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1.

Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Edge Higher Pre-Bell Thursday as Jobless Claims, Manufacturing Data Follows Fed's Rate Cut

2025-09-18 12:48:36 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.7% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 1% higher in Thursday's premarket activity as weekly jobless claims and manufacturing data followed the US Federal Reserve's rate cut.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.8%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.6%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 1% before the start of regular trading.

US initial jobless claims fell by 33,000 to a level of 231,000 in the employment survey week ended Sept. 13, more than reversing an increase of 28,000 claims to a level of 264,000 in the previous week.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index rebounded to 23.2 in September after falling to minus 0.3 in August, compared with expectations for a much smaller increase to a reading of 1.7 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:40 am ET.

The August leading indicators report posts at 10 am ET, followed by the weekly EIA natural gas report at 10:30 am ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 1.4%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 1.4% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) was up 1.5%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was 1.4%.

Power Play:

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) advanced 1.6%, while the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was marginally down by 0.03%. The iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 1.5%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rose 2.4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was 2.8% higher.

Intel's (INTC) stock rose more than 30% in recent premarket activity, and Nvidia (NVDA) shares were up more than 3% after Nvidia said it will invest $5 billion in Intel's common stock at $23.28 per share as part of a collaboration to develop custom data center and personal computing products.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.6%, the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was 1.3% higher, while the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

Red Cat (RCAT) stock was down more than 11% before the opening bell after the company said it has priced an underwritten public offering of about 15.6 million shares at $9.60 per share for gross proceeds of roughly $150 million.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.4%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) gained 0.9%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 1%.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) stock was down more than 7% premarket after the company said its injectable Ozempic was linked to a 23% lower risk of heart attack, stroke, and death compared with dulaglutide in US Medicare patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.5%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 1.3%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 1.3% lower.

Radian Group (RDN) shares were down more than 4% pre-bell after the company said it will acquire Lloyd's specialty insurer, Inigo, for $1.70 billion in an all-cash deal.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was up 0.1%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) gained 0.7%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) rose 1%.

Amer Sports (AS) shares were up more than 5% pre-bell after Chief Executive James Zheng said it expects to deliver "very strong" Q3 results across all three segments.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was up 0.3%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.7%.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.5% at $64.35 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas retreated 0.1% to $3.10 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.7% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) advanced by 0.5%.

Gold futures for December were down by 0.5% at $3,700.30 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures declined by 0.1% to $42.11 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was up 0.1%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.5% higher.

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2.

Want $1 Million in Retirement? 3 Simple Index Funds to Buy and Hold for Decades.

2025-09-18 08:13:00 by James Brumley, The Motley Fool from Motley Fool

Key Points

• Large companies may be more stable, but smaller companies have proven to offer greater growth opportunities to investors.

• Contrary to a common assumption, the Invesco QQQ Trust isn’t an investment in all of the technology sector’s top names.

• It has never been more important to diversify your portfolio -- not just in terms of sectors, but also in terms of styles and geographies.

• 10 stocks we like better than SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust ›

What's your retirement savings goal? Although it's a somewhat arbitrary target, many people find $1 million is a nice round number to aim for. The thing is, a nest egg of that size is achievable. For most ordinary investors, it will take some work and a bit of sacrifice over time to get there. But people are quietly making it happen all the time.

The irony? Most people who have invested their way from nothing to seven-figure nest eggs didn't do it by constantly chasing after the market's hottest tickers. That strategy is a bit of a fool's errand. Instead, they bought and held a well-diversified portfolio of quality stocks, added money to it regularly and steadily, and then let time and compound growth do most of the work.

With those concepts as the backdrop, here are three simple but savvy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that could help you grow your retirement nest egg to the $1 million mark. (And, if the bulk of your retirement savings is in a 401(k) plan that doesn't allow you to buy exchange-traded funds, you'll still likely have access to a comparable mutual fund.)

1. SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY) remains the go-to foundational index fund for most everyone looking to plug into the broad market's long-term growth. After all, its constituent companies account for about 80% of the total value of the U.S. stock market.

However, if you're looking to add a little performance booster to your portfolio, buy a stake in the SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: MDY).

As the name suggests, this ETF holds a market-cap-weighted basket of stocks that parallels the S&P 400 Mid Cap index, which consists of companies with market caps typically in the $2 billion to $10 billion range. This is usually a sweet spot in most organizations' existence -- after their wobbly start-up years, but before their key product or business idea has had a chance to deliver outsized growth and put the company on the proverbial map. Super Micro Computer and Deckers Outdoor are a couple of names that recently outgrew the S&P 400 and were promoted into the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC).

This group's historical results confirm it: Over the course of the past 30 years, the S&P 400's total return performance on an annualized basis was about 0.5% better than the S&P 500's when reinvesting dividend payments, and about 1% better when not reinvesting dividends. But over time, those small outperformances can really add up, as the chart below illustrates.

It's worth noting that you'll likely experience more short-term volatility with the SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust than you will with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. That's just how investing works -- the greater the potential gain, the more the market tries to shake out uncommitted investors, and the more buying and selling of these tickers you can expect.

For true long-term investors, though, mid-cap stocks are worth the wilder ride.

2. Vanguard Information Technology ETF

It's no secret that tech stocks as a class have outperformed all other sectors for the better part of the past three decades. But, understandably so. It has been technology that has spurred some of the biggest social and cultural changes during this time, after all. And for many investors, the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) provides their primary portfolio exposure to this sector.

There's a better option, though. Consider the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT) instead, for a couple of reasons.

One of those reasons is simply that while the Nasdaq-100 index that the QQQ tracks is indeed loaded up with technology stocks like Nvidia and Broadcom, it's not strictly a technology fund. Only about 60% of the fund's value is in tech sector stocks. The other 40% isn't. That's not the case with the market-cap-weighted Vanguard Information Technology ETF. Its portfolio only includes tech names -- but 315 of them, which means many of them are mid caps and small caps that you might not otherwise get exposure to.

And the second reason to use VGT as your exposure to the tech sector? The Invesco QQQ Trust also only includes Nasdaq-listed names -- there are no NYSE-listed tickers in its basket. Although most of the best-performing tech stocks of recent years -- think Nvidia and Palantir -- are indeed Nasdaq listings, you don't want to miss out on fantastic NYSE-listed technology names like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Arista Networks.

The Vanguard Information Technology ETF is also just a cost-effective holding, with an annual expense ratio of only 0.09%.

3. Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF

Finally, add the relatively new Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHY) to your list of exchange-traded funds that could help make you a millionaire by retirement. This is a completely different kind of fund than the Invesco QQQ Trust, and measurably different from the S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust, making it a complementary holding to either -- or both.

Launched in early 2021 and meant to mirror the Dow Jones International Dividend 100 index, the Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF not only dishes out reliable payouts with a current yield of more than 4%, but also offers exposure to some quality stocks that American investors are less likely to come across. While its top holding is the relatively familiar British American Tobacco, its second- and third-biggest positions are Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers and Japanese drugmaker Ono Pharmaceutical -- not exactly household names here. Given the sheer levels of near-term and long-term uncertainty regarding the United States' economy these days, it just makes good sense to diversify your portfolio beyond our borders.

You don't have to look very far back in time to see why either. Remember the market's big pullback in February and March? That was not a global phenomenon. The companies whose shares tumbled were mostly U.S.-based businesses that were vulnerable to President Donald Trump's steep new import tariffs. The rest of the world's stocks largely rallied at the same time the S&P 500 was cratering.

Granted, most international stocks also tumbled in November and December of last year while domestic stocks rallied, and both classes of stocks moved largely in tandem from 2021 to early 2023 (as is typically the case).

Still, this ETF could help compensate for some of the volatility your U.S.-based investments are likely to experience from here. It's also a healthy, easy-to-own hedge against the ever-changing value of the U.S. dollar.

But you just don't need or even want to collect dividends right now? That's OK. You can reinvest the dividends it distributes into more shares of the ETF, effectively turning it into a growth investment. Over the course of the past decade, investors reinvesting their dividend payments in more shares of the Dow Jones International Dividend 100 index would have booked an average annual gain of more than 9%. Not bad, given the amount of diversification it brings to the table.

Should you buy stock in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust right now?

Before you buy stock in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $647,425!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,071,739!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,056% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 189% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of September 15, 2025

James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Arista Networks, Deckers Outdoor, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool recommends British American Tobacco P.l.c. and Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $40 calls on British American Tobacco and short January 2026 $40 puts on British American Tobacco. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Want $1 Million in Retirement? 3 Simple Index Funds to Buy and Hold for Decades. was originally published by The Motley Fool

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3.

Fed Sees "Two-Sided Risk" in Lowering Interest Rates

2025-09-17 22:30:00 by Mark Vickery from Zacks

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) today reduced the Fed funds rate by 25 basis points (bps), as expected. It said the rising downside risk to employment has, at least for now, superseded the increase in goods costs, which the Fed sees as the primary reason for the rise in inflation. Thus, with risks moving toward equal between inflation and labor, the FOMC moved rates closer to neutral.

 

Notes on the Latest Fed Decision

We now have interest rates between 4.00-4.25% for the first time since December of 2022, when rates were moving decisively in the other direction. All 12 voting members agreed with the 25 bps cut save its newest member, President Trump’s chief economist Stephen Miran, who was confirmed to the FOMC by the U.S. Senate just yesterday afternoon and voted for a 50 bps cut. He and Trump have both advocated slashing interests rates going forward.

The Fed also continues its policy of reducing its holdings of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities as it attempts to roll off its massive $6.6 trillion in assets. There had been some speculation that mortgage securities might be held longer to help shore up the housing market, but Powell excused this by citing the Fed is cutting the balance sheet “quite marginally now.”

In terms of unemployment, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in the press conference directly following the Fed statement that this had more to do with immigration reform than tariffs, at this stage. Powell said there was “great uncertainty” regarding AI’s effect on the labor market, and that there “may be something there.”

Goods inflation is seen to have contributed +0.3% or +0.4% to overall inflation metrics over the past year. Powell did not see evidence that tariffs were being passed fully onto the consumer at this point, however. In fact, he mentioned the pass-through to the consumer was smaller and slower than many had expected.

Although Powell said a couple times that the Fed is not on a “pre-set course” regarding interest rates, but did forecast +3.6% by December of this year (indicating two more 25 bps cuts), which is 10 bps lower than we saw in June. Perhaps Stephen Miran’s work is evident here, as well: one “dot” on the Fed’s latest “dot plot” is well below the others.

While it’s true one — or even three — 25 bps cuts were not going to “rescue the labor market,” Powell said the “policy path does matter.” Ultimately, the Fed Chair sees a “two-sided risk” to monetary policy at present, but that tariff-related inflation will continue to move up in goods prices — and will be temporary.
 

 

How the Stock Market Reacted to the Rate Cut

Ahead of the monetary policy decision, major market indexes were flat with where they were earlier today, with the Dow and small-cap Russell 2000 just modestly in the green and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 marginally in the red. The Fed numbers and Powell’s explanation fairly roiled everything for about an hour, but things shortly thereafter returned to their earlier levels. The Dow closed +0.57% today, the S&P 500 -0.1%, the Nasdaq -0.33% and the Russell +0.18%.

Tomorrow, the fun continues with Weekly Jobless Claims and a new Philly Fed manufacturing survey on the docket ahead of the opening bell, with Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) for August coming out slightly afterward. For now, it’s nice that the Fed has gotten off the schneid regarding interest rates, so to speak — if for no other reason that to be able to focus on some other things a while.


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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

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4.

Exchange-Traded Funds, US Equities Mixed After Midday

2025-09-17 17:05:25 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

Broad Market Indicators

Broad-market exchange-traded fund IWM rose, and IVV fell. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) dipped 0.6%.

US equity indexes traded mixed after midday Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision at 2 pm ET, which will be followed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference at 2:30 pm ET.

Energy

iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) each added about 0.2%.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) slipped 0.7%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) moved lower as well.

SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) was flat, and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) fell 0.3%.

Financial

The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) added 0.8%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) climbed 2.3% and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), declined 2.4%.

Commodities

Crude oil lost 0.5%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) shed 0.5%. Natural gas dropped 0.6%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) fell 0.5%.

Gold on Comex and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) each shed 0.1%. Silver dipped 1.4%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) fell 1.4%.

Consumer

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) rose 0.8%. The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) and the iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) also gained.

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was down 0.4%. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) added 0.3%, and SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) rose 0.8%.

Health Care

Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) rose 0.3%, and iShares US Healthcare (IYH) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) moved up; iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) added 0.5%.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) lost 0.1%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) were mixed, with the latter rising 0.4%.

Cryptocurrency

In midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) lost 1.1%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) was down 1%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) fell fractionally, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) dropped 0.8%.

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5.

