IRAs
Target‑date funds (TDFs) are increasingly criticized for a one‑size‑fits‑all, set‑and‑forget structure that can leave participants over‑exposed to risk as they near retirement. Yaqub Ahmed and other industry experts propose a personalized framework that blends academic lifetime‑investing theory with individual risk...
AI Capital Is Flooding the World, with the GCC Emerging as the Next Hub
Artificial intelligence captured roughly $270 billion in venture capital in 2025, more than half of all global VC funding. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is emerging as a new AI hub thanks to abundant low‑cost energy, sovereign‑backed investment vehicles, and less...
Bank of America Increases Hyperscaler Issuance Forecast to $175 Billion
Bank of America raised its 2026 forecast for investment‑grade debt sales to hyperscalers by 25%, now projecting $175 billion in total issuance. The bank still expects $65 billion of new hyperscaler bonds to be issued this year. The revision follows Amazon’s $54 billion...
Pulled in Opposite Directions, the Swiss National Bank Is Likely to Keep Rates Steady
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is expected to keep its policy rate at 0% as inflation remains near‑zero, hovering between 0.1% and 0.3% year‑on‑year. Recent forecasts show a modest rise to 0.2% in 2026 and 0.8% by mid‑2028, supporting a...
AI Credit Boom Brings New Risks for Bond Investors
AI-driven data‑center spending is flooding bond markets with unprecedented infrastructure debt, exemplified by the $27 billion Beignet Investor joint venture between Meta and Blue Owl. T. Rowe Price warns that many of these bonds are concentrated in a handful of hyperscaler tenants, creating...
Celebrity Estates: Cross-Border Estate Planning Lessons with Martin Behn
The Wealth Management podcast “Celebrity Estates” featured Lathrop GPM partner Martin Behn discussing the intricacies of cross‑border estate planning. Using actress Catherine O’Hara’s estate as a case study, Behn emphasized the need to locate every asset worldwide and determine which jurisdiction’s laws...
Mid-Session IV Report March 16, 2026
The March 16 mid‑session IV report highlights rising implied volatility across leading tech stocks, with NVIDIA, Broadcom, Arm and CoreWeave showing notable IV levels below their 52‑week peaks. It flags extreme IV spikes for upcoming earnings—Lululemon, DocuSign and Oklo all posting...
Iran Conflict Sparks Risk, And Opportunity, For Egypt: CIB CEO Hisham Ezz Al-Arab
The Iran‑Israel conflict has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, pushing oil above $100 per barrel and unsettling regional markets. In Egypt, the turmoil has sparked capital outflows, weakening the pound to a historic low of about 53 EGP per dollar....
FX Talking: Forecast Table
ING’s research team released its latest foreign‑exchange forecast table on 16 March 2026, drawing on Refinitiv data and internal modeling. The outlook covers major pairs such as USD/EUR, GBP/USD, and emerging‑market currencies, highlighting expected rate movements through the year. Analysts attribute the...
Nevada Is No Longer a Haven of Housing Affordability
Nevada, once celebrated for affordable housing, is now facing soaring costs that threaten its reputation as a low‑price market. In Las Vegas, investor‑owned single‑family rentals have climbed to roughly 11 percent, far above the national 3 percent average. Clark County’s...
‘More Needs to Be Done’ to Help Pension Savers After Salary Sacrifice, Says Standard Life Boss
Standard Life chief executive Andy Briggs warned that the UK government’s new £2,000 salary‑sacrifice cap, effective from April 2029, could further depress already low retirement savings. Only one in seven workers are on track for a decent pension, prompting Briggs...
Crude Bottleneck Extends, but Geopolitical Premium Flaring; Brent Oil Will Likely Test $120
The United States carried out large‑scale strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island over the March 14‑15 weekend, targeting military facilities while sparing the island’s crude export terminal. Kharg processes over 90 % of Iran’s oil shipments, so the attacks raise geopolitical tension...
Q&A: Bolstered by Strong Fundamentals, REITs Close Gap with Broader Equities Market
Publicly‑traded REITs posted a 6.3% year‑over‑year rise in net operating income, with occupancy remaining in the mid‑to‑upper 90% range for most sectors and office at 87%. The FTSE Nareit U.S. All‑Equity REIT index delivered a 10.5% total return through February,...
