Finance

Breaking Through the Wall: Is Complacency Clouding the Market's Future?

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is trading close to record highs this Monday. Burns McKinney, managing director and senior portfolio manager at NFJ Investment Group, joins Wealth Host Brad Smith to share his current market outlook.

"At these levels, it's difficult to argue that the US markets aren't fairly expensive. The S&P's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is higher than it has been approximately 75% of the time over the past few decades," McKinney points out.

"Last year, the market rose amid a wall of worry. We saw multiple expansion driven by factors like no recession, controlled inflation, limited geopolitical conflicts, and a clear election outcome," he explains.

"Now, as we approach 2025, it's a completely different story," McKinney says, adding, "Instead of a wall of worry, we face a wall of complacency. As a result, investors haven't fully embraced the more defensive areas of the market where good value can still be found."

TECH

The Fallout of Mass Tech Layoffs: Unintended Consequences for the Industry

For years, Daelynn Moyer effortlessly landed job offers in the tech industry, progressing from a computer maintenance technician to a manager overseeing teams of engineers developing software. A college dropout, she believed tech work was her pathway to job security and envisioned herself staying in the field until retirement.

CRYPTO

Bitcoin Hoarder’s Stock Soars 4,800% in Japan Amid Crypto Rally

The ripple effects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies are driving a surge in Bitcoin demand in Japan, where one hotelier’s shift to accumulating the cryptocurrency is yielding astonishing returns for shareholders.

Shares of Metaplanet Inc. have surged nearly 4,800% over the past year, marking the largest gain among Japanese equities during this time and ranking among the highest globally, according to Bloomberg data. Bitcoin itself reached a record high of $109,241 on January 20, the day Trump was inaugurated for his second term, though it has since lost some of those gains as his trade policies contributed to global instability.