Pre-Sales Support
Mutual Funds and ETFs - 800-456-7526
Monday-Thursday: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET
Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET
Post-Sales and Website Support
888-843-7824
Monday-Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. ET
![]() |
And you thought 4.25% was steep – The US wasn’t the only country rapidly raising interest rates to battle inflation in 2022. In Argentina, rates hit 75% by the end of the year. They're also battling 100% inflation, which makes the current price of eggs look downright reasonable. (Source: Bloomberg) |
![]() |
Not in the mood for surprises – Investors’ nerves are so frayed that they’ve punished S&P 500 Index companies whether they reported a negative OR positive earnings surprise for the fourth quarter of 2022. Companies who beat estimates saw shares decline by -0.2%; companies who missed estimates saw shares decline by -2.5%. (Source: FactSet, as of 1/20/23) |
![]() |
That’s good, I guess? – Since 1956, there have been eight bear markets in the S&P 500 Index that were accompanied by a recession. None of the bear markets bottomed before the recession began, but in all but one case, the market bottomed and began to recover before the recession ended. (Source: FactSet) |
![]() |
Is that a light at the end of the tunnel? – The Producer Price Index, a gauge for inflation, fell 0.5% in December. While most measures of inflation have been declining, they’re still well above the Federal Reserve's 2% target and remain near multi-decade highs. (Source: Reuters) |
![]() |
And just like that – Trying to outpace inflation? Forget commodities: Luxury collectibles have been deemed one of the least inflation-sensitive alternative investments. Rolex watches and Chanel handbags stood up particularly well. (Source: Credit Suisse and Deloitte) |
![]() |
Feel free to move about the cabin – As the Lunar New Year holiday kicked off what is traditionally one of the busiest travel weekends in China, health officials proclaimed that COVID-19 hospitalization rates were on the decline. However, there’s widespread doubt about the official account of the outbreak following the relaxation of zero-COVID policies. (Source: Reuters) |
![]() |
Check under the mattress – Almost half (48%) of private-sector employees lack access to a retirement plan at work. (Source: AARP) |
![]() |
The pricetag on Bieber fever – Pop-music icon Justin Bieber is the latest musician to rake in a pretty penny for selling the rights to his music catalogue. At $200 million, it was the largest sale to date for an under-30 artist (Bieber is just 28). (Source: Billboard) |
![]() |
A family feud that would make Steve Harvey jealous – Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," sold more than 1.4 million copies on its first day. That’s the largest first-day sales total for any nonfiction book published by Penguin Random House. (Source: Wall Street Journal) |
Ho hum, another triple-double – LeBron James recently scored 48 points in a single NBA game. Luca Doncic scored 50. Donovan Mitchell drained 71 points. A trend? Definitely. The NBA's team leaders are stuffing the stat sheets at a record pace, averaging a record-high 28.85 total points in games. (Source: FiveThirtyEight and Basketball-Reference.com, as of 1/17/23) |
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Indices are unmanaged and not available for direct investment.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
S&P 500 Index is a market capitalization-weighted price index composed of 500 widely held common stocks.
Producer Price Index (PPI) measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output. Prices included in the PPI are from the first commercial transaction for many products and some services.