Investments
Global Defense Spending Soars Amid Rising Tensions with China and the Middle East
Global defense spending has reached a record high of $2.44 trillion as international tensions continue to escalate1. With 56 identified conflicts currently occurring—the most since World War II2—nations are racing to modernize their military capabilities, driving spending to increase at the fastest pace in a decade3. The largest increases in spending have come from Ukraine …
Carson Group
July 8, 2024
Is It Time to Worry About Employment?
I’ve noted in the past how the US economy primarily relies on consumer spending, and since consumer spending is driven by income growth, the employment situation is pretty much the ballgame. And right now, things are getting a tad uncomfortable. We’re not quite worried yet, but simply recognize that risks are rising. What’s running strong, …
Sonu Varghese
July 5, 2024
Why A Good First Half For Stocks Bodes Well The Second Half
“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” — Mark Twain The S&P 500 was up 14.5% in the first half of the year, with the Dow up only 3.8%, but the tech-heavy NASDAQ up 18%. Be aware that none of these important indexes topped the first six months from …
Ryan Detrick
July 2, 2024
AI is Unraveling the Structures of Life: Accelerating Drug Development
Artificial intelligence is making its mark across various sectors, providing tangible use cases that showcase its potential. From ChatGPT assisting in writing code and school essays to DALL-E generating images based on user prompts, AI’s capabilities are becoming increasingly evident in everyday applications. Apple’s recent announcement about integrating Apple Intelligence (AI) throughout its ecosystem promises …
Carson Group
July 1, 2024
Markets React to Biden’s Debate Performance
If you read Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick’s prescient blog on Wednesday, you knew this might be coming. Ryan reminded us that debates don’t usually have an impact on elections, but sometimes there is that one gaff or glaring fault that a candidate never fully recovers from. Last night former President Donald Trump did not …
Barry Gilbert
June 28, 2024
Here Comes July, Historically the Best Month the Past 20 Years
“Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.” Jenny Han, writer of The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy After gaining close to 5% in May, the S&P 500 is on pace for another very solid month in the usually weak month of June. We had pushed against the majority view that …
Ryan Detrick
June 27, 2024
Thoughts On Tomorrow’s Debate
“I don’t make jokes, I watch the government and report the facts.” -Will Rogers Get your popcorn ready, as tomorrow’s debate is the earliest in election cycle history and it is also the first time in history that neither debater is officially their party’s candidate (the Republican Convention is July 15-18 and the Democratic Convention …
Ryan Detrick
June 26, 2024
Why Even Nvidia Can’t Stop This Bull
What drives the relentless ascent of stock prices, and how does a tech giant like Nvidia find itself at the forefront of market value? In this episode, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group & Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group dive into the current bull market and discuss potential future …
Ryan Detrick
June 26, 2024
NVIDIA: An Incredible Profit Growth Story
NVIDIA briefly overtook Microsoft last week to top the charts as the most valued company in the world measured by market capitalization. The stock has pulled back since then, but it was up 156% year to date through last Friday (June 21st). This amazing run comes on the heels of a 239% return in 2023, …
Sonu Varghese
June 25, 2024
Nvidia’s Remarkable Rise to #1
Nvidia’s monumental run eclipsed a new milestone, with the company achieving the title of the most valuable publicly traded company at the end of June 18th, according to FactSet data. The fever surrounding Nvidia may draw parallels to the Nasdaq’s ‘DotCom’ run in the late 1990s, but the differences between 2024 and the 1990s may …
Blake Anderson
June 24, 2024
Just How Strong Is 2024? And Why the Summer Rally Isn’t Over Yet
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” – Winston Churchill The amazing bull market continues and 2024 is turning into one of the better starts to a year ever. Yes, there have been some much better years, but considering the S&P 500 gained 25% last year, the approximately 15% gain this …
Ryan Detrick
June 21, 2024
How Does One Positively Expose Themselves to Luck While Investing?
The title was actually a question I put to Professor Jeremy Siegel when Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick and I hosted him on a live Facts vs Feelings episode recently. (You can listen to the episode here.) Of course, the question assumes you need luck while investing, and I think a lot of you reading …
Sonu Varghese
June 20, 2024