Wirestock/iStock via Getty Images I became concerned about potential inflation in late 2024, and I have written about several Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities ETFs since then, including a Strong Buy for iShares TIPS Bond ETF ( TIP ), which I wrote in early April 2025 . As I discuss below, the ETF has returned more than cash since then, but I no longer see this one as a Strong Buy and am dow...
Wirestock/iStock via Getty Images I became concerned about potential inflation in late 2024, and I have written about several Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities ETFs since then, including a Strong Buy for iShares TIPS Bond ETF ( TIP ), which I wrote in early April 2025 . As I discuss below, the ETF has returned more than cash since then, but I no longer see this one as a Strong Buy and am downgrading it to Buy. A Reminder On Why Buying TIPS Makes Sense When I wrote that piece about TIP in April 2025, there was a lot of concern about inflation remaining above the levels of 2% that the Federal Reserve was targeting, and my view was that TIPS and TIPS ETFs would help protect against inflation. TIPS were first introduced in 1997 and are about 5% of the total federal debt of $39 trillion currently, according to FiscalData . I explained in a Strong Buy piece about PIMCO 15+ Year U.S. TIPS ETF ( LTPZ ) last February that they should help protect against any inflation, and they have. Historically, precious metals have been a popular inflation hedge, and they also can protect investors from a weakening of the US dollar relative to other currencies, as can Bitcoin. Since that article on TIP came out in April last year, gold and silver have soared as Bitcoin has weakened considerably. An Update On How TIPS ETFs Have Performed The total return for a TIPS ETF is pretty easy to calculate, as it consists of the price return as well as the dividend return. As I pointed out in prior articles, though, individual TIPS securities work a bit oddly, having below-Treasury yields. The difference between the yield on a TIPS security and the yield on a similar maturity Treasury security is known as the breakeven yield. The interest payments are never adjusted for TIPS, but the principal value does change. If there is deflation, the principal can go down, but if there is inflation, it rises. TIPS adjustments are well explained by TreasuryDirect on its website. The agency has released TIP...
The recent breakout attempt in Nvidia is starting to look vulnerable. Notice that volume during the current five week winning streak has been subpar compared with prior weeks, when volume was robust during declining weeks. Looking at the daily chart bears might be excited by the possibility of a double top just above the very round $200 number.
The recent breakout attempt in Nvidia is starting to look vulnerable. Notice that volume during the current five week winning streak has been subpar compared with prior weeks, when volume was robust during declining weeks. Looking at the daily chart bears might be excited by the possibility of a double top just above the very round $200 number.
The recent breakout attempt in Nvidia is starting to look vulnerable. Notice that volume during the current five week winning streak has been subpar compared with prior weeks, when volume was robust during declining weeks. Looking at the daily chart bears might be excited by the possibility of a double top just above the very round $200 number.
The recent breakout attempt in Nvidia is starting to look vulnerable. Notice that volume during the current five week winning streak has been subpar compared with prior weeks, when volume was robust during declining weeks. Looking at the daily chart bears might be excited by the possibility of a double top just above the very round $200 number.
Key PointsMost investors are comfortable with risk when stock prices are climbing. It's what happens when stocks are falling that you find out their real risk tolerance.
Key PointsMost investors are comfortable with risk when stock prices are climbing. It's what happens when stocks are falling that you find out their real risk tolerance.
adventtr/E+ via Getty Images Gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ) and silver ( XAGUSD:CUR ) prices slid sharply on Monday, with both metals posting their steepest daily losses in weeks as recent gains gave way to renewed selling pressure. Front-month Comex gold for May delivery dropped $110.40, or 2.38%, settling at $4,519.50 per troy ounce. The decline marked the largest one-day fall in both dollar and percentage...
adventtr/E+ via Getty Images Gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ) and silver ( XAGUSD:CUR ) prices slid sharply on Monday, with both metals posting their steepest daily losses in weeks as recent gains gave way to renewed selling pressure. Front-month Comex gold for May delivery dropped $110.40, or 2.38%, settling at $4,519.50 per troy ounce. The decline marked the largest one-day fall in both dollar and percentage terms since early April and ended a brief two-session advance. The move also leaves gold lower in four of the past six trading days. Monday’s settlement puts the metal at its lowest level since late March and roughly 15% below its peak for the year, which also stands as its all-time high reached in late January. Even so, gold remains significantly elevated on a longer-term basis, up more than 42% from its 52-week low last May and about 36% higher than a year ago. For 2026, prices are still modestly positive, holding a gain of roughly 4.5% year to date. Silver followed a similar trajectory, though with even steeper losses. The May Comex contract fell $2.88, or 3.79%, to settle at $73.07 per troy ounce. That marks its biggest daily drop since late April and also breaks a two-day winning streak. Like gold, silver has declined in four of the past six sessions. Despite the pullback, silver’s longer-term performance remains striking. Prices are still more than double where they stood a year ago and have surged over 127% from their 52-week low. However, the metal has retreated significantly from its January highs, now sitting more than 36% below both its annual and record peak. On a year-to-date basis, silver is holding onto a gain of just over 4%, reflecting how much of its earlier momentum has cooled in recent weeks. The synchronized drop in both metals suggests a broader shift in sentiment, at least in the short term, as investors reassess positions after a powerful rally that pushed prices to historic levels earlier this year. More on Gold Spot Price, Silver Spot Price, etc. ...