Market Minute 9-17-25- Markets Mark Time as Fed Decision Looms

2025-09-17 14:40:00 by MoneyShow

Most assets are marking time right now, including stocks and Treasuries. Gold, silver, and crude oil are trading slightly lower along with Bitcoin, while the dollar is up a smidge.

To get more articles and chart analysis from MoneyShow, subscribe to our Top Pros’ Top Picks newsletter here.)

Today is one of those days where investors and traders are holding their collective breath. The Federal Reserve is wrapping up its two-day meeting right now and will announce its interest rate decision later today. Rate futures markets are fully pricing in a 25-basis point cut, with about a 6% chance the Fed goes 50 instead.

As the Wall Street Journal’s “Fed Whisperer” Nick Timiraos wrote, “This week’s Federal Reserve meeting is shaping up to be one of the strangest in years” because of all the political gamesmanship surrounding it. President Trump himself weighed in on Sunday, suggesting the Fed deliver a “big cut.”

30-Year Mortgage Rate Average (3-Year Chart)

Data by YCharts

Regardless of exactly what happens today, it’s clear that Fed Chairman Jay Powell & Co. have pivoted when it comes to policy. They are focusing less on tariff-driven inflation and more on labor market weakness. Meanwhile, 30-year mortgage rates have been drifting lower in anticipation of easier policy. They recently slipped below 6.4%, helping push refinancing application activity to its highest since early 2022, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

See also: ORCL: Proof AI IS Being Monetized. NOW.

Finally, shares of Workday Inc. (WDAY) are surging after an activist investor targeted the provider of cloud-based corporate HR, accounting, and audit software. Elliott Management said it built up a $2 billion stake in WDAY shares, and will work with management to boost the firm’s value. Separately, Workday said it would buy back $5 billion of its own stock over the next two years. It also revealed the $1.1 billion purchase of an Artificial Intelligence-focused firm Sana.

More From MoneyShow.com:

• SPX: When Turmoil Strikes, Remember that Markets are Resilient
• BMY: A Contrarian Play in an Era of AI-Related Euphoria
• Market Minute 9/16/25: Gold, Stocks Hit Records on "Run it Hot" Trade!

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6.

Housing Numbers Down Ahead of Fed Rate Cut Today

2025-09-17 14:30:00 by Mark Vickery from Zacks

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Ahead of today’s biggest market news item — the Fed rate cut, expected at 1pm ET today — we see an economic segment directly affected by interest rates, Housing. As we’ll see, the homebuilding side of the housing market continues to cool down — clearly a result of still-high interest rates, which translate to high mortgage rates.

August Housing Starts & Building Permits Lower

We had expected Housing Starts to cool month over month, from a +5% pop in July to something a bit lower. But today’s headline 1.307 million seasonally adjusted, annualized units looks downright chilly: it’s the lowest print since May and the third-lowest of the year, down from the 1.429 million from the prior month.

Single-family homebuilding continues to lag expectations: -7% month over month and -12% year over year. Multi-family, which already commands a bigger share based on affordability issues, were down -11% from a month ago but still +15% year over year. But it is single-family housing that provides the bigger bang for the buck in terms of economic gains.

At the time this survey was conducted, mid-last month, 30-year fixed mortgage rates were around 6.5% (they are down around 6.13% currently, so perhaps we’ll see a rebound in September housing starts, which amounts to a three-year low) — lower than the 7% range we were seeing earlier this year, but apparently still too high for the average homebuyer. Also, with expectations high that rates will come down further, it keeps some prospects on the sidelines.

Building Permits, also expected to come in around 1.37 million seasonally adjusted, annualized units for the month, fell as well: to 1.312 million. This is a pretty undeniable softening in the forward-looking housing starts market, as permits are a proxy for future starts. Again, we hope to see some improvement as rates begin to come down, but it appears homebuilders remain in a "wait and see" mode.

Yesterday, we saw a Homebuilders Sentiment survey that was down -2 points. Again, affordability is the issue here. As if to put a fine point on it, the only major homebuilder with a strong outlook currently is Toll Brothers TOL, which focuses exclusively on luxury homebuilding. Many luxury homebuyers don’t even bother with a mortgage rate, and simply pay cash.

What to Expect from the Fed Meeting Today

You may have heard that today is the day the Fed will be cutting interest rates for the first time in 2025. Though there has been a shakeup in the makeup of voting members for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), it could have been more drastic: not only does Stephen Miran, an advocate of slashing rates, come onboard but President Trump had earlier attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, who remains on the committee for this vote.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell always signals to the market what the Fed is considering; thus, we don’t see a 25 basis-point (bps) cut to be much of a mystery. The question on the actual vote will be whether Fed Governors Chris Waller and Miki Bowman will continue to dissent from Powell’s decision and advocate a 50 bps cut today (both voted for 25 bps at the last meeting, when rates wound up unchanged). Miran is very likely to vote for 50 bps or more.

Powell’s press conference afterward will be arguably more important that the 1pm FOMC decision: he will answer questions designed to take his temperature on future rate cuts — both through the end of the year and into 2026. (We also expect a new dot-plot from the Fed today.) Powell, in his 7+ years as head of the Federal Reserve, has grown accustomed to delivering his intended message in overall clear terms, even if the market reacts against it in real time.

Finally, a less-discussed matter relating to Fed policy and mortgages is the fact that the Fed has been unloading assets from its balance sheet, of which much is mortgage-based securities. And while no one advocates that the $6.6 trillion remaining on the Fed’s balance sheet is optimal, there may be some discussion — or a decision — on whether to curb the runoff on the mortgage side, in order to add further assistance to the housing market.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

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7.

Americans Turn To AI For Money Help, With Pitfalls

2025-09-17 13:59:05 by Moz Farooque ACCA from GuruFocus.com

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults who've tried generative AI say they've asked it for financial help, and most told Intuit Credit Karma it made their situation better, the New York Times reported.

But it hasn't been smooth sailing. More than half admitted they made a mistake after following chatbot advice. Young people are driving the trend: more than 80% of Gen Z and millennials said they've turned to ChatGPT or Google's Gemini for budgeting, saving, or investing ideas.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Sign with BAC.
• Is QQQ fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator.

For some, the tools have been a quick fix. Myra Donohue, 28, said ChatGPT helped her build a budget when her family was drowning in debt. Delaware realtor Jennifer Allan went viral on TikTok by turning AI prompts into a 30-day challenge donating plasma, digging up unclaimed funds, even selling a watermelon with her debt total written on it and slashed her credit card balance nearly in half.

Others found the limits fast. Alexander Stuart tried using a bot to trade stocks, but ended up losing money when it gave him outdated data. Advisers warn that while AI can be a confidence boost, it's no replacement for real financial guidance.

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8.

Exchange-Traded Funds Lower, Equity Futures Mixed Pre-Bell Wednesday Ahead of Fed Policy Decision

2025-09-17 12:51:47 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was down 0.03% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) declined by 0.02% in Wednesday's premarket activity, ahead of the Fed's policy decision announcement later in the day.

US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures down 0.05%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gaining 0.04%, and Nasdaq futures retreating 0.1% before the start of regular trading.

US mortgage applications surged 29.7% in the week ended Sept. 12 as 30-year fixed rates dropped to an 11-month low, Mortgage Bankers Association data showed Wednesday.

US housing starts dropped 8.5% in August to an annual rate of 1.307 million, while permits fell 3.7% to 1.312 million, both missing Bloomberg forecasts.

The Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations report for September will be released at 10 am ET, followed by the weekly EIA petroleum status report at 10:30 am ET.

The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee is due to announce its latest monetary policy decision at 2 pm ET, followed by a press conference by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 2:30 pm ET.

In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 0.4%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.4% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) advanced 0.03%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was 0.9% higher.

Power Play:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) was flat. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was up 0.1% while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) were inactive.

Oruka Therapeutics (ORKA) stock was up more than 19% premarket after the company said that interim data from an early-stage trial of its long-acting antibody ORKA-001 showed a half-life of about 100 days, which could increase the likelihood of dosing once annually in plaque psoriasis.

Winners and Losers:

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was down by 0.3%.

Diversified Energy (DEC) stock was down more than 5% before Wednesday's opening bell after the company said late Tuesday that a secondary public offering of its 5,713,353 shares had been priced at $13.75 each.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.1% while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were inactive.

Elbit Systems (ESLT) stock was down more than 3% before the opening bell after the company said that the Israel Securities Authority extended the term of its shelf prospectus by 12 months, until Sept. 27, 2026.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was up 0.2%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) lost 0.1%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) were inactive.

NIO (NIO) shares were up more than 2% pre-bell after the company said that it completed a $1.16 billion offering of 209.1 million shares, consisting of 160.8 million American depositary shares, 21.0 million ordinary shares, and 27.3 million American depositary shares by the underwriters' full exercise of their option.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.1%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was flat.

Axos Financial (AX) shares were down more than 2% pre-bell Wednesday after the company said that it has priced a $200 million public offering of 7% fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes due 2035.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) retreated 0.2%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was marginally down by 0.03%, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) declined by 0.2%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was 0.5% lower.

Nvidia's (NVDA) shares were down more than 1% in recent premarket activity after the Financial Times reported that the Cyberspace Administration of China recently informed major Chinese technology companies like ByteDance to terminate their testing and orders of Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D artificial intelligence chips.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.7% to $64.09 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas rose 1.4% to $3.15 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.8% lower, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) advanced by 0.8%.

Gold futures for December declined by 0.6% to $3,701.90 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures fell 2.3% to $41.92 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was down 0.5%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 1.9% lower.

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9.

Protect Your QQQ Gains (and Get Paid to Do It) With This Strategy

2025-09-17 11:27:55 by Rick Orford from Barchart

On the date of publication, Rick Orford did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com

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10.

Should Invesco QQQ (QQQ) Be on Your Investing Radar?

2025-09-17 10:20:02 by Zacks Equity Research from Zacks

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on March 10, 1999.

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $374.77 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Growth

Companies that find themselves in the large cap category typically have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.

While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.2%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.48%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector -- about 52.7% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 10.14% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Apple Inc (AAPL).

The top 10 holdings account for about 52.12% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

QQQ seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index before fees and expenses. The Nasdaq-100 Index includes 100 of the largest domestic and international nonfinancial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market based on market capitalization.

The ETF has added about 15.89% so far this year and it's up approximately 25.52% in the last one year (as of 09/17/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $416.06 and $591.68.

The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 21.27% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 101 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco QQQ holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, QQQ is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) and the Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF has $121.03 billion in assets, Vanguard Growth ETF has $193.44 billion. IWF has an expense ratio of 0.18% and VUG charges 0.04%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

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11.

Stock Market Today: Dow Is The Loser Of The Day; This Uranium Name Gives Back Gains (Live Coverage)

2025-09-16 20:30:12 by SCOTT LEHTONEN and KIMBERLEY KOENIG from Investor's Business Daily

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major indexes closed lower in Tuesday's session as investors now look to the results of the two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting, which are due Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, an IBD 50 bitcoin miner showed strength on the stock market today. Blue chips on the Dow lost 0.3%, or 125 points.

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12.

Master This Stock Chart Indicator to Confirm Technical Buy & Sell Signals

2025-09-16 20:24:29 by Barchart Insights from Barchart

On the date of publication, Barchart Insights did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com

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13.

Exchange-Traded Funds, US Equities Decline After Midday Tuesday

2025-09-16 17:11:32 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

Broad Market Indicators

Broad-market exchange-traded funds IWM and IVV fell. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) dipped 0.1%.

US equity indexes decline following strong retail sales and a surprise increase in industrial production as the Federal Reserve remains on course to resume policy easing.

Energy

iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) each added 1.5%.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) slipped 0.3%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) moved lower as well.

SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) rose 0.1%, and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) was fractionally higher.

Financial

The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) eased 0.3%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) dropped 1.3% and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), climbed 1%.

Commodities

Crude oil gained 1.9%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) rose 1.8%. Natural gas climbed 1.7%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) advanced 1.6%.

Gold on Comex and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) each added 0.2%. Silver shed 0.1%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) fell 0.3%.

Consumer

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) rose 0.3%. The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) and the iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) also gained.

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was up 0.4%. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) added 0.2%, and SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) dipped 0.6%.

Health Care

Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) rose 0.2%, and iShares US Healthcare (IYH) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) moved up; iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) added 0.4%.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) lost 0.4%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) were in the red.

Cryptocurrency

In midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) added 1.3%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) was up 0.9%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) lost 0.3%, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) rose 0.3%.

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14.

Retail Sales, Imports & Exports Warmer Ahead of Fed Meeting

2025-09-16 14:28:00 by Mark Vickery from Zacks

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Ahead of today’s opening bell, new economic data should help color in the lines of what we expect the Fed will do at its next monetary policy meeting, which starts today and concludes with a new Fed funds rate tomorrow afternoon. The new figures out this morning are warmer than expected: will they matter to the Fed?

