Inflation showed signs of easing this past fall. Indeed, the November Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed that the CPI and the core CPI, which excludes the food and energy components, rose 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively, on a 12-month basis, with both metrics coming in notably below expectations. The more benign price data, along with an uninspiring November jobs report and the forthcoming appointment of a likely more dovish Federal Reserve Chairperson by President Trump...

The Federal Reserve did both the expected and unexpected at the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting earlier this month. To nobody’s surprise, the bank cut the benchmark short-term interest rate by a quarter point, to a range of 3.50% to 3.75%. Not anticipated was the Fed’s resumption of short-term Treasury bond repurchases. Both actions are designed to pump more liquidity into the financial system in an effort to support economic growth. The balance...

Some years pass quietly. 2025 wasn't one of them. Between market swings, geopolitical shocks, and a news cycle that never seemed to pause, this year tested patience across the board. And yet, as we close out December, the real story isn't about what the markets did. It's about how we responded. 2025 Market Volatility: A Year in Review Even those who tried to tune out the noise found it crashing through anyway: The Spring Selloff...