Getty Images Investment Thesis Adopting a healthy level of skepticism is critical when investing in the stock market. Everyone's goal is to sell, whether it is a product, service, idea, or even themselves as an authority deserving your trust. Wall Street is full of examples of people making wrong purchases. My greatest worry isn't the losses coming from failed bets on known risks. What scares me m...
Getty Images Investment Thesis Adopting a healthy level of skepticism is critical when investing in the stock market. Everyone's goal is to sell, whether it is a product, service, idea, or even themselves as an authority deserving your trust. Wall Street is full of examples of people making wrong purchases. My greatest worry isn't the losses coming from failed bets on known risks. What scares me most are structural, tailwind risks arising from how Wall Street operates. A failure of the old assumptions that guide us. What if the most trusted, taken-for-granted instrument on Wall Street: Stock Market Index Funds, blow up? Passive investing has become the predominant force in the market, while algorithmic trading seems to have become more aggressive. The two are creating a vicious cycle, an unhealthy interdependence where each relies on the other for an anchor. A small minority of algos and active wildcatters are setting the prices while passive investors are bearing the risk. Noting manifests these dynamics more than the distorted weights of the US market indexes. Using a market index to manage for diversification doesn't make sense anymore, breaking old assumptions. In fact, up until the Iran war, equal-weight ETFs such as the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF ( RSP ) were outperforming the S&P 500 index, and by a wide margin. Data by YCharts International stocks were also outperforming US stocks, partly because investors are looking to balance and diversify beyond the concentrated US indexes using new tools, including international stocks. Note : Other factors for the popularity of the international equities trade are the ballooning US public debt (which reached $39 trillion recently), inflation, and weakening dollar expectations. How US Market Indexes Are Made Trillions of passive investment dollars are tied to US market indexes. For such an important benchmark, the way the constituents are chosen and the index is calculated seems unsophisticated. The constituents o...
Cotton futures are trading with contracts down 70 to 120 points, as May is the exception, up 199 points. The US dollar index is $0.355 higher at $98.360. Crude oil is down $3.71 to $105.65. Managed money added another 3,891 contracts to their net long position in cotton futures and...
Cotton futures are trading with contracts down 70 to 120 points, as May is the exception, up 199 points. The US dollar index is $0.355 higher at $98.360. Crude oil is down $3.71 to $105.65. Managed money added another 3,891 contracts to their net long position in cotton futures and...
Douglas Rissing The White House has discussed vetting artificial intelligence models before they are released to the public, the New York Times reported , citing U.S. officials and people briefed on the matter. The Trump Administration could issue an executive order that would create an AI working group to oversee such topics, the news outlet added, citing U.S. officials. Officials at the White Ho...
Douglas Rissing The White House has discussed vetting artificial intelligence models before they are released to the public, the New York Times reported , citing U.S. officials and people briefed on the matter. The Trump Administration could issue an executive order that would create an AI working group to oversee such topics, the news outlet added, citing U.S. officials. Officials at the White House told executives from Anthropic ( ANTHRO ), Google ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ), and OpenAI ( OPENAI ) about some of the plans, the news outlet added, citing people who were briefed about the discussions. The plan is still under discussion, but it could wind up looking similar to the one issued by Britain, which has tasked several government agencies to make sure the models meet certain safety standards. The White House, Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha. Dear readers: We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion. More on Alphabet, OpenAI, and Anthropic Alphabet: What A Difference A Few Years Make Alphabet: Post-Q1 Earnings 2026 Price Boost Might Be Corrected Alphabet Inc. 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation Musk reportedly contacted OpenAI about settling lawsuit prior to trial OpenAI chair's AI startup Sierra raises $950M at over $15B valuation
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 11:30 a.m. ET Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com Continue reading
Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 11:30 a.m. ET Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com Continue reading
Strauss Zelnick, the chief executive officer of video-game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., has overseen a lot of big releases in nearly two decades on the job. But none have been as massive as Grand Theft Auto VI , which is expected to be one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time when it arrives on Nov. 19. Anything less than an earth-shaking blockbuster would be seen as ...
Strauss Zelnick, the chief executive officer of video-game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., has overseen a lot of big releases in nearly two decades on the job. But none have been as massive as Grand Theft Auto VI , which is expected to be one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time when it arrives on Nov. 19. Anything less than an earth-shaking blockbuster would be seen as a disappointment by analysts and investors, so the stakes are high for the crime title, developed by Take-Two’s Rockstar Games subsidiary. The company has already delayed the release twice, from its originally scheduled debut last year. “I think here our goal is to deliver to consumers something that’s never been experienced before,” Zelnick said in an interview with Bloomberg News last week at the industry’s Interactive Innovation Conference in Las Vegas. “Being on the sidelines but pretty close to the front of the sidelines is very, very exciting. And terrifying. Because the expectations are so high.” Grand Theft Auto VI tells a story about a criminal duo in a fictional, satirical version of Miami. The previous entry in the series, Grand Theft Auto V , has sold more than 225 million copies, making it the second-best-selling game of all time after Microsoft Corp.’s Minecraft and ratcheting up expectations for the latest entry. The new Grand Theft Auto has been in development for more than eight years by a team of thousands of Rockstar employees, which also marks it as one of the most expensive games ever made. The company doesn’t share its game budgets, but big titles in the industry routinely cost hundreds of millions of dollars and Grand Theft Auto VI is estimated to be coming in significantly higher than most. Some analysts have forecasted that the new Grand Theft Auto will sell upwards of 25 million units on day one . That means that selling 10 million units — a miraculous figure for most of Grand Theft Auto VI ’s competitors — would be considered disastrous for this g...