Retail Sales Double Expectations for August

The August print on Retail Sales came in at +0.6% this morning, double the +0.3% expected and equalling the upwardly revised July read. This basically reverts to the baseline +0.6% on Retail Sales we were seeing in later 2024, before drastic policy shifts under the second Trump administration put sales numbers in flux.

Subtracting big-ticket auto sales, which can distort retail sales numbers on a month-by-month basis, we’re still up 30 basis points (bps) from expectations: +0.7%, 10 bps higher than the upwardly revised July headline, and the second-highest this year since +0.8% in June. Ex-autos and gas was also +0.7%, as was the Control number, which gets introduced up the food chain to other monthly economic data reports, like PCE.

Pre-market futures remain unbothered by this, but it is worth mentioning that these are somewhat inflationary data points, especially compared with expectations. Market participants are still sunning themselves on the premise that rate cuts are coming tomorrow and perhaps at the final two Fed meetings in October and December, respectively. But too many warmer-than-expected inflation reports may dampen those expectations.

Import Prices Swing to Positive Last Month

In more inflationary news, the Import Price Index for August came in at +0.3% from an expected loss of -0.2%. This is the first back-to-back positive report on import prices since February. Ex-fuel, we see +0.2% — lower than the +0.3% analysts were looking for, and unchanged (0.0%) year over year.

On the other side of the coin, Exports reached +0.3% for last month, and +3.4% year over year. This is the hottest we’ve seen so far in 2025; in fact, you’d have to go back to 2022 to see higher Export price levels. This is obviously a strong number, especially considering our ongoing global tariff tussle.

Outlook to Fed Meeting

A couple new developments greet the opening session of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting today: we’re now adding a Fed Governor, and we’ve not gotten rid of one accused of wrongdoing by the White House. Thus, we will have 12 voting members on interest rate levels tomorrow.

Chairman of the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors, Stephen Miran, has pressed pause on his official duties to take on the FOMC in this meeting. Miran had expressed in the past that interest rates are as much as 300 bps too high, so we can expect his vote to cut rates will come in higher — perhaps much higher — than the 25 bps largely expected from Fed Chair Jerome Powell & Co.

At the July FOMC meeting, for the first time in 30 years we saw more than one dissent from the ultimate Fed decision. For years, Kevin Warsh — considered one of the top candidates to take over for Powell as Fed Chair — would provide a counter-opinion to Fed Chairs Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen. Last meeting, it was Fed Governors Christopher Waller — also a candidate for the top job — and Michelle Bowman who voted for a 25 bps rate cut.

Also, Fed Governor Lisa Cook — under fire from President Trump for alleged improprieties in her personal finances — has been allowed to remain in her position at the FOMC. She historically has voted alongside Powell, so we would expect a 25 bps cut from her as well tomorrow.

Some speculation had been fore a 50 bps cut tomorrow, but analysts had mostly traded that in for anticipation for three rate cuts by the end of the year. However, Powell’s demeanor at his press conference following the FOMC decision (2:30 pm ET Wednesday) will signal plenty as to whether the Fed Chair is on the same page as the stock market. Today’s warmer inflation metrics may cool his jets a bit.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

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15.

Exchange-Traded Funds Higher, Equity Futures Mixed Pre-Bell Tuesday Ahead of Fed Meeting

2025-09-16 12:53:39 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.2% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) advanced 0.2% in Tuesday's premarket activity, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day policy meeting.

US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures falling 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.2% before the start of regular trading.

US import prices rose 0.3% in August, defying expectations for a decline, while export prices also advanced 0.3%, topping forecasts, Labor Department data showed Tuesday. Excluding fuels, import prices climbed 0.4%, and export prices matched the overall gain despite flat agricultural prices.

US retail sales climbed 0.6% in August, topping forecasts and matching July's gain, while sales excluding autos rose 0.7%, also above expectations. Core sales, which exclude both autos and gasoline, advanced 0.7% after a 0.3% increase in July.

The industrial production bulletin for August will be released at 9:15 am ET, followed by the business inventories report for July and the housing market index for September at 10 am ET.

In premarket action, bitcoin was up by 0.04%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.05% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) was down 0.03%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) rose 2%.

Power Play:

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) was flat, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.03% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.6%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rose 1.3%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) gained 0.6%.
Oracle (ORCL) shares were up more than 5% in recent premarket activity after CBS News reported that the company is among a consortium of firms that would help TikTok continue operations in the US if the US and China finalize a framework deal.

Winners and Losers:

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.01%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was flat, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.1% lower.

Beneficient (BENF) shares were down more than 6% pre-bell Tuesday after falling 10.7% at the prior close. The company said the Nasdaq Hearings Panel had granted its request for continued listing on Nasdaq.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.01%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) rose 0.9% while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) were inactive.

Harvard Bioscience (HBIO) stock was up more than 5% premarket after the company said that it expanded its distribution agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific's (TMO) Fisher Scientific unit to add the US market. Thermo Fisher's shares were 1.9% lower premarket.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.2% while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) gained 0.6% and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

Rocket Lab (RKLB) stock was down more than 3% before the opening bell after the company said Monday it plans to sell $750 million in shares in an at-the-market offering through sales agents.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was up 0.03%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) gained 0.2%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) advanced 0.4%, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) increased 0.3%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was 0.1% higher.

Performance Food Group (PFGC) shares were up more than 2% pre-bell after the company said it has agreed with US Foods (USFD) to share information and evaluate regulatory considerations and synergies related to a potential business combination. US Foods stock was gaining by 0.7%.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) rose 1.2%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.2%.

Chord Energy (CHRD) stock was down more than 1% before Tuesday's opening bell after the company said it will offer $500 million in senior unsecured notes due 2030 through a private placement to eligible purchasers.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.5% to $63.63 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas rose 1.6% to $3.09 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.8% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) advanced by 1.5%.

Gold futures for December advanced by 0.4% to $3,733.50 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures gained 0.7% to $43.28 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) declined 0.4%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.3% higher.

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16.

5 Index ETFs to Buy With $1,000 and Hold Forever

2025-09-16 08:00:00 by Geoffrey Seiler, The Motley Fool from Motley Fool

Key Points

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is an excellent core holding.

• The Vanguard Growth ETF and Invesco QQQ Trust are great options to add additional growth exposure.

• The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF and Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF are fine ways to add some income stocks.

• 10 stocks we like better than Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ›

When the market is at all-time highs, as it is today, investors often freeze up. During these periods, there tends to be chatter about high stock prices, so people worry that they'll end up buying right before a big pullback. The reality is that markets hit new highs more often than you might think, and over the long term, stocks trade higher. That means waiting for a perfect entry point can often mean missing out.

A J.P. Morgan study found that missing the 10 best days over a 20-year stretch cuts your total return roughly in half. While those best days often come after big market drops, investors rarely pounce on those dips, worrying that the market will fall further. This is why using a dollar-cost averaging strategy is so important. Putting money to work regularly at set times, whether stocks are up or down, takes the guesswork out of timing and lets compounding work in your favor.

Let's look at five exchange-traded funds (ETFs) you can begin investing $1,000 in today, and keep adding to for many years to come.

1. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

If I could only own one investment for the next 30 years, it would be the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO). It tracks the performance of the S&P 500, which gives you instant diversity and a portfolio made up of about 500 of the largest and most influential companies in the U.S. Because the S&P 500 is a market-cap-weighted index, it lets its winners run. This is one of the biggest reasons why the ETF has been such a great performer over the long run: It lets the cream rise to the top.

Over the past decade (running through the end of August), the ETF averaged annualized returns of 14.6%, which is a great return. And its 0.03% expense ratio is as cheap as it gets.

If you want one investment you can buy and dollar-cost-average into on autopilot, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is it.

2. Vanguard Growth ETF

If you want a little more emphasis on growth stocks, the Vanguard Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: VUG) is a great choice. It holds large-cap companies that are growing faster than the broader market, which tilts it toward technology leaders. Together, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple make up more than a third of its holdings.

Its top 10 holdings account for more than 60% of its portfolio, so you're getting a lot more concentration in top growth names. Growth stocks have been helping lead the market higher over the past decade, and this can be seen in the ETF's results. Over the past ten years, it's delivered an average annual return of 17.1%.

With artificial intelligence (AI) looking like it could be a game-changing technology, the Vanguard Growth ETF is a great way to gain additional exposure to many of the top companies leading the AI charge.

3. Invesco QQQ Trust

Another growth ETF to consider is the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ). It tracks the Nasdaq-100 index, which is heavily weighted toward tech and consumer names. More than 60% of its portfolio is in the tech sector, while nearly 19% is in consumer discretionary, although some stocks in this sector are basically tech companies, like Amazon.

The Invesco QQQ Trust has been a top performer over the long term, producing an average annual return of 19.4% over the past 10 years. Even more impressive is that its outperformance has been consistent, with it besting the S&P 500 on a 12-month rolling basis more than 87% of the time over this stretch.

While its 0.2% expense ratio is on the higher side for an index ETF, its performance makes it a top option to consider.

4. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

While growth stocks have been leading the charge, value stocks shouldn't be ignored, as they can also have their day in the sun. The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHD) is perfect if you want to add some dividend-paying value stocks to your portfolio.

The ETF focuses on companies with solid financials and a history of paying and growing dividends. Its current yield is around 3.8%, and because the index it's tied to screens for payout sustainability every year, those dividends are more dependable than what you might find in other high-yield ETFs.

The ETF has delivered double-digit annualized returns over the past decade, while charging a tiny 0.06% expense ratio. This is a solid performance considering that growth stocks have been in favor over this period.

5. Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF

Most portfolios are heavily tilted toward U.S. stocks, but adding some international exposure can be a smart way to diversify. The Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF (NASDAQ: VYMI) is a great option if you're looking to add a little international flavor to your portfolio.

The ETF holds positions in non-U.S. companies that pay above-average dividends. The portfolio is split across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and emerging markets, with top holdings including Nestlé, Roche Holding, Toyota Motor, and Shell. That mix gives you global diversification and a nice income stream.

The fund has been a huge performer this year, with the ETF up nearly 28% year to date through Sept. 10. Over the five years through the end of August, it posted 14.2% annualized returns. Its 0.17% expense ratio is higher than domestic-focused index funds, but very reasonable for an international fund.

Should you invest $1,000 in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF right now?

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JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Invesco QQQ Trust and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Nvidia, Vanguard Index Funds - Vanguard Growth ETF, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Nestlé and Roche Holding AG and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

5 Index ETFs to Buy With $1,000 and Hold Forever was originally published by The Motley Fool

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17.

Trump Wants To Scrap Quarterly Earnings Reports

2025-09-15 21:18:07 by Moz Farooque ACCA from GuruFocus.com

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Donald Trump is back on an old theme: he doesn't think U.S. companies should have to report results every three months. Instead, he's urging a switch to six-month updates, saying it would save money and let managers actually focus on running their businesses.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with NVDA.
• Is QQQ fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the U.S. obsession with quarterly results puts firms at a disadvantage. China has a 50- to 100-year view on the management of a company, whereas we run our companies on a quarterly basis??? Not good!!! he wrote.

Right now, the SEC requires quarterly filings. By contrast, the UK and EU mandate only twice-yearly reports, though firms can provide quarterly ones if they want. China-listed companies do file quarterly, while Hong Konglisted firms are only required to provide interim results.

Some argue the bigger issue isn't the reporting itself but the guidance that comes with it, which feeds Wall Street's meet or beat game. As journalist Herb Greenberg put it: guidance is what drives the short-term swings and pressure on companies. Trump first raised the idea in his first term after business leaders floated it.

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18.

ETF Education: What Are Authorized Participants?

2025-09-15 21:15:00 by etf.com from etf.com

Authorized participants (APs) are one of the major parties at the center of the ETF creation/redemption mechanism, and as such, they play a critical role in ETF liquidity. In essence, APs are ETF liquidity providers that have the exclusive right to change the supply of ETF shares on the market.

Role Of Authorized Participants 

When an ETF company wants to create new shares of its fund, whether to launch a new product or meet increasing market demand, it turns to an AP, which may be a market maker, a specialist or any other large financial institution. Essentially, it’s someone with a lot of buying power.

It is the AP’s job to acquire the securities that the ETF wants to hold. For instance, if an ETF is designed to track the S&P 500 Index, the AP will buy shares in all the S&P 500 constituents in the exact same weights as the index, then deliver those shares to the ETF provider. In exchange, the provider gives the AP a block of equally valued ETF shares, called a creation unit. These blocks are usually formed in blocks of 50,000 shares.

The exchange takes place on a one-for-one, fair-value basis. The AP delivers a certain amount of underlying securities and receives the exact same value in ETF shares, priced based on their net asset value (NAV), not the market value at which the ETF happens to be trading.

Both parties benefit from the transaction: The ETF provider gets the stocks it needs to track the index, and the AP gets plenty of ETF shares to resell for profit.

