Hennion & Walsh Trending

Debt Ceiling Deadlines, Defaults, and Downgrades

The debt ceiling is making news again. Will Congress raise it? Will the U.S. make history by defaulting on our government debt? If it seems like this a story you’ve heard before, that’s because it is. Over the past decade, there have been seven occasions where we’ve seen negotiations (or lack thereof) over the debt ceiling come uncomfortably close to Congress’s deadline to act. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, since 1960, Congress has acted 78 separate times to permanently raise, temporarily extend or revise the definition of the debt limit ... Read More

What Differentiates Mutual Funds, Exchange-Traded Funds, and Hedge Funds?

Let’s start with mutual funds, one of the oldest and most common ways that people invest. Here’s how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defines, one of the oldest and most common ways that people invest, mutual funds: ... Read More

Why Is The Price Of The Dow So Much Higher Than The S&P 500?

Before we get started, do me a favor. Pick up your phone or go to your computer. Open your internet browser and search for “S&P 500.” The first result will show the current price of the index. Make a note of the number. Next, search for “Dow Jones.” ... Read More

What’s Better, Stocks or Bonds?

When you purchase a bond, you are essentially loaning a company, government, or organization money. When you buy stock, you are purchasing partial ownership in a company. For this reason, stocks are equity investments while bonds are debt investments let’s examine how each type works. ... Read More

What’s the Difference Between the Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ?

You hear it every day when you turn on the news – some variation of: The Dow closed at 34,000 today. The S&P closed at 4,433. The NASDAQ rose 1.6% as tech shares… ... Read More

What’s the Difference Between Passively Managed and Actively Managed Funds?

If you’re investing in, say, an IRA, most of the fund choices you’ll see will fall under one of two categories: Passive vs Active. ... Read More

Is A Recession Ahead Of Us?

As you probably know, there is a lot of uncertainty about our economy today. Many economists have been debating whether we are already in a recession or not and whether it is bound to get worse. Given the volatility in the markets, many investors see the possibility of things potentially getting worse, too. However, it is important for investors to understand the difference between the economy and the market, as they often move in different directions. For example, the stock market almost always bottoms well before a recession is over, and sometimes before we even know that we’re in a recession ... Read More

Bank Failures – How It Happened and What It Means For Investors

Over the last few weeks, we saw the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and what it meant for the markets. A lot has happened since then, so we thought a short update would be in order. Volatility in the banking industry almost always means volatility in the markets, and there has been a lot of both so far ... Read More