Insights Investments

“Just a little bit more.”  -John D. Rockefeller, founder of the Standard Oil Company and one of the richest men ever, when asked about how much money it takes to make one happy.   On the heels of about a 25% gain for the S&P 500 last year, stocks are up about 10% already in …

“Empowering women isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do. When women succeed, nations are more safe, more secure, and more prosperous.” – Barack Obama   The Carson Women’s CEO Strategy is driven by a clear mission: to cast a spotlight on women occupying the highest echelon of corporate …

“To see what is in front of one’s nose is a constant struggle.” -George Orwell   What I’m about to say might not go over well, but I’m going to do it anyways. Would you believe that in some ways higher interest rates have actually helped consumers? I get it. Half of you are furious …

The Federal Reserve (Fed) left rates unchanged at their March meeting, but the headline was that the median official continues to project three interest rate cuts in 2024, each worth 0.25%-points. Going into this meeting, a big question was whether Fed members would lower that projection to just two cuts in their summary of economic …

We often get asked about whether stock returns have been just too good in the near term and have formed a speculative bubble. Our Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick debunked that idea in his blog yesterday. But occasionally we also get asked whether returns have been too good over the longer term. We take a …

Over the last 20 weeks, we have seen a huge rally in the stock market, led by tech stocks like Nvidia, which has led some to believe that we are in a bubble. Is that true? In this episode, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group & Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist at …

“Please, God, just one more bubble.” Popular Silicon Valley bumper sticker after the tech bubble burst   With stocks back at all-time highs, many are of the opinion that stocks must be in a bubble. Take note, many of these bubble callers were the same bears that fought this bull market all the way up.  …

Concentration of stocks within the S&P 500 has surged to the highest level since the turn of the century, with the top ten holdings now accounting for over 30% of the index. This phenomenon isn’t unique to the U.S.; a similar trend has emerged globally. In Europe, the largest stocks are referred to by the …

Today is the Ides of March, as March 15 is called. Known best for the day on which Julius Caeser was assassinated, it was also celebrated in pagan antiquity as the Feast of Anna Perenna, the goddess of the Wheel of the Year, and marked the end of the New Year festivities. March was the …

Happy Pi Day to all those math fans out there! Math is nothing new to traditional finance (Tradfi), and math serves as a cornerstone of the blockchain technology that underpins the world of cryptocurrencies, perhaps more appropriately referred to as digital assets. Blockchain technology and it’s features such as security, immutability, decentralization, and ever-increasing use …

The latest consumer price index (CPI) inflation data for February came in slightly ahead of expectations, which led the commentariat to worry about “sticky” inflation that doesn’t go away. However, I had a different sentiment after spending some time under the hood with the data. But first, the numbers. Headline CPI rose 0.4% in February, …