Global FX Derivatives Market Overview: Size, Structure and Uses
Global FX derivatives daily turnover hit $6.6 trillion in April 2025, about double the 2013 level. While FX swaps still dominate, outright forwards and options are growing fastest, reshaping product composition. Trading remains concentrated in London, though Asia‑Pacific’s share is rising and...
One of BAM’s Fidus Re Financial Guarantee ILS Gets Ratings Revised to Positive by KBRA
Build America Mutual Assurance Company (BAM) saw Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) upgrade the outlook on its Fidus Re Series 2022-1 financial guarantee ILS to Positive, while reaffirming AA+ on the 2021-1 series and AA on the 2022-1 and 2025-1...
Onetime Atlanta Apartment Community Now 236 Condos
Crescent Heights has launched Panorama, a 236‑unit condominium tower in Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead district. The high‑rise, originally built as an apartment building in 1984, was acquired in November 2024 for just over $55 million and re‑configured for luxury condo sales. Units...
MTN Initiates Share Buyback Programme
MTN Group announced a R6 billion share‑buyback programme targeting 1.7 %‑2 % of its equity over the next three years. The initiative is part of an enhanced shareholder remuneration framework that also guarantees a minimum 40 % free‑cash‑flow dividend, with a potential additional 20 %...
Stress Test on SRTs Could Help Shed Light on Risks, BIS Says
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) recommends that synthetic risk transfers (SRTs) be incorporated into system‑wide stress tests to expose hidden vulnerabilities. SRT usage has expanded fivefold since 2016, covering roughly €800 billion of loan portfolios and delivering about 43 basis...
Mamdani Wants New York Estate Tax Threshold Cut 90% to $750K
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposes slashing the state estate‑tax exemption from over $7 million to $750,000 and raising the top rate to 50%. The measure is part of a suite of revenue ideas to cover a $5.4 billion city‑budget deficit and...
Kroenig Interviewed on CNN on US Action in Iran
Matthew Kroenig, senior director at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center, was interviewed on CNN on March 13 to defend President Trump’s approach toward Iran. He claimed that recent U.S. actions, including expanded sanctions and calibrated military signaling, are deliberately weakening...
He Manages the Best-Performing Stock Mutual Fund of the Past 25 Years—Here's His Top Advice for Investors
Baron Opportunity Fund, managed by Michael Lippert for 20 years, posted the best 25‑year performance among mutual funds, delivering a 13% annualized return versus the S&P 500's 6.8%. Lippert attributes the outperformance to a disciplined focus on long‑term growth companies with...
We're Buying More of These 2 Stocks to Take Advantage of a Deeply Oversold Market
Jim Cramer’s Investing Club is increasing its exposure to Boeing and Goldman Sachs, buying 25 Boeing shares at about $214 each and 10 Goldman Sachs shares at roughly $797 each. The purchases come as the S&P 500’s Short‑Range Oscillator deepened into...
BlackRock’s Model Shift: Scaling Active ETFs Ahead of Exchange
In February, actively managed ETFs in the United States attracted $73 billion of new capital, propelled by BlackRock’s recent model‑portfolio adjustments. By March 11, BlackRock’s active ETF suite had swelled to $98 billion, nearly three times its 2024 level, with flagship funds like...
Data Centers Overtake Offices in US Construction-Spending Shift
Spending on U.S. data‑center construction surpassed office projects for the first time at the end of 2025, reflecting a rapid shift toward digital infrastructure. Meta’s Ohio hub, launched in 2017, attracted Amazon, Google and Microsoft, creating a regional tech cluster....
Fastmarkets to Launch Three New China Copper Scrap Grades, Increase Frequency
Fastmarkets will shift its CIF China copper scrap price publication from a monthly to a weekly schedule and add three new grades—millberry, cobra and clove—under the GB 38471‑2023 standard. Existing No 1 and No 2 grades retain their definitions, with minimum contract sizes...
Treasury Yields May Still Be Headed Higher
Treasury yields slipped briefly on Monday but technical analysis suggests the decline is temporary. 5‑year yields, which fell to their lowest since October 2024, are still below the high reached in January and remain in a large‑degree B‑wave correction that historically...
Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 516,584 Shares of NVIDIA Corporation $NVDA
Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its NVIDIA position by 516,584 shares in Q3, a 3.2% decline that left the trust with 15,576,960 shares valued at roughly $2.91 billion. The stake still represents about 8% of the trust’s portfolio, making NVIDIA...