The process can also work in reverse. APs can remove ETF shares from the market by purchasing enough of those shares to form a creation unit and then delivering those shares to the ETF issuer. In exchange, APs receive the same value in the underlying securities of the fund.

How Do APs Gain The Right To Change The Supply Of ETP Shares? 

ETP issuers decide. Prior to launch, the issuer will designate one or more AP to the fund. More can sign up over time. The most popular ETFs will have dozens of APs.

How Do APs Impact Liquidity? 

An AP’s ability to create and redeem shares helps keep ETFs priced at fair value.

For example, if demand for an ETF increases and a premium develops, APs step in to create more shares and push the ETF’s price back in line with its actual value. If there’s a rush to sell and a discount develops, APs buy ETF shares on the open market and redeem them with the ETF issuers to reduce supply.

Generally, the greater the number of APs for a particular ETF, the better: The force of competition is more likely to keep the ETF trading close to its fair value.

The task set forth for an AP is not necessarily an easy one: Sometimes the underlying market that they must access to change the supply of ETF shares is illiquid, or just difficult to access. An exchange-traded product tracking the S&P 500 will be easy to access and easily hedge-able for most APs, while one tracking Nigeria equities will be tough.

Mostly, APs are invisible to individual investors and advisors. Still, it’s good to know they’re there.

Authorized Participants
… are designated by the ETF issuer
… have the exclusive right to change the supply of ETF shares on the market
… create shares when a premium develops by providing baskets of holdings to the issuers
… redeem shares when a discount develops by buying them from the issuer to sell the individual holdings on the market

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19.

Trump Fights To Oust Fed Governor Before Rate Meeting

2025-09-15 21:11:05 by Moz Farooque ACCA from GuruFocus.com

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

President Donald Trump is turning up the pressure to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook just days before the central bank's crucial Sept. 16-17 meeting, according to the Associated Press.

Trump has asked a Washington appeals court to set aside a Sept. 9 ruling that blocked her dismissal. That earlier decision suggested the president likely lacked the authority to fire her and may have trampled her due process rights. A three-judge panel could weigh in as early as Monday, and if that fails, Trump is expected to head to the Supreme Court.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with NVDA.
• Is QQQ fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator.

The case revolves around mortgage fraud accusations leveled by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who claims Cook listed two homes as primary residences to secure better loan terms. Justice Department lawyers say the discrepancies remain unanswered. Cook's team counters that the White House is overreaching, warning that allowing the firing would damage the Fed's independence and spook markets.

The outcome now rests with the appeals courtand its timing could hardly be more sensitive, landing right as the Fed prepares its next rate decision.

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20.

Exchange-Traded Funds, US Equities Rise After Midday

2025-09-15 17:08:14 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

Broad Market Indicators

Broad-market exchange-traded funds IWM and IVV climbed. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.7%.

US equity indexes advanced as government bond yields declined in midday trading on Monday.

Energy

iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) each fell about 0.2%.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) rose 0.6%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) climbed.

SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) added 1.4% and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) gained 0.7%.

Financial

The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) eased 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) slipped 0.3% and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), added 0.2%.

Commodities

Crude oil gained 0.9%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) rose 1.2%. Natural gas climbed 1.9%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) advanced 2.1%.

Gold on Comex and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) each added 1%. Silver gained 0.3%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) climbed 0.7%.

Consumer

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) fell 0.8%. The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) and the iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) declined.

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) gained 1.2%. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) fell 0.2%, and SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) rose 1.4%.

Health Care

Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) shed 0.8%, and iShares US Healthcare (IYH) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) dropped; iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) fell 0.3%.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) gained 0.4%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) advanced.

Cryptocurrency

In midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) shed 0.6%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) was down 1.7%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) lost 3.7%, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) fell 2.1%.

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21.

Moving Pieces Ahead of Fed Rate Decision

2025-09-15 14:16:00 by Mark Vickery from Zacks

Monday, September 15, 2025

We have a busy week ahead of us in the stock market, though we already know the most consequential event awaiting market participants: Wednesday’s decision on monetary policy from the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). It is widely expected that the Fed will cut rates at this meeting for the first time in 2025; the FOMC had cut rates by 100 basis points (bps) in the final three meetings of 2024.

There are two different trajectories complicating the Fed’s decision, based on its dual-mandate: full employment has begun to unravel with low monthly job gains — including a loss of -13K jobs in June of this year — while inflation is slowly growing, likely due to ongoing tariff policy with U.S. trading partners. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has recently stated the troubling jobs numbers have begun to take precedence over inflation rates.

Thus, a 25 bps cut is virtually guaranteed for Wednesday. There is an open question whether this can grow to 50 bps, which would bring levels to 3.75-4.00% for the first time in nearly three years. Cutting rates is far from a direct means of solving for a weakening labor market, but assisting the housing industry in providing lower mortgage rates would be one area that could eventually benefit. 
 

Politics and Courts Now Affecting the Fed

Complicating matters is the politicization of the Fed. President Trump has long vilified Powell, the man he himself put at the head of the agency, for being “too late” in reducing rates. Following this, the White House turned its attention to Fed Governor Lisa Cook, whereby accusations of wrongdoing in her personal finances led to her firing by the president himself. The president can only remove a FOMC member “for cause.”

This firing caused an injunction that reversed Trump’s decision by a federal judge, but is now being contested by the White House to keep Cook from voting in this week’s monetary policy meeting at the FOMC. Cook has voted in line with Powell to keep rates steady through 2025 thus far.

In addition, later today the U.S. Senate will hold a cloture vote on whether to install a pro-Trump official to the FOMC. Stephen Miran has taken leave as the Chair of the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors in order to allow himself to be confirmed late this afternoon for the FOMC meeting, which begins tomorrow. Miran has stated in the past that he believes interest rates should come down by 300 bps.

For some context, at the last FOMC meeting, we saw the first dissent of more than one voting member in decades. Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman both sought a 25 bps cut back in July. Should Cook be removed from the FOMC ahead of the decision and Miran be allowed in, we’ll then see the largest internal dissent from the Fed Chair perhaps in U.S. history.

Empire State Manufacturing Swings Back to Negative: -8.7

For the first month in the past three, the Empire State Manufacturing Index posted a negative headline for September: -8.7. This is below the +4.5 analysts had been expecting, and a big swing from the 11.9 reported for August (which was the strongest month for manufacturing in the region since November of last year). 

This is not a great number, but it’s fairly par for the course over the past year. Seven of the twelve months have posted negative has put up negative growth in New York State manufacturing. The similar Philly Fed survey comes out later this week, and it has posted negative month headlines in four of the past five months.

Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

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22.

The Best AI ETF to Invest $500 in Right Now

2025-09-15 12:30:00 by Neil Patel, The Motley Fool from Motley Fool

Key Points

• Businesses are investing huge amounts of capital to position themselves to be leaders in the AI race.

• This popular ETF owns high-quality technology companies, and its past performance is impressive.

• Investors must set realistic expectations, as returns going forward could come down.

• 10 stocks we like better than Invesco QQQ Trust ›

Some estimates believe the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) will add trillions of dollars to the global economy in the long run. Investors might have disregarded this technology a couple of years ago, but it can no longer be ignored today.

Investors who want to perform well over the long term probably need to have some exposure in their portfolios to the powerful AI trend. Luckily, you don't need to spend time trying to predict which stocks will turn out to be winners. There's a top AI exchange-traded fund (ETF) to invest $500 in right now.

Powering your portfolio with AI

The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) is a wonderful choice if you're looking for exposure to AI. This ETF tracks the performance of the Nasdaq-100 index.

However, it's important to know exactly what's in the portfolio. There is a heavy concentration at the top. The "Magnificent Seven" represents a significant 44% of the asset base. Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple are the three biggest positions.

The top holdings in the Invesco QQQ Trust all benefit from various secular trends. But they are generally all investing aggressively in the AI boom. For instance, the major cloud providers, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet, are collectively planning to spend nearly $300 billion on capital expenditures just in 2025.

By owning this ETF, investors can have peace of mind that their portfolios are adequately covered. That's because all parts of AI are taken care of, from research and infrastructure hardware to cloud platforms and user-facing apps.

Stellar track record

Besides giving investors the right exposure to AI, the QQQ's performance is another reason this is a solid choice. In the past decade, it has generated a total return of 504% (as of Sept. 10). Had you invested $500 in the ETF 10 years ago, you'd have over $3,000 today. It has clearly worked out extremely well in the past, as the track record of compound capital is stellar.

This gain comes up well ahead of the widely followed S&P 500. The benchmark of 500 large and profitable businesses has produced a total return of 300% in the past decade.

Investors may think that they need to pay top dollar for their funds to be managed well to achieve huge returns, but the Invesco QQQ Trust bucks this trend. Investors only have to pay a 0.2% expense ratio when owning the ETF. It's hard to beat this deal in the financial markets.

Thinking about returns going forward

It would be amazing if the QQQ could mimic its trailing-10-year performance over the next decade. That outcome could happen. In the past, the combination of low interest rates for a lot of the time, the monster success of the leading tech companies, and more money flowing into passive investment vehicles has contributed to this ETF's success.

These same factors could have a huge impact as we look out to 2035 and beyond. And that would bode extremely well for investors. It's easy to remain bullish, even though the QQQ trades in record territory.

However, it's also a good idea to temper expectations. It seems that a lot of experts and analysts are worried about the market's valuation these days. Lofty expectations can lead to a correction if businesses don't continue to exceed forecasts. This can present a headwind to strong returns.

These are the things that investors should always keep in mind. But when it comes to betting on AI, the Invesco QQQ Trust is the best ETF to put $500 in today.

Should you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust right now?

Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $640,916!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,090,012!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,052% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 8, 2025

Neil Patel has positions in Invesco QQQ Trust. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Best AI ETF to Invest $500 in Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool

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23.

Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell Monday Ahead of Potential Rate Cut

2025-09-15 12:29:08 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.2% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.2% higher in Monday's premarket activity as investors look forward to a potential interest rate cut this week.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.1% before the start of regular trading.

The Empire State Manufacturing Index will be released at 8:30 am ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was down by 0.5%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 1.5% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) was down 3.3%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) fell by 1%.

Power Play:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.4%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was flat while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) rose 3%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was flat.

AVITA Medical (RCEL) stock was up more than 7% premarket after the company said Sunday that it has received CE Mark approval for its RECELL GO device, enabling it to commence sales in Europe and other CE-marked markets.

Winners and Losers:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was up 0.2%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) gained 1.6%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) were inactive.

VinFast Auto (VFS) shares were up more than 2% pre-bell after Bloomberg News reported that the company has secured a $150 million loan from Barclays (BCS).

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) retreated 0.3%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.3% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was flat. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was down 0.4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) declined by 0.4%.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares were down more than 2% in recent premarket activity after China's market regulator said the company had violated the country's anti-monopoly law.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.2%.

USA Compression Partners (USAC) stock was up more than 1% before Monday's opening bell after the company said it plans to offer, together with its USA Compression Finance unit, $750 million of senior unsecured notes due 2033 in a private placement to eligible buyers.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.7%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.3% lower.

UBS Group (UBS) shares were up more than 1% pre-bell after reports that the Swiss parliament's upper house is set to vote on Monday over delaying new banking regulations that would raise UBS' capital requirements by about $3 billion. The New York Post reported Saturday that UBS is considering moving its headquarters from Switzerland to the US to avoid the regulations.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.2%, and the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) gained marginally by 0.03%, while the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.2% at $62.83 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas declined 0.1% to $2.94 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.7% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) declined 0.7%.

Gold futures for December retreated by 0.1% to $3,681.70 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures were down 0.3% at $42.69 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) declined marginally by 0.02%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.1% lower.

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24.

Can the QQQ ETF Protect Your Income in a Volatile Market?

2025-09-15 11:15:00 by Patrick Sanders, The Motley Fool from Motley Fool

Key Points

• Tech stocks make up just over 60% of the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF -- a hefty amount.

• Investors should recognize that the fund is built for growth, not for income and stability.

• The fund also has a higher expense ratio and lower dividend yield than others in its class.

• 10 stocks we like better than Invesco QQQ Trust ›

We're quickly approaching the fourth quarter of 2025, and this year is showing no signs of letting up. War in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, weakening employment numbers, and increasing signs of a recession mean some volatile times may lie ahead. While nobody wants it to happen, investors should prepare for a period of market instability.

Currently, the CBOE Volatility Index, also called the fear index, is at 15.2 as of this writing -- indicating a relative lack of investor concern right now -- and that's down 15% year to date. But this can change quickly. In April, the VIX topped 45, which was the highest it's been since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investors would be wise to seek safety during a volatile market, but you also don't want to miss any upside should the markets continue to be resilient and move higher.

That makes the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) an interesting play right now. Should you be investing in the QQQ exchange-traded fund as markets face an unknown future, or are you better off looking for something else? Let's take a closer look.

