Key Takeaways • The second largest bank failure in U.S. history was not enough to take stock indexes lower in April. • A smaller and smaller cohort of megacap stocks continues to account for almost all of the market’s returns. • Current expectations for the paths of earnings and interest rates are almost certainly mutually exclusive yet serve as the foundation on which index investors are relying.

Few things are less pleasant than doing your taxes. Whether you are a DIYer or pay an accountant, going through the toil and trouble of compiling tax information is never fun.

Key Takeaways • Not even a banking panic could keep the S&P 500 from posting gains for March and Q1. • Renewed hopes for a Fed pivot sent investors flocking to the perceived safety of megacap tech stocks, with the NASDAQ triumphantly entering an official bull market. • However, just as Napoleon’s return from exile was short-lived, we believe the euphoria of a new bull market will be fleeting, though opportunities will be found in less conventional parts of the market.

Read Will's Commentary - Barrons: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is planning to announce its decision on the sale of Silicon Valley Bank this weekend, Barron’s Advisor has learned. A person familiar with the FDIC’s plans indicates that the banking regulator hopes to present a resolution of the auction over the weekend.

I recently accompanied my son’s class on a field trip to something called the Exploreum. As you may have heard, good things don’t end with “eum”. Although certain facets of the trip were quasi-educational, I did take umbrage at their comparison of “playing the stock market” to casinos and the lottery:

Formidable was founded in 2013 as a wealth management firm. Our CEO and founder, Will Brown, wanted to bring a differentiated, active approach to the RIA space. When developing client portfolios, we were unsatisfied with solutions we saw in the market, especially in the alternatives space.