Envestnet Brings Interval Funds Onto UMA Platform as Focus Sharpens on Private Credit
Envestnet announced the first wave of interval funds on its Unified Managed Account (UMA) platform, allowing advisors to embed semi‑liquid private‑credit exposure directly into client portfolios. The firm will manage research, trade execution, rebalancing, tax‑loss harvesting and model updates, keeping...
Gold Prices Today: March 16, 2026
Gold opened at $5,008.56 per ounce on March 16, up 0.15% from the previous close, while still on a five‑day downtrend of 4.46%. The metal’s modest daily gain reflects ongoing macro uncertainty and shifting real‑interest‑rate expectations. Over 2024 and 2025...
4 Internet Delivery Services Stocks to Watch in a Flourishing Industry
Zacks highlights four internet‑delivery stocks—GoDaddy, Vipshop, QuinStreet and MakeMyTrip—as well‑positioned amid rising smartphone use and expanding middle‑class consumers in emerging markets. The sector benefits from deeper internet penetration but still faces macro headwinds, including inflation, high interest rates and tariff...
Ask an Advisor: I Feel ‘Very Uncomfortable’ Sharing My Investment Info With a Financial Planner. Do They Need to Know...
The article tackles a retiree’s discomfort sharing investment statements with a financial planner, emphasizing that full portfolio visibility is essential for truly personalized advice. It advises starting with a transparent conversation to assess trust, understand why data is needed, and...
State Farm Sets up Another Merna Re Structure in Bermuda, Likely for Future Cat Bonds
State Farm has registered a new Bermuda special‑purpose insurer, Merna Re Enterprise II Ltd., likely to support upcoming catastrophe‑bond issuances. The move follows a decade‑long strategy of using Merna Re entities, which have funded $3 billion of cat‑bond protection and a...
Electrified Industrial Outdoor Storage Gains Fans Among Investors and Tenants
Industrial outdoor storage is evolving into electrified industrial outdoor storage (EIOS), attracting investors and tenants seeking high‑capacity power sites. Rents for EIOS properties with 4,000 amps or more are up to 49% higher, and tenants are willing to pay a 20‑30%...
Rising Fuel Price Could See Box Shipping Face a Bill of up to $35bn
Rising fuel prices linked to the Hormuz crisis could add $30‑35 billion to global container shipping costs if sustained for a year. Sea‑Intelligence estimates an extra $153‑$178 per TEU, potentially pushing freight rates higher. While direct fuel expenses are significant, analysts...
EIA Ups WTI Price Forecast by $20 in Wake of Iran Conflict
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) raised its short‑term outlook for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, projecting an average price of $73.61 per barrel in 2026—$20 above its February forecast. The revision reflects heightened risk premiums after the February 28 onset...
4,892 Shares in ASML Holding N.V. $ASML Acquired by Cinctive Capital Management LP
Cinctive Capital Management LP added a new stake in ASML Holding N.V., buying 4,892 shares worth about $4.7 million. The purchase joins several institutional investors—Telos Capital, Dimensional Fund Advisors, Principal Financial Group and the Regents of the University of California—who increased...
Prime Fitzrovia Building Sold for £172m Above Book Value
GPE has sold a prime office building in Fitzrovia for a price that exceeds its book value by £172 million, marking one of the most significant premiums in recent London CRE transactions. The deal highlights the continued appetite for high‑quality office...
Another Oklahoma Winter Storm-Related Bond Issue Challenged
In 2022 Oklahoma issued $2.89 billion of utility bonds to recover costs from Winter Storm Uri, with $1.35 billion allocated to Oklahoma Natural Gas. Republican lawmakers filed a state Supreme Court brief alleging the Oklahoma Corporation Commission failed required audits of those...
Small Gains for New Single-Family Home Size
New single‑family home sizes have plateaued after years of decline, with Q4 2025 median square footage holding steady at 2,183 sq ft and the mean nudging up to 2,447 sq ft. The brief size surge in 2021, driven by ultra‑low mortgage rates, receded as rates...
Your 2026 Social Security Playbook: 5 Moves to Make Before Filing
The article outlines a five‑step Social Security playbook for 2026 retirees, urging them to verify their earnings record, model different claiming ages, coordinate benefits with a spouse, anticipate tax liabilities, and assemble required paperwork before applying. It highlights that the...