The Factor Report

Market Wrap

For the week ended October 31st, 2025, stocks were mixed, but higher globally. Bonds were lower for the week as the iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) fell 0.59%; the 10-year US treasury yield rose to 4.10%, according to Yahoo Finance. Asset price drivers of the week:

• Investors started out the week feeling optimistic. A meeting was set between Presidents Trump and Xi, giving hopes for a resolution to the trade war. There were also some big tech earnings reports to look forward to, including Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, among others.
• Tuesday brought another positive session, at least in the US, as Trump indicated a deal was imminent with China. At the same time, he announced a deal with Japan for rare earth materials, which was a key area of frustration with China.
• The big day, of course, was Wednesday as it was Fed decision day. Indices spent most of the day in the green, but turned down and then ended flat after Chairman Powell announced a 0.25% cut in their overnight lending rate. While that is generally positive, he pointed to tariffs and continued inflation as problems and left some doubt as to whether they would cut again in December.
• Stocks headed sharply lower on Thursday as investors continued to digest the Fed's comments and Meta Platforms (Facebook) dragged tech stocks lower due to an earnings miss. Concerns are growing about the money being spent on AI initiatives and whether they will profit from them.
• Friday was a choppy session. Indices started out higher after Amazon's strong earnings report Thursday evening. However, later in the day, Trump urged Republicans to "go nuclear" and kill the filibuster to force an end to the government shutdown. In a related note, a US judge blocked the administration from suspending food aid benefits.
• Unless the government shutdown ends soon, we will miss more key data next week, including the all-important jobs report for October. Recall that Trump indicated there may not be any inflation data available for the month either.

Performance Summary

As shown in the chart, it was another close race between the US and Emerging Markets this week as Non-US Developed was the only region in the red. Within the US, returns were lopsided as the tech-heavy Nasdaq trounced the broader S&P 500 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was in-line. From a factor perspective, Value outperformed the global All Country World Index (ACWI) and Momentum was even with it.

In The News

An interesting article on what happens to brokers who get barred by FINRA, the key regulator.

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2025/10/24/out-of-finras-sight-bad-brokers-keep-working-in-financial-services/?kw=Out%20of%20FINRA%27s%20Sight,%20%27Bad%20Brokers%27%20Keep%20Working%20in%20Financial%20Services&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=earlywire&utm_content=20251027&utm_term=tadv&oly_enc_id=6911H2583589A7Z&user_id=3d158419d93f4751d4b3b79dd78d9abf446b89b61e92e7567cb4126b86cb53c5

Why one strategist thinks the bull market has a lot of room to run.

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2025/10/22/carsons-detrick-bull-market-could-run-years-longer/?kw=Bull%20Market%20Could%20Run%20Years%20Longer%3A%20Carson%27s%20Detrick&utm_position=1&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=dailywire&utm_content=20251022&utm_term=tadv&oly_enc_id=6911H2583589A7Z&user_id=3d158419d93f4751d4b3b79dd78d9abf446b89b61e92e7567cb4126b86cb53c5

A great piece on Social Security claiming and how dependent children should affect it.

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2025/10/28/social-security-claiming-how-dependent-children-change-the-math/?kw=Social%20Security%20Claiming%3A%20How%20Dependent%20Children%20Change%20the%20Math&utm_position=1&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=retirementreport&utm_content=20251028&utm_term=tadv&oly_enc_id=6911H2583589A7Z&user_id=3d158419d93f4751d4b3b79dd78d9abf446b89b61e92e7567cb4126b86cb53c5

Disclosures

Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk. Therefore, it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy will be profitable or equal the corresponding indicated performance level(s). Moreover, you should not assume that any of the above content serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Metric Financial.

All data and performance information sourced from Morningstar and MarketWatch, unless otherwise indicated.

USA is the MSCI USA index, Non-US Developed is the MSCI EAFE index, Emerging Markets is the MSCI Emerging Markets index, and All Country World is the MSCI ACWI index. One cannot invest in an index. Because the factor indexes have varying inception dates, some of the returns provided are back-tested and do not represent actual performance. Inception dates are as follows:

Momentum = MSCI ACWI Momentum NR USD Index (Inception: 11/30/95)

Value = MSCI ACWI Enhanced Value NR USD Index (Inception: 5/29/15)

Quality = MSCI ACWI Quality NR USD Index (Inception: 5/29/92)

Low Volatility = MSCI ACWI Minimum Volatility (USD) NR USD Index (Inception: 5/28/93)

Size = MSCI ACWI Risk Weighted NR USD Index (Inception: 4/6/11)

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All written content is for information purposes only. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of Metric, unless otherwise specifically cited. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources and no representations are made by our firm as to another parties’ informational accuracy or completeness. All information or ideas provided should be discussed in detail with an advisor, accountant or legal counsel prior to implementation.