News and Events

  By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER The past year was eventful, to say the least. Before turning the page to 2026 it is worth reflecting on a few key events and themes that drove narratives and impacted markets in 2025. Inauguration day, what with DOGE and a flur...

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  By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER I trust that everyone had a joyful and relaxing Thanksgiving break with family and friends. Having awoken from their tryptophan comas and recovered from a four-day football binge, investors turn their sights to the final weeks of wha...

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By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER With the federal government shutdown ongoing throughout October, there is little official economic data to report on. What we did get from private data providers (ISM, Univ. of Michigan, and NFIB) was mixed but mostly showed that activity was ...

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  By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER As expected, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points at the September meeting. Conveniently, the annual Employment Revisions Report, released a few days before the meeting, showed a substantial reduction (-9...

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Pope Leo XIV received in private audience the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors Oct. 6 and commended the Order’s charitable work, including “efforts to uphold the sanctity of human life in all of its stages.” The audience took place in the Sala del Concistoro (Hall of the C...

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  By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER Probably the biggest takeaway from the recently concluded Jackson Hole economic conference was Fed Chair Jerome Powell all but guaranteeing a cut in the Fed Funds rate at the September 17th Federal Reserve Board meeting. Underpi...

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By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER July was another busy month on the tariff front. The big breakthrough was an agreement with the European Union. Like the “framework” deal with China, which was extended again, details of the EU tariff deal are vague with further ne...

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JULY 2025 MARKET INSIGHTS By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER What a month June was! So much has happened around the globe that the biggest challenge in writing this month’s Market Insights is picking what to focus on. Technically, the “Big Beautiful Bill” d...

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JUNE 2025 MARKET INSIGHTS By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER Someone recently joked to me that the BBB or “Triple-B”, short for Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” was a forecast for the US’ sovereign credit rating. While that may be extreme, it...

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MAY 2025 MARKET INSIGHTS By: DOUGLAS A. RILEY, CFA, PORTFOLIO MANAGER President Trump’s April 2nd “Liberation Day” tariff announcements certainly liberated financial market volatility. The Bloomberg 500 Index returned -0.45% in April, but that modest decline bel...

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