FINRA Debit Balance in Securities Margin Accounts Leverage in margin accounts has surged since April 2025, reflecting strong market optimism. The catch is that higher leverage can turn painful fast when volatility spikes, triggering forced…
Share of Global Market Capitalization With only 4% of the world’s people, the United States controls 63% of global equity value, its tech and innovation powerhouses attracting massive foreign capital. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment…
S&P 500 Earnings & Estimates and Earnings Growth Trend Line S&P 500 earnings have significantly outpaced historical growth trends. If profits start to slip in the coming quarters, richly valued stocks could face a sharp…
S&P 500 Performance and Risk Appetite Indicator Good news for the bulls: Goldman Sachs’s Risk Appetite Indicator broke above 1.0 last week, a bullish signal that has historically lined up with roughly 15% median gains…
Commodities vs. 50/50 S&P 500 and U.S. Treasuries Commodities remain undervalued relative to U.S. stocks and bonds, offering room for strategic allocations that enhance portfolio balance. Image: Bloomberg
Gold Prices in Real Terms Gold’s real price is sky-high right now. It’s a very different story from the dot-com boom, when investors piled into tech and gold fell out of favor almost overnight. Image:…
Cumulative Gold Demand – Gold ETF vs. Central Banks Amid macro conditions, currency moves, and rising geopolitical tension, gold’s rally gathered pace in 2025 as central banks began competing with private investors for scarce bullion.…
Bond Volatility – MOVE Index Rate volatility in the U.S. continues to fade, with the MOVE index back to 2021 levels as investors double down on steady growth and a resilient labor market. Image: The…
Market-Implied U.S. Recession Probability With the market pricing a 16% chance of a U.S. recession in the next 12 months, recession risk remains modest and broadly in line with a moderate-risk environment. Image: Goldman Sachs…
U.S. Equity Index Valuations vs. History The S&P SmallCap 600’s forward P/E of 16x looks attractive by historical standards, while the S&P 500’s 22x forward multiple, sitting in the 94th percentile, paints a very different…
U.S. New Private Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits and Recessions In October, U.S. building permits declined to 1.411 million. Historically, building permits tend to peak and then decline prior to economic recessions Image: Federal…