This week’s highlights:
Given all that has transpired in the first half of this year, many investors might be surprised to look at their portfolios and find some good news. US stocks are up about 5% so far in 2025, and a 60/40 stock and bond portfolio is clocking in at about a 6% gain. This past week saw a 3.4% gain in stocks, led by communications services companies.
It was also the week of the annual Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago, and we brought together a top-shelf lineup of speakers and panels to discuss key market trends and their outlooks.
For starters, we have top-performing growth fund managers from Polen Capital, Loomis Sayles, and Fidelity weighing in on what’s next for the Magnificent Seven. That includes several instances where the funds have no position in these mega-cap names and why.
Next up, we hear from Morningstar’s tech stock analysts on where investors should look to find opportunities for the next stage of the artificial intelligence boom. While Morningstar’s tech team sees continued reasons to like the big AI infrastructure names, its also time to start shifting more toward the companies that will be able to profit from the adoption of AI.
Of course, there is more to the market than tech. In another panel, Morningstar analysts identify key trends for utility and defense stocks, along with their top picks for all these sectors. Looking more broadly, Morningstar Wealth’s chief multi-asset strategist Dominic Pappalardo and chief investment officer Philip Straehl explain why global consumer stocks and small caps look particularly attractive.
For bond investors, we heard from BlackRock’s Rick Rieder on why he doesn’t think the US will head to a recession. But there is one major risk he is watching. Find out more here. We also heard from Apollo Capital’s Marc Rowan about the booming private credit market. Rowan outlined some misconceptions about private credit and why he thinks individual investors will be holding more private credit in their portfolios in the coming years.
Lastly, if you are looking for ways to add income to your portfolio outside of bonds, fund managers from Fidelity, BlackRock, and Calamos offer suggestions.
You can find our complete conference coverage here.
As always, be sure to visit our Markets page for our latest coverage and live stock market updates along with our full weekly calendar of key upcoming data and events.
Check back next week for our second-quarter wrap-up and third-quarter outlooks!
