Weekly Financial Trends and Insights
Every week in our Key Wealth Institute emails, we dive into trending topics and their potential impacts to investors to deliver timely insights and advice from our in-house experts. Here, you’ll find all of our Key Questions in one place, so you always have access to the latest market information.
Key Questions: Will AI Live Up to The Hype?
If you turned on your favorite financial news network or picked up a financial newspaper at any point in 2024, you likely read about an investment theme that has captivated Wall Street and Main Street alike. The “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Revolution” has created huge waves across financial markets as shares of chipmakers have skyrocketed higher. Companies outside of technology stocks, such as power producers and electrical component manufacturers, also recorded outsized returns last year.
Key Questions: Are Financial Stocks More Attractive Under a Second Trump Administration?
The financial sector performed strongly in 2024, gaining over 28% and surpassing the S&P 500 Index as the segment recovered from the lows experienced during the banking crisis of 2023. The market gained confidence that the crisis was isolated to a select few banks and that a broader crisis had been averted.
Key Questions: Investment Manager Outperformance: Skill vs. Luck
In our recent Key Question “What Makes a Good Investment Manager?,” we highlighted the 8Ps framework that Key’s Multi-Strategy Research team uses to identify quality managers. As part of this process, the team is faced with an additional layer of complexity: If a manager has outperformed, is the outperformance driven by skill or simply luck?
Key Questions: Should Investors Consider Dividend Stocks in a Falling-Rate Environment?
In the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, options for higher-yielding securities were limited as interest rates hovered near historic lows. This environment would persist for several years, giving rise to the acronym TINA (There Is No Alternative). Yet, for investors seeking income, one option remained: dividend-paying stocks.
Key Questions: Behind the Commercial Break: What Does Ad Spending Tell Us About the US Consumer?
Picture this: You’re sitting on your couch on a Saturday evening, watching your favorite movie. The action pauses, and suddenly, an ad pops up—maybe it’s a sleek new car cruising down a winding road or a flashy tech gadget promising to make your life easier. You might sigh and reach for the remote, or perhaps you’re intrigued enough to keep watching. But have you ever wondered what’s really happening when these ads play?
Key Questions: What Do the Election Results Mean for the Economy, the Markets, and Your Portfolio?
As of this writing (mid-day on Wednesday, November 6), the election results are in, and the outcomes are largely known. Donald Trump will be returning to the White House, becoming only the second person in US history to be re-elected to non-consecutive presidential terms. His victory was a convincing one which is important for regardless of one’s political affiliation, most everyone should take some comfort knowing that a lengthy, protracted and disruptive transition period will seemingly be avoided. This partially explains today’s stock market rally.