Bridgewater Associates has identified three key bets beyond U.S. stocks which it says can provide a layer of resilience to portfolios as investors’ equities exposures hit all-time highs. The hedge fund giant which manages about $90 billion in assets, sees a wealth of opportunities across foreign companies, gold and bonds that investors have “hardly begun to tap,” according to Karen Karniol-Tambour, Bridgewater’s co-chief investment officer. “Besides being attractive on their own, these assets offer valuable downside protection, which is itself another kind of opportunity,” she noted in the firm’s latest “Connecting the Dots” market commentary. Karnoil-Tambour said most of the…
Author: usaeverydaylife
Government shutdowns should, theoretically, matter to the stock market. A shutdown could hurt spending power for up to 900,000 people, the highest estimate I have seen for those to be furloughed. That’s a lot of people who will spend a lot less money – especially because most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Shutdowns still don’t impact the stock market – largely because of a bit of circular reasoning. It goes like this: The last six shutdowns have not hurt the stock market. Moreover, the market tended to rally a percent on average after the shutdown. So why sell? In fact,…
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., Sept. 17, 2025. Brendan McDermid | ReutersStock futures were little changed Sunday night as a U.S. government shutdown continued following a week in which Wall Street rallied to record highs.Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked 37 points higher, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.1% along with Nasdaq-100 futures.The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are coming off their fourth weekly advance in five weeks, rising 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively. The Dow rose for the third time in four weeks, advancing 1.1%.Investors shrugged off worries…
New Year celebration concept. Front view. Close-upAnna Efetova | Moment | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” added trillions of dollars of tax breaks, some of which could impact your deduction for charitable giving.U.S. individual giving grew to $392.45 billion in 2024, up by about 5%, including inflation, from the previous year, according to Giving USA’s annual report released in June.But as the calendar winds down, your 2025 year-end giving strategy could look different than that of previous years, financial experts say.More from Personal Finance:With S&P 500 near record highs, reconsider the set-it-and-forget-it strategyWhat the government shutdown means for Social Security…
Brené Brown’s ninth book, “Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit,” published last month.The University of Houston research professor, podcaster and bestselling author recently went on The New York Times’ podcast “The Interview” to discuss the book’s various themes like courageous leadership and discipline.On the theme of communication, journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro asked Brown a frank question: “Why do you think we suck at it?”We don’t teach people how to communicate well,” Brown responded.”Good communication is vulnerable,” she said. “It’s hard. You have to have a tolerance for discomfort if…
A man braves the rain as he makes his way through a flooded section of the road amid heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Matmo, in Haikou, Hainan province, China, on Oct. 5, 2025.Cnsphoto | Via ReutersTyphoon Matmo strengthened ahead of making landfall Sunday in China, prompting the government to evacuate some 347,000 people from the southern provinces of Guangdong and Hainan.The typhoon had maximum sustained wind speeds of 151 kph (94 mph) on Sunday morning, according to China’s National Meteorological Center. It hit Zhanjiang in Guangdong around mid-afternoon Sunday. The weather authority issued a red-level typhoon warning, the highest in…
The federal government closed up shop last week. You might not have known that if the stock market’s performance was your guide: The S & P 500 finished the week at a record high on a six-day win streak . But the longer the shutdown in Washington drags on, the more attention Wall Street may start to give it. For now, the market calculus is relatively simple: a temporary shutdown is unlikely to materially alter the trajectory of the U.S. economy and corporate profits, considering that the hundreds of thousands of furloughed government workers will receive back pay once it…
President Donald Trump authorized the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard troops to protect federal officers and assets in Chicago on Saturday, marking the latest escalation of his use of federal intervention in cities.But the same day, a similar mobilization of 200 National Guard troops in Oregon was temporarily blocked after a federal judge found President Donald Trump was likely overstepping his legal authority in responding to relatively small protests near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.Trump voiced his frustration on Sunday morning about the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut, who he appointed during…
A lot of parents struggle with the idea of giving their kids access to smartphones or other connected devices. How old should they be when they get their first phone or tablet? What parental controls, if any, should you use?No matter what you decide, you need to follow one “imperative” rule to help your kids grow up to be happy, successful adults, says psychologist Jean Twenge: “No electronic devices in the bedroom overnight.””That’s just a situation where there’s, kind of, no argument: ‘You do not need that phone in your bedroom when you are supposed to be sleeping. Period. End…
When people ask me what couples fight about the most, they expect the usual suspects like money, sex or parenting. But after years of research, and from real-life experience in my own marriage, the answer is much simpler: tone of voice.That’s right. It’s not the dishes in the sink or the unpaid credit card bill. It’s how partners speak to each other about those things that creates tension.Tone can matter more than what you sayIt only takes a subtle shift in tone — a sigh, an eye-roll, or a sharp edge in your voice — for a simple question like “Did you take…
