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Financial Advisor IQ – DOL Rescinds Guidance on Crypto in 401(k)s in Win for Fidelity

Markets

The Department of Labor has pulled Biden-era guidance urging 401(k) plan fiduciaries to use special caution when considering cryptocurrencies on plan menus, in a win for firms that already do so — chief among them Fidelity Investments.

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Financial Advisor IQ – Even Wall Street’s Top Cop Wants Alts Access for All

Markets

Barriers for everyday retail investors to access alternative investments—until now primarily the playground of larger, well-heeled clientele—seem poised to crumble.

Newly installed Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said last week it’s about time to roll back investment minimums and accreditation standards required to buy certain closed-end strategies with illiquid holdings.

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Consumer confidence rebounds in May as Trump pauses China tariffs

Industry, Markets

Consumer confidence rebounded in May after five straight months of declines as President Trump dialed back his aggressive stance on tariffs against China.

The latest index reading from the Conference Board was 98 in May, well above the 85.7 seen in April and the 87.1 economists had expected. The expectations index surged off its 13-year low seen in April, reaching 72.8 in May, far above the 55.4 in the month prior. This marked the largest month-over-month increase for that metric since May 2009.

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Earnings Estimates Are Falling—And That’s Good | Zacks Investment Management Blog

Markets

Earnings Expectations are Falling. That’s a Good Thing

The first four months of the year were dominated by trade and economic policy uncertainty. But let’s not forget what ultimately matters most for stocks: corporate earnings.I’ll dive into some details below, but the high-level takeaway is that U.S. corporations held up relatively well in the first quarter, while also scaling back expectations for the quarters ahead. And I see this latter point as good news for stocks.As I write, roughly half of S&P 500 companies have reported Q1 2025 earnings, and the results show +14.0% year-over-year earnings-per-share (EPS) growth on +4.0% higher revenues. Approximately 72.3% of companies beat their EPS estimates, which is pretty much in line with historical averages.

Read the entire article: Earnings Estimates Are Falling—And That’s Good | Zacks Investment Management Blog

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Not All Selloffs Are the Same—Do You Know Which One We’re In? | Zacks Investment Management Blog

Markets

Market declines come in all shapes and sizes, but they tend to follow similar patterns over time. Corrections are short, sharp declines between -10% and -20%, while bear markets are declines greater than 20% that fall into one of three categories

Structural – These bear markets are caused by severe dislocations, typically in financial markets, and are often associated with ‘bubbles.’ The 2008 Global Financial Crisis is an example of a structural bear, which often take several years to fully recover from.

Cyclical – These bear markets are more closely tied to the business cycle,

Read the entire article: Not All Selloffs Are the Same—Do You Know Which One We’re In? | Zacks Investment Management Blog

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Avoid Sudden Moves In This Market | Zacks Investment Management Blog

Financial Planning, Markets

No Sudden Moves in an Event-Driven Market

In last week’s Mitch on the Markets column, I offered readers a central takeaway:“

Selling out of the market today [April 5] substantially increases the chances of being whipsawed when a rally takes hold, which again, no one can know the precise timing of.

In the current environment, the setup is that any modicum of good news on trade will factor as a positive surprise for markets going forward, which will almost certainly trigger strong moves higher. Long-term investors simply cannot afford to miss these upswings.”What a difference a day can make.

Read the entire article: Avoid Sudden Moves In This Market | Zacks Investment Management Blog

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S&P 500: Investors Find Ways To Profit From Trump’s Global Arms Race | Investor’s Business Daily

Markets

President Donald Trump’s moves to rip up the world’s military alliances are creating ways for investors to profit in S&P 500 stocks using ETFs.

Six of the eight largest defense and aerospace ETFs, including iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense (ITA), Invesco Aerospace & Defense (PPA) and SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense (XAR), are outperforming the S&P 500 this year, says an Investor’s Business Daily analysis of data from ETFdb and MarketSurge. And the entire group of eight ETFs is up an average of nearly 7%, while the S&P 500 is down 3% this year so far, says S&P Global Market Intelligence.

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Now and Future – Behavior Gap

Behavioral Finance, Markets

Investing in the stock market is not a physical science like weather forecasting. Although the market is difficult to predict, there are proven strategies that can help you invest wisely. Learn why guessing is not a good way to make investment decisions in this article by Carl, and stop pretending to know something you don’t.

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Fed rate decision March 2025: Fed holds interest rates steady

Markets

The Federal Reserve in a closely watched decision Wednesday held the line on benchmark interest rates though still indicated that reductions are likely later in the year.Faced with pressing concerns over the impact tariffs will have on a slowing economy, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee kept its key borrowing rate targeted in a range between 4.25%-4.5%

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Trump’s tariff threats are proving a surprise tool against inflation

Markets

With consumer confidence taking a notable dive in recent months and inflation still hovering above the Federal Reserve’s target rate, economic anxiety has become a defining feature of the early days of Trump’s second administration. While the president has begun implementing his promised tariffs against several countries, what’s more remarkable

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Julian Simon Was Right: Ingenuity Leads to Abundance

Lifestyle, Markets

If you’re looking for further evidence that the world is recovering from the disruptions of pandemic policy, the Simon Abundance Index provides just that. After a brief retreat, the index once again portrays a world of cheaper commodities that contribute to human prosperity.

Born from a famous 1980 bet between economist Julian Simon and doomsayer Paul Ehrlich, the index stands as testimony for Simon’s belief that the greatest resource is human ingenuity—although government intervention is perfectly capable of screwing up a good thing.

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Waiting for the Market to Drop Before Investing? Read This First. | Zacks Investment Management Blog

Markets

The U.S. stock market remains strong. Mega-cap technology companies have propelled index returns higher since last October, but the rally has also gained breadth recently. The S&P 500 equal-weighted index, for example, has also risen to a record high, and approximately 20% of S&P 500 stocks are trading at or near 52-week highs. That’s the highest percentage we’ve seen since May 2021.1In late February, I wrote a column about strong market returns making investors worried.

Read the entire article: Waiting for the Market to Drop Before Investing? Read This First. | Zacks Investment Management Blog

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Shares in Mickey Mantle’s boyhood home soon on sale for $7 – ESPN

Lifestyle, Markets

COMMERCE, Okla. — Fans who could never afford a $12.6 million 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card will soon be able to buy a share of the Commerce Comet’s boyhood home for $7.Rally, a collectibles company that sells shares in wine, vintage watches, sports cars and other memorabilia, will offer up to 47,000 shares in the house for $7 each while valuing the property in Commerce, Oklahoma, at $329,000, according to a statement from the company Thursday.

Read the entire article: Shares in Mickey Mantle’s boyhood home soon on sale for $7 – ESPN

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