About the QQQ ETF

The Invesco QQQ Trust is an index fund passively managed by Invesco, which is one of the leading asset managers. The fund tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, which consists of 100 of the biggest nonfinancial companies on the Nasdaq stock exchange. That's an interesting distinction for the nature of this discussion, as financial stocks tend to perform poorly in a market downturn. By using the QQQ, you can avoid those kinds of stocks.

Instead, the QQQ ETF is heavy on technology stocks, which represents 60.8% of the fund. Consumer discretionary stocks are next at 19.4%, followed by healthcare, industrials, and telecommunications, which have weightings between 4% and 5%; then basic materials, utilities, energy, and real estate, all of which have weightings below 2%.

The Invesco QQQ Trust is a weighted-capitalization ETF, which means that companies with larger market caps have a heavier weighting in the QQQ ETF. The top 10 stocks make up 52.77% of the fund. And as you can see, tech stocks dominate the biggest positions.

Company	Allocation
Nvidia	9.24%
Microsoft	8.36%
Apple	8.12%
Broadcom	5.90%
Amazon	5.59%
Meta Platforms	3.70%
Alphabet Class A	3.10%
Netflix	2.95%
Alphabet Class C	2.91%
Tesla	2.90%

Data source: Invesco; allocations as of Sept. 6, 2025.

The QQQ ETF has a greater expense ratio than many other index funds, coming in at 0.2%, or $20 annually per $10,000 invested. In contrast, the Vanguard High Dividend ETF has an expense ratio of 0.06%; and the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF has an expense ratio of 0.06%; the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has an expense ratio of just 0.03%.

In addition, the QQQ ETF has the lowest dividend yield of the four stocks, with a payout ratio of only 0.49%. That's not a surprise, considering the heavy concentration of technology stocks in the ETF, but it's also likely a disappointment for those looking for steady income. The QQQ is all about growth, not income.

So is QQQ a buy?

There are a lot of good uses for the QQQ -- it's a fund that I would recommend for anyone who is looking to have a tech-heavy, diverse portfolio. Technology stocks are outperforming other sectors this year, so the QQQ has been a great pick. In fact, it's outperforming all three major indices so far this year.

But in a volatile market, the QQQ may not be the best pick for safety. A fund heavy on consumer staples, utilities, and healthcare would be a better choice -- unless you are convinced that tech stocks would be unaffected by a down market. But if your priority is stability and dividends, there are better ETFs than the QQQ.

Should you invest $1,000 in Invesco QQQ Trust right now?

Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $640,916!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,090,012!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,052% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 8, 2025

Patrick Sanders has positions in Invesco QQQ Trust and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Tesla, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and Vanguard Whitehall Funds - Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Can the QQQ ETF Protect Your Income in a Volatile Market? was originally published by The Motley Fool

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25.

The Smartest Index ETF to Buy With $2,000 Right Now

2025-09-14 08:35:00 by Geoffrey Seiler, The Motley Fool from Motley Fool

Key Points

• While stocks are near all-time highs, it could be a mistake to wait for a better entry point.

• The Invesco QQQ gives investors instant exposure to most of the world's top AI companies.

• The key, though, is to adopt a dollar-cost-averaging strategy.

• 10 stocks we like better than Invesco QQQ Trust ›

With the market sitting near all-time highs, a lot of investors might start second-guessing whether now is the right time to put money to work in stocks. However, waiting for a pullback could hurt you in the long run.

A J.P. Morgan study looked at every trading day going back to 1950 and found that the market actually hits a new high about 7% of the time. Meanwhile, on nearly a third of those occasions, investors never saw a lower price. This can lead to a cycle of regret and continuing to sit in cash while stocks keep climbing higher.

The better way to approach this is to start investing now and then keep adding to your position on a regular basis, regardless of what the market does. This is called dollar-cost averaging, and it helps take emotion out of the equation. It's also been proven to be one of the simplest and most effective ways to build wealth over time.

If you have $2,000 to put to work today, one of the smartest places you can start using this strategy with is the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ).

Why the Invesco QQQ Trust is a great investment

The Invesco QQQ Trust is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the Nasdaq-100, which is comprised of the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange. Its portfolio is heavily tilted toward technology stocks, with more than 60% of its holdings in the sector.

The ETF's weighting toward technology and growth stocks has helped the fund to outperform over the past decade. During this stretch, it delivered a total return of about 491%, compared with roughly 291% for the S&P 500. This also isn't due to one or two good years. In fact, on a rolling 12-month basis, it's outperformed the S&P 500 nearly 90% of the time during this period.

Part of what makes the Invesco QQQ Trust effective is that it is market-cap weighted, which means that when companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, or Apple outperform, their weightings rise automatically. Conversely, if a company struggles and its market cap falls, its weighting in the index drops naturally, which helps keep the portfolio focused on market leaders. That's a very different approach than most actively managed funds, where portfolio managers tend to trim back on their winners and often double down on their losers.

Another big reason to own the Invesco QQQ Trust right now is that it puts you right at the center of the most powerful growth trend driving the market: artificial intelligence (AI). AI looks like it has the potential to be the defining technology of the next decade, and while many stocks have already been AI winners, it appears we are still in the early innings of this phenomenon.

How to build wealth with the Invesco QQQ Trust

Dropping $2,000 into the Invesco QQQ Trust is a great start, but just doing that alone isn't going to make you wealthy. This is where dollar-cost averaging comes in. You need to consistently invest over a long period, regardless of where the market is trading, and let compounding do the rest of the work.

For example, if you start with $2,000 and add $1,000 a month for the next 30 years, you'd have $5.7 million at the end of that period at an average annual return of 15%. While 15% may sound like a lot, that's well below the 19.7% average annual return the Invesco QQQ Trust has generated over the past decade, so it's not some pie-in-the-sky number.

For investors looking to put $2,000 to work, the Invesco QQQ Trust is one of the best ETFs to own right now. It gives you instant exposure to the top AI companies in the world and has a long history of beating the S&P 500. The key is to just get started investing and to keep buying in both good and bad markets.

Should you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust right now?

Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $640,916!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,090,012!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,052% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 8, 2025

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Invesco QQQ Trust. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Nasdaq and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Smartest Index ETF to Buy With $2,000 Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool

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26.

ETF Flows: ARK Gains, S 500 Funds See Outflows

2025-09-12 20:25:22 by etf.com Staff from etf.com

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27.

Exchange-Traded Funds, US Equities Mixed After Midday Friday

2025-09-12 17:11:17 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

Broad Market Indicators

Broad-market exchange-traded fund IWM fell while IVV edged higher. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was up 0.4%.

US equity indexes were mixed after midday Friday as investors weighed a drop in the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment to the weakest since May alongside hotter medium-term inflation expectations.

Energy

iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) each fell about 0.3%.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) rose fractionally; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) were higher.

SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) were edging up.

Financial

The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) slipped 0.6%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) fell 1.2% and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), climbed 1.5%.

Commodities

Crude oil added 0.8%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) rose 0.8%. Natural gas gained 1%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was up 1.2%.

Gold on Comex rose 0.3%, and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) added 0.3%. Silver gained 1.4%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) climbed 1.6%.

Consumer

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) dipped 0.4%. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) and the iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) declined as well.

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) gained 0.5%. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) fell 0.4%, and SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) was down 1.6%.

Health Care

Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) slipped 0.8%, and iShares US Healthcare (IYH) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) were lower; iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) fell 1.6%.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) lost 0.6%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) were in the red.

Cryptocurrency

In midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) added 0.9%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) was up 0.9%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) gained 3%, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) rose 0.9%.

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28.

Stock Market On Top of the World Ahead of Fed Meeting

2025-09-12 14:14:00 by Mark Vickery from Zacks

Friday, September 12, 2025

At the risk of under-selling it, this has been an eventful week. With key inflation data milder than many had expected and jobless claims surging week over week, the U.S. economy looks primed for an interest rate cut at next week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week.

Inflation on the retail side yesterday, via the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August, saw only mild tariff pass-throughs to the consumer. Headline CPI came in at +0.4%, 10 basis points (bps) warmer than expected, but generally in-range of where we’ve been over the past three years. The Inflation Rate remains higher than the Fed would like at +2.9%, and consumers continue to feel the pinch of high retail prices, but we’ve not shot into another orbit.

Wholesale inflation, the Producer Price Index (PPI), actually fell to a negative -0.1% month over month on both headline and core. Tariffs don’t look to be affecting these numbers at all, and to the extent PPI figures anticipate future CPI, it would stand to reason next month’s CPI should come in relatively mild, as well.

In terms of jobs, a big jump in Initial Jobless Claims — much of which came from a one-off situation in Texas, which amounted to 15K claims all at once — pretty much sealed the deal for the Fed to cut rates at next week’s FOMC meeting. In fact, the current debate is not whether the Fed will cut, but whether it will be by a quarter point or a half point.

The Fed cutting rates seems, to some, to be a long time coming. But the Fed had been seeing an uncommonly stable labor market before this last downward revision (-911K jobs in a year) and were waiting for tariff numbers to show up. That the Fed is data dependent necessarily means a cut is ripe for the picking, even if doing so won’t bring an immediate remedy to a flagging labor market.

Thus, stock market indexes are at record highs (save the small-cap Russell 2000) as of yesterday’s close, and investors are currently on top of the world. (We’re booking profits off highs in the Dow and S&P 500 at this hour.) Rate cuts, should they come down low enough, will begin to unlock segments like the housing industry, which has been encumbered with heavy mortgage rates for years, and which begets economic activity across a spectrum of industries.

One Caveat to Next Week’s Rate Cut

Although we acknowledge the market’s good mood pivots on a pending interest rate cut next Wednesday — your guess as to whether it will be 25 or 50 bps — we do have one clear sightline once rates cool further over time: prices will not be going down. If we’ve remained closer to 3% to 2% on rates as high as they’ve been, we can expect they’ll be even less of a cap on prices going forward.

This is less than good news for consumers, especially those already beginning to curb spending — or, potentially worse: running up debt. If tariffs begin to take a bigger bite in our economy going forward, that will also push prices up, not down. And keep in mind: after the disastrous “Liberation Day” back in April forced the White House to pull back tariff rates, they’ve only been gradually introduced to the trade market since. 

It would appear we’re still in the early innings of whatever economic reality ballgame we’re playing currently. And while there is plenty of excitement in the market — to say nothing of the corporate business-friendly Big Beautiful Bill, which will continue manifesting itself into the economy — there are also plenty of warning signs that prices may start getting too rich for many consumers’ blood.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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29.

Exchange-Traded Funds Higher, Equity Futures Mixed Ahead of September Consumer Sentiment Report

2025-09-12 13:12:18 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.1% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.2% higher in Friday's premarket activity, ahead of the University of Michigan's September consumer sentiment report due later in the day.

US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures down 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.1% before the start of regular trading.

The University of Michigan's September consumer sentiment report is due at 10 am ET, while the weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil and gas rig count is slated to be released at 1 pm ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 0.4%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.7% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) rose 2.2%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was 8% higher.

Power Play:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) slipped 0.1%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was 0.8% lower, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was flat. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) retreated 0.3%.

GlucoTrack (GCTK) shares were up 131% in recent premarket activity on Friday, a day after the company said that Sixth Borough Capital Fund committed to acquire up to $20 million of the company's common shares.

Winners and Losers:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was down by 0.2%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) and the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) were flat. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) retreated 0.2%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) were inactive.

Rent the Runway (RENT) shares were down 20% pre-bell Friday, a day after the company posted a wider fiscal Q2 net loss.

Technology

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) was up 0.2% and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was marginally higher by 0.03%, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was flat. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was flat, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) advanced 0.3%.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) stock was over 6% higher before Friday's opening bell, after the company said overnight it started volume deliveries of its Nvidia (NVDA) Blackwell Ultra solutions, such as HGX B300 systems and GB300 NVL72 racks, to clients worldwide.

Industrial

The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) was down 0.2% and the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was flat. The iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

Tronox (TROX) shares were 6.5% lower before the Friday opening bell, after Mizuho Securities downgraded the miner to underperform from neutral with a $4 price target.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was down by 0.9%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.3%.

Baker Hughes (BKR) shares were down by 0.3% before the opening bell on Friday, a day after the energy giant said it secured an order from Bechtel Energy to supply liquefaction equipment for Train 4 of NextDecade's (NEXT) Rio Grande LNG facility in Texas.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) slipped 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was 0.7% lower, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.7% higher.

Bank of America (BAC) stock was slightly down by 0.1% before Friday's opening bell, after the company said it will redeem all 2 billion euros ($2.34 billion) principal amount outstanding of its floating rate senior notes due Sept. 22, 2026.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1.8% at $63.46 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas advanced by 0.8% to $2.95 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1.9% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) gained 1.4%.

