Making Cents Sense

ETF Investing | October 20, 2026 Something extraordinary is happening in the investment industry, and most investors are paying attention to the wrong part of the story. Exchange-traded funds are attracting money at a pace that would have seemed almost unimaginable a decade ago. New products are appearing constantly, investment strategies that once belonged exclusively to institutions are becoming accessible to ordinary investors, and the promise of monthly income has turned certain ETFs into financial celebrities. The numbers are remarkable. According to research published by State Street Investment Management on October 6, U.S.-listed ETFs attracted approximately $1.54 trillion in net inflows during the first nine months of 2026. That already exceeded the previous full-year record of $1.52 trillion established in 2025. Active ETFs alone attracted approximately $570 billion through September. Investors are embracing ETFs for understandable reasons. They offer convenient access to dive...

STOCK ANALYSIS | VALUE INVESTING | AI & SEMICONDUCTORS Micron Technology is delivering the kind of earnings growth that makes Wall Street lose its collective mind. Artificial intelligence is creating extraordinary demand for memory chips, profit margins are reaching remarkable levels, and investors are wondering whether the party can last. But I've seen enough semiconductor cycles to know that sometimes the most dangerous moment to buy a stock is when the company appears incapable of doing anything wrong. October 19, 2026 |  I've been following the semiconductor industry long enough to recognize a familiar pattern whenever Wall Street discovers a company making extraordinary amounts of money. First comes the excitement, followed by the analysts raising their price targets, followed by investors convincing themselves that traditional valuation principles no longer apply because this time the technology is revolutionary. Eventually, somebody announces that we've entered a...

STOCK ANALYSIS | BANKING & FINANCIALS | OCTOBER 18, 2026 Bank of America Bought Back $6 Billion of Stock—Then Lost $1.2 Billion to Compliance Failures Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) delivered stronger underlying third-quarter results than its reported earnings initially suggested. But a massive regulatory settlement has introduced a question investors cannot afford to ignore: How much should we pay for a profitable bank when its governance problems are becoming part of the investment equation? Q3 2026 EARNINGS SNAPSHOT Reported net income $6.9B $0.91 diluted EPS Adjusted net income $8.1B $1.08 adjusted EPS Regulatory charge $1.2B Recognized in expenses Capital returned $8.2B Buybacks and common dividends Source: Bank of America's third-quarter earnings materials filed October 14, 2026. SEC +1 Bank of America Bought Back $6 Billion of Stock—Then Lost $1.2 Billion to Compliance Failures A Cheap Bank Can Stay Cheap When Governance Enters the Valuation I've always believed that so...