While the U.S. stock market has been pricing in a “soft-landing” scenario for the economy, a blowout January jobs report, relatively strong corporate earnings, and Federal Reserve Jerome Powell’s comments during the past week could point to the possibility of “no landing,” where the economy is resilient while inflation stays target. Such a scenario
Published: Feb. 2, 2024 at 6:47 p.m. ET One of Wall Street’s biggest bears will be giving up some of his duties, stirring memories for some investors and market mavens of a previous shakeup that proved ill-timed for the market. Mike Wilson will leave his post as chair of Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee but
Commission-based “load” mutual funds and the financial advisors who still sell them seem passé, like riding a horse and buggy to reach your investment goal instead of a zippy new exchange-traded fund. Yet there are excellent load funds run by top fund managers at big shops. Of the 10 largest mutual fund families, six have
Investors yanked a record $13 billion from U.S. sustainable funds in 2023, stung by mediocre performance and the continuing backlash against environmental, social, and governance investing. Last year was the worst calendar year for outflows since Morningstar started keeping track more than a decade ago. Steep outflows from one passive iShares ESG fund accounted for
Apple Inc. has long been the most valuable U.S. company, but Microsoft Corp. seems poised to overtake it. A look back at the companies’ financial performance and a look ahead at expected revenue and profits make the case that Apple is no longer a growth stock and that Microsoft is the better long-term investment. Late
Do well by doing good? Don’t count on it. Funds that invest using environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, criteria underperformed for a second consecutive year. According to data from Morningstar Direct, sustainable U.S. equity funds were up an average 21.6%, including dividends, through Dec. 31, trailing the S&P 500 total returns index by about
Stock investors have gotten off to a wobbly start to the new year, hobbled by shifting expectations on the timing and extent of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts in 2024. All three major U.S. stock indexes snapped a nine-week winning streak on Friday, after unexpectedly strong December job gains prompted traders to briefly pull back on
The European aviation regulators have followed orders by the Federal Aviation Administration for the temporary grounding of many Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, after a MAX 9 operated by Alaska Air lost a section of its fuselage in midair on Friday. The damaged plane was able to return to the Portland, Ore., airport, where the
Published: Jan. 5, 2024 at 4:06 p.m. ET The stock market has stumbled into the new year, but a closely watched measure of expected volatility remains subdued — cheering up investors looking for renewed equity gains but worrying those who fear market participants are complacent. The Cboe Volatility Index VIX, widely known by its ticker
Stock-market investors fear a megacap meltdown. Here’s what history says.
Investors spent 2023 fretting about the sustainability of a stock-market rally largely driven by a handful of megacap tech stocks. Those worries remain in place as the S&P 500 has returned to record territory in the new year. “With the usual set of select megacap stocks pacing early 2024 performance, concentration-risk worries have been getting