Gold futures for December advanced by 0.3% to $3,682.70 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures were up 1.4% at $42.73 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) gained 0.3%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 1.3% higher.

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30.

ETF Education: Understanding ETF Liquidity

2025-09-11 21:30:00 by etf.com from etf.com

For individual stocks, liquidity is about trading volume and its regularity—more is better. For ETFs, there’s more to consider.

An ETF Isn’t A Stock 

ETFs are often lauded for their liquidity and single-stock trading characteristics. Truth is, they’re similar.

If an ETF doesn’t trade a certain number of shares per day (e.g., 50,000), the fund is illiquid and should be avoided, right? Wrong. It’s a plausible assumption from a single-stock perspective, but with ETFs, we need to go to a level deeper. The key is to understand the difference between the primary and secondary liquidity of an ETF.

Primary Market Vs. Secondary Market 

Most noninstitutional investors transact in the secondary market—which means investors are trading the ETF shares that currently exist. Secondary liquidity is the “on screen” liquidity you see from your brokerage (i.e., volume and spreads), and it’s determined primarily by the volume of ETF shares traded.

However, one of the key features of ETPs is that the supply of shares is flexible—shares can be “created” or “redeemed” to offset changes in demand. Primary liquidity is concerned with how efficient it is to create or redeem shares. Liquidity in one market—primary or secondary—is not indicative of liquidity in the other market.

Another way to make the distinction between the primary market and the secondary market is to understand the participants in each. In the secondary market, investors bargain with each other or with a market maker to trade the existing supply of ETP shares. In contrast, investors in the primary market use an “authorized participant” (AP) to change the supply of ETP shares available—either to offload a large basket of shares (“redeem” shares) or to acquire a large basket of shares (“create” shares).

The determinants of primary market liquidity are different than the determinants of secondary market liquidity. In the secondary market, liquidity is generally a function of the value of ETF shares traded; in the primary market, liquidity is more a function of the value of the underlying shares that back the ETF.

When placing a large trade—on the scale of tens of thousands of shares—investors are sometimes able to circumvent an illiquid secondary market by using an AP to reach through to the primary market to “create” new ETF shares.

Unfortunately, most of us aren’t trading tens of thousands of shares at a time, so we’re stuck trading in the secondary market. Remember that, to assess secondary market liquidity, you should be looking at statistics such as average spreads, average trading volume, and premiums or discounts (does the ETF trade close to its net asset value?).

It’s really only if you’ll be trading close to 50,000 shares or more at a time that these statistics are no longer the most relevant in assessing liquidity. For those big trades, the liquidity of the ETF’s underlying securities is the most important factor.

After all, to “create” 50,000 shares, the AP must first submit a prespecified basket of the ETF’s underlying securities—a creation basket—to the ETF. There is a direct relationship between the underlying liquidity of an ETF and its primary market liquidity, because in order to create primary market liquidity, the AP must trade in the underlying market—the easier an AP can access the underlying market, the more efficiently she can create and redeem ETF shares.

If you trade this size regularly, a good first step is to contact the ETF issuer itself and request the capital markets desk. One of the main goals of the issuer’s capital markets desk is to ensure that investors enter and exit funds at fair prices. They can also be a great help in providing market impact estimations, underlying liquidity analysis and connecting investors to liquidity providers.

Key Takeaways

• There are two levels of ETF market liquidity
• Primary market liquidity is dependent on authorized participants
• Secondary market liquidity is dependent on investors and market makers

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31.

Exchange-Traded Funds, US Equities Higher After Midday

2025-09-11 17:16:18 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

Broad Market Indicators

Broad-market exchange-traded funds IWM and IVV rose. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was up 0.6%.

US equity indexes rose in midday trading Thursday, with all three benchmark gauges touching all-time highs intraday, as odds favoring three interest-rate cuts this year jumped following a hot consumer price inflation print and a surge in jobless claims.

Energy

iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) were both marginally higher.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) rose 0.3%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) gained.

SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) added 0.9%, and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) climbed 0.7%.

Financial

The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) gained 1.3%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) climbed 4.1% and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), dropped 3.9%.

Commodities

Crude oil shed 1.9%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) slipped 2%. Natural gas fell 2.4%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down 2.7%.

Gold on Comex dipped 0.2%, and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) shed 0.2%. Silver gained 1.4%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) climbed 1%.

Consumer

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) added 0.9%. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) and the iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) rose as well.

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) gained 1.7%. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) rose 1.1%, and SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) was up 1.6%.

Health Care

Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) added 1.6%, and iShares US Healthcare (IYH) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) moved higher; iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 1.5%.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) gained 1.1%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) edged higher, too.

Cryptocurrency

In midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) added 0.5%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) was up 0.9%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) gained 2.3%, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) rose 1.4%.

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32.

Wall Street Soars To Records On Fed Rate Bets: What's Moving Markets Thursday?

2025-09-11 16:45:34 by Piero Cingari from Benzinga

All three major U.S. equity benchmarks — the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones — surged to fresh record highs on Thursday, as investors piled into risk assets on growing bets that interest rates will soon fall.

The rally came despite gloomy economic data: U.S. inflation accelerated to 2.9% year-over-year in August, while weekly jobless claims spiked to 263,000 – their highest level since October 2021.

Yet, investors brushed aside the stagflation concerns, wagering that the Federal Reserve will prioritize stabilizing a weakening labor market over containing price pressures.

By midday in New York, the S&P 500 advanced 0.8% to 6,584, the Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.7% to break above the 24,000 mark, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.3% to 46,080.

Speculators fully price in a 25-basis-point rate cut next week and see over a 90% chance of another in October, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

CFTC-regulated betting platform Kalshi assigns a 63% chance that another cut will be delivered in December 2025.

All 11 S&P sectors traded higher, led by cyclical groups such as consumer discretionary, materials, and financials.

The shift toward a lower-rate outlook also rippled through bonds, sending Treasury yields to five-month lows. The 10-year benchmark yield fell to 4%, its lowest level since early April.

The risk-on mood briefly halted gold's record-setting run, with the metal slipping 0.2% to $3,630. Silver extended gains, climbing 1.4% to $41.70 an ounce, while crude oil dropped 2%. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) edged 0.3% higher to $114,000.

Thursday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
• Russell 2000	2,412.60	1.5%
• Dow Jones	46,087.94	1.3%
• S&P 500	6,585.53	0.8%
• Nasdaq 100	24,012.41	0.7%

Updated by 12:05 p.m. ET

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) soared 0.8% to $604.49.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 1.2% to $461.58.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) edged 0.7% higher to $584.72.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 1.5% to $239.94.
• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) outperformed, up 1.3%; the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lagged, up 0.1%.

S&P 500’s Top 5 Movers

Company Name	% Change
Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS)	+11.11%
Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)	+10.66%
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)	+9.57%
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD)	+7.30%
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)	+7.28%

S&P 500’s Top 5 Losers

Company Name	% Change
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL)	-4.30%
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)	-3.38%
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)	-2.83%
CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDW)	-2.83%
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)	-2.21%

Read Next:

• Prices Are Rising, Jobs Are Gone — Can The Fed Stop A Stagflation Spiral?

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This article Wall Street Soars To Records On Fed Rate Bets: What's Moving Markets Thursday? originally appeared on Benzinga.com

© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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33.

Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell Thursday Ahead of Consumer Inflation Report

2025-09-11 12:22:29 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.2% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.3% higher in Thursday's premarket activity, ahead of the highly anticipated consumer inflation report.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.3% before the start of regular trading.

The August Consumer Price Index report and the weekly jobless claims bulletin will be released at 8:30 am ET.

The weekly EIA natural gas report will be posted at 10:30 am ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 0.3%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.4% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) rose 2.7%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was 2% higher.

Power Play:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.1%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was flat while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was flat.

Avidity Biosciences (RNA) stock was down nearly 20% premarket after the company said late Wednesday it plans a $500 million public offering of common shares.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) retreated 0.2% while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were inactive.

Enovix (ENVX) stock was down more than 14% before the opening bell after the company said it priced a $300 million offering of 4.75% convertible senior notes due 2030 in a private placement.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) gained 0.4%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was inactive, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was flat. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was up 0.4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) advanced 0.1%.

VNET Group (VNET) shares were up more than 3% in recent premarket activity after the company said it has secured a 40MW wholesale order from an unidentified internet company for its new Gu'an IDC Campus in the Greater Beijing Area.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was down by 0.2%.

Solaris Energy Infrastructure (SEI) stock was up more than 1% before Thursday's opening bell after rising 17.9% at the previous day's close. Regulatory filings on Wednesday showed that two company executives purchased a combined 12,000 shares.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was marginally up by 0.01%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) gained 0.4%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) were inactive.

Honda Motor (HMC) shares were down nearly 1% pre-bell after falling 1.9% in the prior close. The company said Thursday that it will launch the N-ONE e passenger car on Friday as its second mini-electric vehicle model.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.5%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.2% lower.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 1.1% at $62.96 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas advanced nearly 1% to $3.06 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1.2% lower, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) gained 0.7%.

Gold futures for December retreated by 0.8% to $3,654.00 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures were down 0.2% at $41.51 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) declined 0.7%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.5% lower.

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34.

Tech Stocks Are Doing So Well Investors Are Starting to Worry

2025-09-11 09:30:00 by Bernard Goyder from Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Technology stocks are rising so far, so fast that some investors are starting to position for the move to lose momentum. 

After advancing for five consecutive months, the Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) Index has risen each day but one in September as investors bet on optimism around artificial intelligence and Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts to keep technology stocks moving higher. A gauge of expected volatility in the index hasn’t budged in months. And on Wednesday, infrastructure software giant Oracle Inc. (ORCL) made history with a 36% pop, its biggest gain since 1992.

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That’s pushed some investors to bid up put options to protect this year’s gains. The price of hedging against a 10% drop in the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF, the largest exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100, over the next month is at the highest since 2022 relative to the cost of protection against a similar rally. 

“The market is at highs, volatility is at lows, I think there are a lot of easy arguments to make as to why you should hedge,” said Greg Boutle, head of US equity and derivative strategy at BNP Paribas SA. “September does tend to be a bit seasonally weaker” as well, he added.  

It’s sign of growing unease ahead of a string of market-moving events in the next month that include the Fed’s interest rate decision on Sept. 17 and the consumer price index report later on Thursday. The put-to-call skew on QQQ was higher just 8% of the time in recent data, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.  

Rising Uncertainty

With exposure to tech high-flyers looking rich by any measure, the more the group goes up, the more investors are forced to hedge against a “tail event” — a potential crash in the market, according to Charlie McElligott, Nomura’s cross-asset strategist. That’s pushing the put-to-call skew even higher at a time when demand for call options remains relatively subdued. 

The hedges were likely added to protect long equity portfolios from a potential market decline, says Christopher Jacobson, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna International Group. To be sure, the put-to-call skew measures a relative cost of put options to calls and not the actual price investors pay for downside protection, which is lower than it was at the peak of trade-war uncertainty in April. 

While big volatility gauges aren’t sounding alarms — the VIX Index is hovering below 16 — there is a sense of nervousness that’s evident beyond big tech stocks. On Tuesday, a trader paid around $9.3 million for bearish options on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, a position that pays out if the S&P falls 3.6% by Sept. 19. And on Monday, an investor bought a long-term hedge against a 58% collapse in the S&P 500 by December 2026 for $13.4 million. 

The moves make sense considering stocks often underperform in September, with the market dropping 56% of the time, the most of any month going back to 1927, according to data from Bank of America Corp. (BAC).

For Boutle, the current state of equity markets is similar to 2019, when a strong run in the first six months of the year gave way to pockets of weakness in the second half just after the Fed reduced rates. 

He recommends clients buy protection against a 5% drop in the S&P 500 (^GSPC), while selling insurance against a deeper drop he says is unlikely to materialize. 

“We’re really focused on shallow hedges rather than the ‘wingier’ ones,” Boutle said. 

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©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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35.

Fall Storm: Why a Market Correction May Be Looming

2025-09-11 02:48:00 by Andrew Rocco from Zacks

September Market Seasonality

The month of September is historically one of the worst times to be a bull. Though the Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ) is up 1.81% month-to-date and the current bull market has several bullish catalysts, like the AI revolution, an upcoming interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve, robust GDP numbers, and tame inflation, investors should still beware. Performance from the past decade shows that September seasonal trends can supersede fundamental and economic strength and lead to pullbacks. Over the past decade, the tech-heavy QQQ index has been lower in September in seven instances. Meanwhile, QQQ has averaged a meager 2.57% in the years it gained while averaging losses of -4.42% in the seven years it fell in September. Additionally, while QQQ has displayed few signs of slowing thus far in Septembe investors need to note that most of the weakness historically occurs in the back half of the month.

Image Source: Unusual Whales

Fed and AI Mania: Sell the News?

