Insights Investments

Today, we tackle a topic that we don’t write about a lot relative to its importance—municipal bonds. Why are munis important? A basic principle of investing (and one of the most ignored), Investment outcomes potentially should not be evaluated on returns but on the returns that you keep—returns after taxes. This is where municipal bonds …

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to gather significant assets, generally at the expense of traditional open-end mutual funds (albeit not completely). In the first quarter alone, ETFs have taken in some $425 billion in net flows, while traditional open-end mutual funds have seen $92 billion in investors assets leave, according to Morningstar. Beneath the surface of …

A global oil chokepoint sits at the center of today’s biggest market story — and the ripple effects are already showing up in prices, supply chains, and geopolitics. In Episode 183 of Facts vs Feelings, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, and Sonu Varghese, Chief Macro Strategist at Carson Group, sit down with …

“It isn’t about good or bad, it is about better or worse.” Burt White, Carson Group’s CEO The headlines remain volatile, but there are some clues that the worst could be over for the sell-off around the war in Iran. Since the war started I’ve been asked many times what I wanted to see for …

Thanks for reading this week’s Charts of the Week This week’s charts focus on all things inflation, the oil shock, and how consumers are starting to feel this crisis. We’ll keep publishing Charts of the Week every Monday. To view this week’s Charts of the Week, click here: Charts of the Week: Apr. 6-10

Financial stocks have gotten off to a rough start in 2026. While some are raising alarms about deteriorating credit conditions or systemic stress building beneath the surface, the sector’s recent struggles may be tied more to technology. Beneath the headline weakness, the structure and drivers of financial sector performance have evolved in ways that challenge …

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Middle East crisis has sent oil prices soaring, with the impact immediately felt on gasoline and diesel prices. We just got our first batch of inflation data that incorporates this, with the headline consumer price index (CPI) rising 0.9% in March (equivalent to an 11% annualized pace). The …

News of a potential ceasefire deal hit Tuesday evening, and markets didn’t wait around. The S&P 500 surged 2.5% on Wednesday, the Dow gained 2.85%, and the Nasdaq rallied 2.8%. The S&P 500 is now down less than 1% year-to-date. The Dow is actually in the green. That’s the good news, and it’s worth acknowledging. …

Interest rates are the price of money. They touch everything: your mortgage payment, the cost of a new car, how much the government pays to service its debt, and how investors value every stock in their portfolio. And right now, the Federal Reserve is staring at a set of circumstances that makes its job harder …

By Michael Barczak, VP, Investment Due Diligence   Recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor has once again brought alternative investments to the forefront of the defined contribution conversation. Headlines suggest a meaningful shift—greater access to private equity, private credit, real assets, and even crypto within 401(k) plans. Our team wrote about this topic …

Thanks for reading this week’s Charts of the Week This week’s charts focus on bear markets, earnings and margins, oil supply, and the energy shock, which could reveal some stress under the hood. We’ll keep publishing Charts of the Week every Monday. To view this week’s Charts of the Week, click here: Charts of the Week: …