Investing basics
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What is stagflation, and how likely is it?
Tariff-related trade tensions have reignited worries about stagflation, a challenging economic brew of high inflation, weak growth, and high unemployment. Stagflation can lead to weakness in both equity and fixed-income markets, and is challenging for central banks to address.
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What investors need to know about today’s market volatility and the VIX
The first step toward dealing with market volatility is to understand what it is and how it can affect your portfolio. We explore the recent spike in tariff-driven volatility and an index informally knows as the market’s fear gauge.
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What happens in a recession?
Recessions are neither common nor rare. Some predictions of them prove inaccurate; at other times, recessions can result in significant damage to the economy and markets.
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What are credit default swaps and what role do they play in the markets?
The CDS market has experienced rapid growth since its introduction in the mid-1990s. Despite its large—and growing—market size, perception of CDSs remains somewhat mixed in some quarters.
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What is a bond ladder?
Bond ladders are a popular approach to constructing a fixed-income allocation but are they an optimal choice for today's market?
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What is the link between duration and monetary policy?
Monetary policy and investors’ assessment of how policy and economic growth might change in the future are some of the main drivers of bond market returns. We explore these concepts and what it means for investors as they review their fixed-income allocations.
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Tax-loss harvesting in bear and bull markets
Although bear markets present more tax-loss harvesting opportunities than bull markets, there are still ways to try to reduce taxable exposure even if there hasn't been a recent market drawdown. We explore options for investors with taxable accounts.
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What makes ETFs tax efficient?
ETFs may offer some advantages for tax-sensitive investors. We take a look under the hood of this investment vehicle to explain why these advantages are there.
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Understanding the correlation between stocks and bonds
Learn more about the correlation between stocks and bonds and discover how high-quality fixed income can help investors to diversify their equity exposure.
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What investors need to know about market volatility and the VIX
If there’s one thing investors know for sure about financial markets, it’s that they can be volatile. The first step toward dealing with volatility is to understand what it is and how it can affect your portfolio.
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