Market psychology means that news is often priced in ahead of time. When a stock or market runs up into a highly likely event, investors usually use the liquidity from the actual event to “sell the news.” The Federal Reserve’s rate cut is one of the most anticipated events thus far in 2025. Will investors use the event to sell the news?

Additionally, several AI-related stocks like Arm Holdings (ARM), Astera Labs (ALAB), CoreWeave (CRWV), and Bloom Energy (BE) have gone on tremendous runs recently. In fact, Oracle (ORCL) shares are up nearly 40% this week and gained $244 billion in market cap on Wednesday alone.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

While Oracle’s guidance was spectacular, some profit-taking at this juncture would make perfect sense.

Tariff Uncertainty Looms Ahead of Supreme Court Ruling

Markets hate uncertainty, and a significant question mark for investors will be what happens to President Donald Trump’s most significant economic policy – tariffs. The blanket tariffs imposed globally by the Trump Administration are by far the most prominent Wall Street story of 2025 thus far. Initially, stocks tanked after President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcement. Investors were consumed about the dollar losing its reserve status, a recession, inflation, and potential stagflation. Though the sell-off sparked short-term fear on Wall Street, markets soon adjusted as Trump lowered his initial tariff levels, the United States struck deals with key global trading partners, GDP came in strong, and inflation remained tame. Though markets are now comfortable with Trump’s tariffs, Trump’s political rivals are trying to force them to end.

Usually, tariff legislation must be passed by Congress. However, President Trump and his economic team used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to skirt this rule, citing the fentanyl crisis and massive trade imbalances. Recently, a lower court has ruled tariffs illegal. However, the case is being fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, and oral arguments will begin in November. Should the Trump Administration lose the case, not only will tariffs need to be removed, the hundreds of billions in tariff revenue collected will need to be returned. Until a decision is made, the sheer uncertainty is likely to hang over US equity markets.

Bottom Line

Given the historical September volatility, the “sell the news” psychology surrounding the interest rate cut and AI hype, and the ongoing legal uncertainty of tariffs, an end-of-month correction may loom.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

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36.

ETF Education: Managing Avoiding Closures

2025-09-10 21:45:00 by etf.com from etf.com

Like any business, even low-cost ETFs need to generate revenue to cover their costs.

Plenty of ETFs fail to garner the assets necessary to cover these costs and, consequently, ETF closures happen regularly. In fact, a significant percentage of ETFs are always at risk of closure. There’s no need to panic though: Broadly speaking, ETF investors don’t lose their investment when an ETF closes. A closure can, however, be inconvenient and costly.

The good news is that for each high-closure-risk ETF out there, there is almost always a larger, more viable product available to suit your investment needs.

What Happens When An ETF Closes? 

Once the decision to delist or liquidate an ETF has been made, a prospectus supplement will state the ETF’s last trading date and its liquidation date (if it has one).

At this point, or soon after, “business as usual” ceases, and the fund halts creations as it prepares to convert to cash. This causes ETF performance to diverge from the performance of its underlying index.

During this period, the ETF issuer will continue to publish indicative net asset value (iNAV) throughout the day, and it should still be referenced when buying or, more likely, selling the ETF. It’s generally advisable to sell any remaining shares you may be holding before the last day of trading.

Delisting Vs. Liquidation 

When an ETF liquidates, investors generally receive cash distributions equal to NAV, so even if you fall asleep at the wheel, you’ll receive the fair value of your shares. Over the years, there’ve been a few instances where the process wasn’t smooth, but exceptions aside, liquidation is likely to be a less costly and cumbersome affair than delisting.

When an ETF delists without liquidating its portfolio, investors who fail to sell their shares before the last trading date will be forced to trade over the counter—generally more complicated and costly.

Downside Of Closures 

Even if the delisting and closure goes smoothly, it can still be hugely inconvenient, for a few reasons.

Reputation Risk: From the perspective of advisors, avoiding funds at high risk of closure can help avoid egg-on-your-face phone calls to clients after recommending a fund that’s now closing: “Remember that great ETF I told you about? About that, ... “

Reinvestment Risk: When an ETF delists or liquidates, it creates reinvestment risk for its investors—not to mention the extra and unnecessary burden associated with reinvesting. Once you receive your cash-equivalent NAV, you’ve got to find somewhere else to put it, which could mean repeating the entire process that landed you in the ETF to begin with.

Tax Burden: Since investors must either sell their shares or receive cash equivalents of NAV, they’re forced to realize any capital gains. Realizing capital gains earlier than planned can create an unanticipated tax burden.

Closure Risk Factors 

It’s relatively easy to predict likely candidates for closing, and a little homework can be good insurance.

Low Assets Under Management: Low AUM is one of the best indicators of closure risk. Funds with hundreds of millions of dollars are too profitable to close.

The only problem with using AUM as an indicator of fund-closure risk is that you’re ruling out far too many ETFs. There are hundreds of ETFs with low AUM that do not close each year—and some of them are great products.

Still, as a general rule of thumb, once a fund surpasses the $50 million mark in AUM, it’s far less likely to close.

Issuer Strength: Surprisingly, even more important than AUM in predicting fund closure is the strength of its issuer. Indeed, most ETF closures historically are the result of entire companies getting out of the ETF business, not big issuers simply closing ETFs that are slow out of the gate.

Consequently, when evaluating whether a low-AUM fund is at risk of closure, consider the strength of its issuer as well as the issuer’s history and general culture surrounding closures.

Fund Rank In Segment: If a particular ETF is the least popular (by AUM) among 10 ETFs that offer similar exposure, it’s more likely to close than a similarly unpopular ETF that’s the only ETF offering exposure to a particular sector/country/strategy. Essentially, unpopular funds in oversaturated markets are at greater closure risk than unpopular funds offering unique exposure.

In Sum 

Ultimately, don’t let media headlines about ETF closures invoke fear because, first and foremost, ETF investors usually don’t stand to lose when an ETF closes. Secondly, funds at risk of closure are largely easy to identify, which is to say that it should be easy for you to avoid the high-risk funds. 

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37.

Nasdaq Funds Miss Out on Oracle Rally

2025-09-10 20:40:19 by Jack Pitcher from The Wall Street Journal

Investors in popular tech-heavy index funds like Invesco's QQQ might be surprised to learn they aren't benefiting from Oracle's surge to a near trillion dollar market value on Wednesday. That's because Larry Ellison's company moved its listing from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange back in 2013, marking the largest ever defection from either exchange.

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38.

ETF Investors Pile Into U.S. Equity Giants as Bond and Sector Funds See Outflows

2025-09-10 20:23:52 by etf.com Staff from etf.com

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39.

U.S. Jobs Overstated By 911,000, Markets Barely Blink

2025-09-10 19:01:00 by Moz Farooque ACCA from GuruFocus.com

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

The U.S. job market just got a major reality check. Government data on Tuesday showed that employment growth over the year through March 2025 was overstated by 911,000 jobs the biggest revision on record. Economists had penciled in 700,000, and last year's correction was 818,000.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics stressed this is only a preliminary adjustment, with final numbers due in February 2026. Still, it suggests the labor market has been cooling for longer than many thought. Michael Strain at AEI noted the revision cuts average monthly job growth nearly in half, down to 71,000. Allianz's Mohamed El-Erian warned it could fuel criticism of the BLS and put more pressure on the Fed, saying the central bank risks being behind the curve.

Others downplayed the drama. RSM's Joseph Brusuelas said that in an economy with 163 million employed, a 911,000 revision isn't huge in context. Arch Capital's Parker Ross said the weak pace won't shift unemployment much, while Stanford's Erik Brynjolfsson saw a silver lining: productivity may be about 0.5% stronger than thought.Markets barely flinched, with S&P 500 ETFs steady as investors had braced for the cut.

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40.

PPI Cools Notably: Is a 50 bps Rate Cut in the Works?

2025-09-10 14:32:00 by Mark Vickery from Zacks

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

This morning, we saw likely the most consequential series of data for today’s stock market: the Producer Price Index (PPI) for August, the wholesale level of inflation tracked within the U.S. economy. Both headline and core month-over-month PPI came in at -0.1% — a major cool-down from what we feared was heating up in July. Expectations for both were +0.3%.

Further, revisions to the prior month came down in tandem: from +0.9% posted on both headline and core PPI month over month to +0.7% on the revision. This is still the highest level of the past three years, but the takeaway here is that we’re not continuing to heat up. Market participants can breathe a sigh of relief this morning.

Year over year, we come down half a percentage point to +2.6% from a downwardly revised +3.1%. Again, we were looking at a rather striking chart-move higher off April lows as of July’s print, but this has cooled off as well. Core year over year also came in at +2.8%, 70 basis points (bps) lower than the prior-month revision of +3.4%. This amounts to a full percentage-point drop in initial reportage month over month on core yearly PPI.

When it comes to PPI (and tomorrow CPI, the retail side of inflation), we also look at ex-food, energy and trade, final demand, which slashed in half month over month to +0.3%. The only metric in this entire series to move the opposite direction is ex-food, energy and trade year over year, which ticked up 10 bps to +2.8% from July. 

Pre-market futures have reacted favorably, although they have drifted slightly in the time it’s taken me to write all this down. The Dow is actually flat at this hour, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up +32 and +125 points, respectively — partly on yesterday’s big quarterly results from Oracle ORCL, which you can read about here. The small-cap Russell 2000 is currently up +6 points.

What Do PPI Numbers Mean for the Fed?

As you almost certainly know already, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) reconvenes for the first time since July next week, with a new policy decision on interest rates expected a week from today, at 2pm ET. The Fed has not moved on interest rates from their 4.25-4.50% range since December of last year, but all signs indicate a cut is coming.

That said, consider where the Fed believed we were two months ago: inflation metrics looked to be bubbling up somewhat based on tariff initiatives, and it was thought there were basically a million more jobs in the labor market than we understand there are today. As it turns out, inflation is now cooling and employment is clearly weakening. Perhaps the Fed is back to considering a 50 bps cut, instead of the 25 bps widely anticipated?

We’re still at least a day away from having a fully formed opinion on this. Tomorrow’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers are even more important than today’s PPI, because they indicate how much of increased costs have been passed along to the consumer. For the past two months, the CPI Inflation Rate has been steady at a “warm-but-not-hot” +2.7%. Does it move from here, and in which direction?

Passing tariff costs along to customers looks like a fairly dicey proposition, by the way. Even though numbers illustrate that the consumer is carrying the least amount of the tax burden from ongoing tariffs, is this a sustainable position for companies going forward? Also, there remains the specter of future revisions to these figures released today. And we always advise against making too much of one set of data. Stay tuned…

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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41.

Exchange-Traded Funds Higher, Equity Futures Mixed Pre-Bell Wednesday Ahead of Key Inflation Data

2025-09-10 12:17:23 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.4% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.4% higher in Wednesday's premarket activity, ahead of key inflation data releases.

US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.3%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.3% before the start of regular trading.

US mortgage applications rose 9.2% in the week ended Sept. 5 as 30-year fixed mortgage rates fell to their lowest since October 2024, with refinancing up 12% and purchase activity rising 7%, Mortgage Bankers Association data showed Wednesday.

The producer price index report for August, a measure of wholesale prices, will be released at 8:30 am ET.

The wholesale inventories bulletin for July will be released at 10 am ET, followed by the weekly EIA petroleum status report posts at 10:30 am ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 0.9%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.9% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) gained 0.8%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was 0.3% higher.

Power Play:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was down 0.1%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) retreated 0.1%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) lost 0.1%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was 0.2% lower.

Nio (NIO) shares were down more than 8% pre-bell after the company said it is planning to offer up to about 181.8 million Class A ordinary shares.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) retreated marginally by 0.04%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were inactive.

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) stock was up more than 5% before the opening bell after the company said it has partnered with Denham Capital's Sustainable Infrastructure arm to develop cleaner power offerings for data centers in the US and Europe.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) retreated 0.2%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) declined 0.1%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) slipped 0.1%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was marginally higher by 0.04%.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (AMLX) stock was down more than 2% premarket after the company said it priced a public offering of 17.5 million shares at $10 each, aiming to raise $175 million in gross proceeds.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) advanced 1.8%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 1.2% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 1.7%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.9%.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) shares were up more than 2% in recent premarket activity after the company reported that net revenue for August rose to about $335.77 billion New Taiwan dollars ($11.08 billion), up nearly 34% from the same period a year earlier.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) retreated 0.3%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was down nearly 1%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 1% higher.

Gladstone Capital (GLAD) shares were down nearly 2% pre-bell Wednesday after the company said late Tuesday it priced a $130 million public offering of 5.875% convertible notes due 2030 at 98.5% of face value.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.1%.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1.1% at $63.31 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas retreated 0.9% to $3.09 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) declined by 0.9%.

Gold futures for December advanced by 0.3% to $3,694.20 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures were up 0.9% at $41.72 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) gained 0.7%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.5% higher.

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42.

