Articles authored by Grant Engelbart

A resounding, and sometimes frustrating, feature of markets is that leadership change is inevitable over any period of time studied. The “A.I. Trade” has been prevalent for the past couple of years, absent some blips here and there (DeepSeek, Liberation Day, etc). In some ways, the A.I. trade has started turning upon itself – previous …

Like any good Midwesterner, the weather is top of mind most of the time, especially in the depths of winter. Like the stock market, there is no such thing as experiencing average temperature – just a combination of above-average and below-average. Right now, many of us are experiencing above-average temperatures and likely our first ‘false …

2026 is off and running, with an action-packed January and a further reminder that the oldest trick in the investing book still applies. That “trick” is, of course, diversification, which proved resilient in 2025 as we reminded investors in our 2026 Market Outlook. Now is an ideal time to consider the makeup and risk profile …

Wars, unemployment, the Fed…. Greenland — noise is and always will be abundant in financial markets. This noise isn’t all bad, and it’s our job to parse through it for you, but as we say time and time again, what really matters for stocks is earnings. Ultimately, a lot of factors affect earnings, but the …

The holidays are here, and so is the gift that keeps on giving. Traditional mutual funds have enjoyed three strong years of equity market returns and an even longer period of consistent outflows. Taken together, that is a recipe — as good as grandma’s pumpkin pie — for another banner year for capital gains distributions. …

The recent drawdown from all-time highs (-5% intraday at the time of this writing) has done nothing to tarnish a great year for broad equity markets. With any strong run in the market, examining where valuations end up as a result is a worthwhile exercise. Often, price appreciation is warranted on the back of strong …

We have come a long way since I last published a Carson Quilt chart, and the situation at that time for market returns was immensely different. Commodities were leading the way, up just 2.1% for the year, followed by fixed income, illustrating how the diversifying parts of a portfolio can be beneficial when the going …

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 …