Investments
The Thriving Advisor with Dr. Phil Pearlman
How can advisors truly thrive in their personal and professional lives? Dr. Phil Pearlman brings a refreshing perspective, blending psychology, health, and financial strategy to empower advisors to achieve peak performance. In this episode, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, and Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group, sit down with …
Ryan Detrick
January 1, 2025
Seven Important Things to Remember in 2025
“Stocks take the escalator up, but the elevator down.” Old investing axiom It’s New Year’s Eve today and 2025 is just around the corner. We know 2025 will bring with it new worries, concerns, and fears, but also new opportunities. But it is also important to take a step back sometimes and realize there are …
Ryan Detrick
December 31, 2024
A Magnificent Year
2024 has seen continued outperformance from the ‘Magnificent 7’ group of stocks. Year to date through December 24th, an equal weight portfolio of these 7 stocks has returned 69.0% versus a gain of 26.5% for the S&P 500 (FactSet data). This year builds on years of outperformance for this group as an equal weight portfolio …
Blake Anderson
December 30, 2024
Revisiting 12 Predictions From Our 2024 Outlook: What We Got Right, and Wrong
As we get ready to release our 2025 Outlook, I thought now would be a good time to revisit our 2024 Outlook. I recognize this is rare in our world, as it’s not often you see strategists revisit and reevaluate their calls. We don’t really think of ourselves as forecasters in the strict sense of …
Sonu Varghese
December 27, 2024
Did the Fed Kill Santa?
The market is navigating a period of heightened uncertainty, but key insights from this latest discussion will shed light on what’s driving sentiment and expectations. In this episode, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, and Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group, analyze the recent Fed meeting, market reactions, and what’s …
Ryan Detrick
December 25, 2024
OpenAI’s Latest Releases
By Blake Anderson, CFA®, Senior Analyst, Investment OpenAI has recently expanded its suite of AI tools and adjusted its subscription offerings to cater to a diverse user base. The company, with a reported 500 million monthly active users, is taking bold steps to increase monetization of the company’s intelligence products while also adding capabilities. Their …
Blake Anderson
December 23, 2024
Will The Santa Claus Rally Come In 2024? 🎅❄☃🎄🤶
“If Santa should fail to call, bears may come to Broad and Wall.” —Yale Hirsh That Escalated Quickly; Putting Things In Perspective My oh my, this week escalated quickly to quote the great philosopher Ron Burgundy (Anchorman). The S&P 500 sold off nearly 3% on Wednesday and we saw 97% of all stocks in …
Ryan Detrick
December 20, 2024
The Fed Pulls a Grinch
The Federal Reserve (Fed) reduced the federal funds rate by 0.25%-points at their December meeting, taking the federal funds rate to the 4.25-4.5% range. This was expected, but it was completely swept aside. The market reaction should give you a sense of how bad it was: The S&P 500 fell almost 3% on Wednesday (December …
Sonu Varghese
December 19, 2024
A Strategic Approach to Factor Investing
Today’s blog is a follow-up to Carson’s VP, Investment Strategist Grant Engelbart’s insightful recent discussion of factor investing and alpha opportunities, “Enhancing Portfolio Management.” Factors are a theme we regularly return to. Grant also covered factor investing in a piece earlier this year called “Factor Investing 2024,” and our Portfolio Manager Mike Lawrence covered the …
Barry Gilbert
December 18, 2024
Why Inflation Isn’t Sticky
Inflation concerns are widespread, but are they justified? Economic trends suggest that the narrative of persistently high inflation may be overblown. In this episode, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, and Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group, analyze the nuances of current inflation data and its implications for investors and …
Ryan Detrick
December 18, 2024
Nine Reasons We Still Believe in a Santa Claus Rally
Stocks have been weak lately, with the Dow recently down eight days in a row and the Russell 1000 Value Index also down 11 days in a row. In fact, the S&P 500 had more stocks down than up for 11 days in a row, the most since 1996. Some of this weakness has been …
Ryan Detrick
December 17, 2024
There’s Still Time to Avoid Capital Gains
Another strong year for stocks means a lot of happy investors, at least until their 1099s are distributed! Higher equity prices and continued outflows from traditional mutual funds spells trouble for impending capital gains payouts. This may be best illustrated by this figure: of the legacy mutual funds at Carson, there are 10 “tax managed” …
Grant Engelbart
December 16, 2024