Exchange-Traded Funds Mixed, US Equities Rise After Midday

2025-09-09 17:16:11 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

Broad Market Indicators

Broad-market exchange-traded fund IWM fell, while IVV edged higher. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.1%.

US equity indexes were rising in midday trading on Tuesday amid gains in government bond yields following a downward revision in annual nonfarm payrolls.

Energy

iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) added 1.3% each.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) rose less than 0.1%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) gained.

SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) shed 0.2%, and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) was fractionally higher.

Financial

The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) added 0.3%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) climbed 1.1% and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), dipped 1.1%.

Commodities

Crude oil gained 0.8%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) added 0.7%. Natural gas added 0.1%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) lost 0.2%.

Gold on Comex rose 0.3%, and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) added 0.2%. Silver shed 1.3%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) slipped 1.4%.

Consumer

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) rose fractionally. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) and the iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) were mixed, with the latter rising 0.3%.

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) shed 0.3%. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) fell 0.3%, and SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) dropped 1.5%.

Health Care

Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) rose 0.6%, and iShares US Healthcare (IYH) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) moved higher as well. iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) gained 0.3%.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) edged down 1%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) were in the red.

Cryptocurrency

In midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) lost 1%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) was down 0.9%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) dipped 0.1%, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) lost 1%.

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43.

Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell Tuesday Ahead of Revised Payroll Data

2025-09-09 12:38:31 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.1% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.2% higher in Tuesday's premarket activity as markets await revised payroll data that may reinforce expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.2% before the start of regular trading.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose to 100.8 in August from 100.3 in July, marking an improvement from 91.2 a year earlier.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' bulletin of its preliminary benchmark revisions to payrolls will be released at 10 am ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 0.5%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.6% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) rose 1.4%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was flat.

Power Play:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.3%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was flat, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) were inactive.

Tourmaline Bio (TRML) stock was up more than 58% premarket after the company said it has agreed to be acquired by Novartis (NVS) for $48 per share in cash, or a total equity value of about $1.40 billion. Novartis shares were marginally down by 0.1%

Winners and Losers:

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.04%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.1%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.2% lower.

DMY Squared Technology Group (DMYY) shares were up more than 5% pre-bell Tuesday after the company and Horizon Quantum Computing said they have struck a deal valuing Horizon Quantum at about $503 million.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) retreated 0.1% while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were inactive.

Korn Ferry (KFY) stock was up more than 4% before the opening bell after the company reported higher fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) advanced 0.1%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.2% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.5%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.1%.

Gilat Satellite Networks (GILT) shares were down more than 4% in recent premarket activity after the company said it is selling over 7 million shares at $9.35 each, which marks a 6.3% discount to the seven-day volume-weighted average price.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.2%.

Energy Fuels (UUUU) stock was up more than 4% before Tuesday's opening bell after the company said that high-purity neodymium-praseodymium oxide produced at its White Mesa Mill in Utah has been manufactured into commercial-scale rare-earth permanent magnets and passed all quality benchmarks for use in EV drive unit motors.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was flat, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was also flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY), and the VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) were inactive. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was down 0.2%.

Designer Brands (DBI) shares were up more than 1% pre-bell after the company reported higher fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.8% at $62.76 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas advanced 1.6% to $3.14 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.8% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) rose 1%.

Gold futures for December advanced by 0.4% to $3,691.40 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures were down 0.1% at $41.85 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) gained 0.3%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.03% lower.

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44.

Americans See Job Prospects Worsen, NY Fed Survey Shows

2025-09-08 21:31:16 by Undercovered Deep Insights from GuruFocus.com

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Americans are feeling less confident about the job market. A survey from the New York Fed out Monday showed workers see their chances of finding a new job if they lost theirs dropping to just 44.9% in August the weakest reading since the survey began in 2013.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Sign with UBER.
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The pullback was most noticeable among people with only a high school education. At the same time, expectations that the unemployment rate will be higher a year from now ticked up to 39.1%, keeping anxiety about the labor outlook elevated.

Job security also looks less steady. The odds of losing a job over the next year nudged higher to 14.5%, while the likelihood of quitting voluntarily slipped to 18.9%.

On prices, households stayed steady. Inflation expectations held around 3% at the three- and five-year horizons, with the one-year view inching up to 3.2%. Consumers also kept income growth expectations flat at 2.9%, but raised their spending outlook to 5%. Access to credit looked a bit better compared with last year, though few expect borrowing to get easier in the months ahead.

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45.

ETF Education: What Is An ETF?

2025-09-08 20:00:00 by etf.com from etf.com

Offering low-cost access to virtually every corner of the market, ETFs allow investors big and small to build institutional-caliber portfolios with lower costs and better transparency than ever before.

But what exactly is an ETF? And how does it provide these benefits?

Start With Mutual Funds 

To understand how ETFs work, the best place to start is with something familiar, like a traditional mutual fund.

Imagine half a dozen investors, sitting at home, each trying to figure out the best way to invest in the stock market. They could each go out and buy a few stocks on their own, but who has the time or resources to manage a portfolio of 50 or 100 stocks?

Instead, they decide to band together. They pool all of their money and hire a professional investment manager to invest it for them.

To keep track of who invested what, each investor receives “shares,” representing their stake in the total investment.

Because it’s your money, you want to know how much your investment is worth … every day. So every day, the mutual fund tallies up the value of everything it owns and divides it by the number of shares that exist. Whammo-presto: You know exactly what each share is worth.

If you want to buy more shares, you know the amount of cash to send the mutual fund for each share. If you want to sell shares, you know exactly how much cash to expect in return.

It’s an elegant system, and mutual funds have existed for close to 100 years. They currently provide exposure to stocks, bonds, commodities and other assets.

But What About ETFs?

All that’s great, but you’re not reading this to learn about mutual funds. You want to learn about ETFs. 

So what is an ETF? Well, it’s a mutual fund too. It’s a pooled investment vehicle that offers diversified exposure to a particular area of the market. It can invest in stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, options or a blend of assets. Investors buy shares, which represent a proportional interest in the pooled assets.

It’s a mutual fund in every aspect … except one.

And that’s a big one, which is hinted at in its very name: exchange-traded funds.

Being Exchange-Traded 

With an exchange-traded fund, you buy shares in an ETF directly from any brokerage account. Just like you buy shares in a stock, you can enter a buy order in your Schwab or Fidelity account and buy any ETF you want.

You can also do it whenever you want. Whereas orders to buy or sell a traditional mutual fund can be processed only once per day (after the close of trading), ETF trades can take place any time the market is open. You can buy shares in the morning and sell them in the afternoon. You can buy them at 10 a.m., sell them at 11 a.m. and buy them again after lunch if you want.

You can also perform all sorts of stocklike strategies with ETFs that you never could with mutual funds: selling short, placing stop-loss or limit orders, even buying on margin.

And that’s just the beginning: The fact that ETFs are “exchange-traded” creates a series of other benefits that, according to many market observers, makes them a better overall choice than traditional mutual funds for many reasons: lower costs, better tax efficiency and more. Of course, in other situations, they can be worse: commissions, trading spreads and other risks.

What is an ETF? In sum, it’s a tool that allows investors to access different corners of the market—everything from U.K. equities to Chinese tech stocks to high-yield bonds, spot gold bullion and more—at low costs, from the comfort of a traditional brokerage account.

It’s like a mutual fund. Or, perhaps, a mutual fund: version 2.0.

An ETF…
… is structured as a mutual fund
… can be listed and traded on an exchange, like a stock
… can be traded intraday, shorted and bought on margin
… generally involves lower costs and better tax efficiency

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46.

Invesco QQQ Opening Remarks

2025-09-08 14:31:17 by Bloomberg

Ryan McCormack, Senior Director of Factor & QQQ Equity Product Strategy at Invesco, delivers opening remarks on innovating and investing in college sports at Bloomberg Power Players in New York.

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47.

U.S. Adds Just 22,000 Jobs, Markets Bet on Fed

2025-09-08 13:37:09 by Undercovered Deep Insights from GuruFocus.com

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

U.S. job growth almost flatlined in August. Nonfarm payrolls rose by just 22,000, well under the 75,000 expected and a steep drop from July's revised 79,000. June was also marked down to show a 13K job loss, painting a weaker picture of the summer labor market than first reported.

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Most of August's gains came from health care, which added 31K positions. That was offset by cuts in federal government jobs (-16,000) and mining and energy (-6,000). The unemployment rate inched up to 4.3% from 4.2%, exactly what economists had penciled in. Wages rose 0.3% month on month and 3.7% from a year ago, slowing slightly from July's pace.

Markets quickly latched on to the soft report. Stock futures and Treasuries climbed as traders boosted bets on a September Fed rate cut, now priced at almost 99%. Analysts warned that losses in cyclical sectors like manufacturing and business services raise red flags about recession risks, even as health care remains the lone bright spot.

The Fed meets Sept. 16-17, and this jobs miss sets the stage for a pivotal decision on rates.

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48.

Apollo's Slok Flags Softer Jobs Ahead of Payrolls

2025-09-08 13:35:33 by Undercovered Deep Insights from GuruFocus.com

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Apollo Global's chief economist Torsten Slok thinks the U.S. labor market may be running out of steam. With August payrolls due Friday, he warns the next few months could bring softer hiring momentum.

Slok points first to how people feel about their job prospects. Consumer sentiment on employment often shifts before the official payroll numbers, and today's readings suggest August job growth could fall short of the 90K economists are looking for. He also flags small business surveys, where more owners report weaker sales. In the past, that has often lined up with rising unemployment.

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The bottom line is that sentiment indicators are suggesting that the labor market will continue to weaken, Slok said. With investors already nervous about the economy and what the Fed does next, Friday's jobs report could set the tone for how quickly this slowdown takes hold.

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49.

Global Chip Equipment Sales Surge 24% on AI Demand

2025-09-08 13:26:28 by Undercovered Deep Insights from GuruFocus.com

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

The chip boom isn't slowing down. SEMI, the global trade group for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, said Friday that worldwide equipment sales climbed 24% in the second quarter to $33.07 billion. That's also up 3% from Q1, helped by strong demand for high-bandwidth memory tied to AI and heavier shipments into Asia.

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SEMI CEO Ajit Manocha said the first half of 2025 has already delivered more than $65 billion in sales, building on last year's record $117 billion. Chipmakers continue to invest in production capacity to support advanced logic and memory innovation powering the AI wave, as well as key projects to bolster regional supply chain resilience, he noted.

Still, analysts are debating how long the run can last. It appers that AI has clearly poured fuel on the fire, but structural drivers like EV adoption, edge computing, industrial automation and data center buildouts suggest the demand story may be bigger and stickier than a short-lived bubble.

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50.

Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell Monday Amid Rate-Cut Hopes, Soft Data

2025-09-08 12:57:27 by MT Newswires from MT Newswires

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.2% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.3% higher in Monday's premarket activity amid interest rate-cut hopes and subdued weekly economic data.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.4% before the start of regular trading.

The consumer credit report for July will be released at 3 pm ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 0.7%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.5% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) was down 0.6%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) advanced marginally by 0.02%.

Power Play:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) was flat, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were inactive.

Planet Labs (PL) stock was up more than 14% before the opening bell after the company reported a narrower fiscal Q2 non-GAAP net loss and higher revenue, in addition to raising its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance.

Winners and Losers:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) was nearly flat. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) advanced marginally by 0.03%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) slipped 0.01%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) gained 0.4%.

Ideaya Biosciences (IDYA) stock was up more than 6% premarket after the company said that interim phase 2 data for darovasertib in the neoadjuvant setting for primary uveal melanoma showed ocular tumor shrinkage, reduced radiation doses to critical eye structures, and improved vision.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) retreated 0.04%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up nearly 0.1%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.2% lower.

The PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) shares were up more than 1% pre-bell Monday after the company said it has agreed to buy FirstBank Holding in a deal valued at $4.10 billion.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was down 0.3%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was up 0.1%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) gained 0.4%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was 0.4% higher.

Alibaba (BABA) shares were up more than 3% pre-bell after X Square Robot said Alibaba's cloud unit led a 1 billion Chinese renminbi ($140.2 million) funding round for the Chinese robotics startup.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) advanced 0.4%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.7% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.5%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.3%.

Cerence (CRNC) shares were up more than 3% in recent premarket activity after the company said it has partnered with Microsoft (MSFT) to bring to market a new artificial intelligence-based mobile work assistant.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) rose 1%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.6%.

Kodiak Gas Services (KGS) stock was down more than 3% before Monday's opening bell after the company said that Frontier TopCo Partnership will sell 10 million of its common shares in an underwritten public offering.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 2.2% at $63.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas advanced 1.7% to $3.10 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1.9% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) rose 2.8%.

Gold futures for December declined by 0.2% to $3,659 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures were up 0.8% at $41.88 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) gained 0.8%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.6% higher.