Articles authored by Grant Engelbart

Through generations of boom and bust in investing—granted all boom for those who think long term—there are terms and phrases that elicit positive and negative emotions. Perhaps the most famous and most widely cited is “this time is different” invoked during nearly every financial bubble or subsequent crisis. Don’t worry—I am not going to utter …

Earlier this week, the SEC provided guidance that Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) would be granted ‘relief’ to offer an ETF share class of their mutual funds. This tool has existed for decades but was exclusive to Vanguard until its patent expired in 2023. Since then, more than 70 firms have applied for the use of …

Navigating financial markets is always challenging, and this year has been no exception. Fixed income is an asset class that is often labeled as boring – which is realistically what we want it to be: boring and steady – but has been anything but. Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury yield curve has shifted …

Stock market concentration has gathered an increasing number of headlines in recent years. Starting with Apple reaching a $1 trillion market capitalization in 2018, “The Four” eventually became the “Magnificent Seven” and all eyes were on these technology and communication giants. Transforming daily life and growing earnings at a rapid pace, these largest stocks have …

Nearly all S&P 500 companies have reported earnings for the second quarter of 2025, with the notable exception of Nvidia, which we will cover in detail next week. Spoiler alert: earnings results were quite solid despite the uncertainties. A.I. companies shined, particularly in the “Mag 7” (as we discuss here and here), but there were …

In our writings and conversations about the markets or portfolios, it would be rare for a mention of momentum not to come up (see a couple of recent writings here and here). Either via the market’s continued strong momentum off of the April lows, or the factor itself — which we utilize in portfolios as …

Let’s go back to basics (it’s not quite back-to-school time) to discuss a topic that can occasionally cause communication issues for investors of all types. While the yield to maturity on an individual bond is typically the best predictor of total return, as we’ve noted in many of our Market Outlooks, the current yield on …

Bloomberg reported this week that the number of listed, actively managed ETFs now exceeds passive ETFs for the first time, although assets in active ETFs remain significantly lower. This milestone comes as the “ETF as a share-class structure” gains traction, potentially paving the way for even more active strategies to enter the market. There are …

“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” – Warren Buffett. An apt quote at this part of the year, as we head towards the Berkshire annual shareholder meeting to pay homage to one of the best active managers of all time. The first four months of this year have …

What a week it has been — days that feel like weeks, weeks that feel like months. The last two weeks have seen the largest intraday market moves we have experienced since the depths of the COVID pandemic in March of 2020 and 2008 before that, periods marked with enormous uncertainty. Even though we saw …