#etfs

#etfs

Of course, time will tell if it's too soon to go bottom-fishing for software. Either way, I think the AI disruption wave is just getting started. And, with that, investors should be careful which kinds of tech names they look to pick up on the way down. At the same time, investors tend to panic and sell first while asking questions later.

Perhaps 2026 is shaping up to be one of the biggest IPO years in a while, with Elon Musk's SpaceX reportedly poised to merge with AI firm xAI. Undoubtedly, it's hard to tell when a potential IPO could be, but one thing is almost certain: that demand for a front-row seat to the SpaceX-xAI IPO is going to be out of this world.

Investing in dividend-paying stocks is one way to make your money work for you. As companies grow, they generate a higher profit and share a part of the profit with the shareholders as a cash dividend. However, stocks do carry risk, and there's no guarantee that a company will pay a dividend. Hence, if you're looking for a low-risk, low-cost way to make your money work for you, consider investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Founded in 1946, Fidelity Investments of Boston is one of America's largest managers of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Retirees looking for ETFs with low management fees have a lot of options at Fidelity. Here are 10 ETFs with the lowest expense ratios at the company. No. 10: Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF (FNCL) This ETF invests in financial institutions, seeking to track the MSCI USA IMI Financials Index. Top holdings include JP Morgan Chase, Mastercard and Visa.

The abrdn Platinum ETF Trust ( NYSEARCA:PPLT) has surged 185% over the past year, transforming platinum from an overlooked industrial metal into a standout commodity performer. The rally reflects a fundamental shift in supply-demand dynamics that has platinum outpacing even gold's strong performance. Investors now face the question of whether this momentum can continue or if the rally has run too far.

The altcoin season 2026 question comes down to which asset leads the rotation. Bitcoin dominance sits near 59%, keeping a firm grip on market liquidity. Historical patterns tell us this "Bitcoin Season" phase often precedes violent rotation into altcoins. The 2016-2017 and 2020-2021 transitions followed similar setups-and with the Altcoin Season Index climbing to 57 in early January 2026, analysts see conditions forming for "Phase 2" of the current bull run.

"It's not the biggest are getting bigger - it's the best are getting bigger,"

Undoubtedly, the U.S. equity market, which has gotten heavier in the big tech names, has been seen as a place to do incredibly well, especially when compared to the global markets. And while diversifying outside of the U.S. may still not be key to S&P-beating gains over the long run, I do think that it is worth considering what else is out there if you seek more diversification, lower price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples,

If the AI rally continues this year, I expect it to return to its roots. AI investors poured into hardware companies early on before coalescing into software companies and driving up broader tech valuations to nosebleed levels. This year, I expect hardware stocks to outperform their software counterparts. Money is moving from hyperscalers into the AI buildout, not the other way around. AI models are yet to generate profits, so for 2026, AI hardware companies are still the best picks.

The Social Security Administration announced a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2026, which will benefit approximately 75 million Americans receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments. This increase translates to an average monthly boost of about $56 for Social Security retirement beneficiaries starting in January 2026, with SSI recipients seeing their increased payments begin on December 31, 2025. The 2026 COLA of 2.8% represents a slight increase from the 2.5% adjustment in 2025, though it remains below the 3.1% average COLA over the past decade.

The end of a calendar year is a good time to assess your investment strategy and make sure it's working for you. And if you're in the process of building wealth for retirement, there are two things you could probably use to supercharge your portfolio - growth and regular income. Investing in ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, is a great way to build out a diversified portfolio while limiting the amount of work you have to do.

You're probably aware of how important it is to save well for retirement. But setting money aside for your later years is just part of the equation. You also need to invest your money in a manner that leads to steady growth over time. Now you'll often hear that it's important to maintain a diverse portfolio of assets when you're trying to build a retirement nest egg. And that's definitely good advice.

"December could bring seasonal tailwinds back to the stock market and return it to all-time highs. Historically, since 1950, it's the third-best month of the year for the Dow and S&P 500; it's also the third-best month for the Nasdaq, since 1971, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac," as noted by CNBC.

The current dynamics playing out in the stock market are really hard to describe right now. On the one hand, there are pockets of the economy that are red-hot, with hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into high-powered growth trends like AI that are clearly propping up valuations across the board. On the other hand, the vast majority of stocks in the overall market may already be in bear market territory. That's representative of a weakening consumer, and the view that valuations may have gotten a bit too distorted in the post-pandemic era.

The Invesco QQQ Trust tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100 index and gives access to the 100 largest non-financial companies on the index. QQQ gives access to the top 100 tech stocks in a single ETF. The fund is rebalanced quarterly and reconstituted annually. The Invesco QQQ Trust is a weighted capitalization ETF which means that the companies with a larger market cap have a higher weightage in the ETF.

I'm of the view that passive and active investors alike can find value in owning exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Because there are more ETFs on the market today than individual stocks, there's a fund for every kind of investor. These highly diversified investing vehicles allow investors to purchase a stake in a wide range of companies, with portfolios that are automatically rebalanced based on certain criteria.

There are also investors who pick one of those three as their core holding, then pick satellite holdings to complement that core ETF. Whichever type of investor you may be, it's a good idea to take a closer look at all three of these ETFs and determine which one is worth having more exposure to. It is also important to be aware that the market is constantly evolving. Making investment decisions by looking at which ETFs have done well in the recent past can lead to pitfalls.