The Factor Report

Market Wrap

For the week ended December 5th, 2025, stocks were again higher everywhere. Bonds were lower for the week as the iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) fell 0.78% with yields rising; the 10-year US treasury yield increased to 4.14%, according to Yahoo Finance. Asset price drivers of the week:

• The week started off on a sour note as there were some mixed reports on the health of the manufacturing sector in the US. Bitcoin's 7+% slide also helped push investors to "risk-off".
• The mood improved slightly on Tuesday as indices rose in anticipation of a healthy ADP jobs report that was due out Wednesday morning.
• Investors didn't get a healthy report. In fact, the forecast for +40,000 new private jobs in November was met with a surprise loss of 22,000. Indices initially sank, but eventually recovered and ended higher as the weakness fueled more hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut next week.
• There were more tempered gains on Thursday after a report showed there were far less initial jobless claims the prior week than expected. It wasn't enough to deter expectations for the aforementioned rate cut.
• Friday brought another modest rise after a report showed that the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, rose right in-line with expectations in September. Investors found it difficult to get too excited about a data point from two months ago. Notably, we did NOT get the November jobs report, which is always released the first Friday of the month.
• Next week will be a relatively quiet one from a data perspective, but it will still be key as the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday and will announce their rate decision and outlook following the Wednesday session. That will be watched closely since the central bank is missing a lot of data it would usually use to make said decision.

Performance Summary

As shown in the chart, Emerging Markets performed best for the week, followed by Non-US Developed, and the US lagged. Within the US, it was an interesting week as both the Tech-heavy Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average beat the S&P 500. From a factor perspective, Momentum, Value, and Quality outperformed the global All Country World Index (ACWI) for the second week in a row.

In The News

IRS guidance on Trump Account rules.

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2025/12/03/irs-issues-trump-account-guidance/?kw=IRS%20Issues%20Trump%20Account%20Guidance&utm_position=1&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=compliancewatch&utm_content=20251205&utm_term=tadv&oly_enc_id=6911H2583589A7Z&user_id=3d158419d93f4751d4b3b79dd78d9abf446b89b61e92e7567cb4126b86cb53c5

Morningstar offers new thoughts on safe spending rates in retirement.

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2025/12/03/the-new-safe-retirement-spending-rate-its-not-4/?kw=The%20New%20%27Safe%27%20Retirement%20Spending%20Rate%3F%20It%27s%20Not%204%25&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=earlywire&utm_content=20251204&utm_term=tadv&oly_enc_id=6911H2583589A7Z&user_id=3d158419d93f4751d4b3b79dd78d9abf446b89b61e92e7567cb4126b86cb53c5

Why the SEC is concerned about highly leveraged Exchange Traded Funds.

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2025/12/03/sec-halts-high-leveraged-etf-plans-in-warning-over-risks/?kw=SEC%20Halts%20High-Leveraged%20ETF%20Plans%20in%20Warning%20Over%20Risks&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=newsroomupdate&utm_content=20251203&utm_term=ta&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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