Over the first half of the year, the municipal bond market has experienced an unprecedented flood of issuance, shattering recent records and raising serious concerns about sustainability. More than $280 billion has been issued in this period—a 14.3% leap compared to the previous year—testament to issuers’ relentless desire to secure capital amid uncertainties. This aggressive
In the face of mounting climate challenges, U.S. infrastructure reveals its glaring vulnerabilities more starkly than ever before. For decades, America’s roads, bridges, airports, and critical utilities have been constructed with little regard for the unpredictable extremes that climate change now unleashes. As a result, our infrastructure, once viewed as a testament to progress and
For years, the luxury industry clung to hope, anticipating a renaissance in 2025 after a promising holiday season and post-election optimism. Yet, the reality starkly contradicts those projections. U.S. credit card data reveals a sobering decline in luxury spending during the first half of the year compared to 2024. What was expected to be a
Despite the nostalgia surrounding municipal bonds as a safe haven for conservative investors, the current market environment reveals troubling ambivalence rather than robust vitality. Municipal debt showed only faint signs of improvement at the start of the week, with yields creeping up marginally while U.S. Treasuries gained ground and equities rose. However, this modest uptick
Oregon’s recent legislative move to impose a special tax on athletes in an effort to fund a $1.8 billion stadium at Zidell Yards reveals a concerning overconfidence in securing a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. Governor Tina Kotek’s endorsement of Senate Bill 110, which introduces an $800 million bond plan financed by taxing home and
For decades, bond investors endured a barren landscape of low yields and fragile returns, trapped in an environment where income generation was all but impossible. That dreary era, dominated by near-zero interest rates, ended abruptly in 2022, ushering in what BlackRock’s Rick Rieder calls a “generational opportunity” in fixed income. As someone deeply entrenched in
The momentum behind artificial intelligence is transforming the stock market, and nowhere is this more evident than in the meteoric rise of Nvidia and Microsoft. According to Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, these two giants are on track to break into the rarefied $4 trillion market cap club this summer—a milestone few companies achieve. But
Moderna’s announcement of a stronger immune response from its experimental mRNA flu vaccine, mRNA-1010, seems like a triumph of medical innovation. The reported 26.6% higher efficacy compared to existing vaccines is touted as a milestone in the fight against influenza, particularly for adults over 50. On the surface, this signals a potential revolution in how
For much of 2025, Nvidia’s stock appeared to be circling in a frustrating tangle of stagnation. Caught in the crosshairs of geopolitical fears—chiefly U.S. export controls targeting China—and a general cooling of enthusiasm for semiconductors, Nvidia’s share price barely budged. Skeptics argued the company’s rapid rise over recent years was unsustainable, a bubble destined to
After a furious week where the S&P 500 hit fresh all-time highs, optimism is back on the scene, seemingly unfazed by ongoing geopolitical frictions. Yet beneath the surface, an undercurrent of caution lurks. The reality is that many of the market’s leading gainers—especially technology giants and companies linked to artificial intelligence—are dangerously overextended. A popular