Defense sector orders grew 5% year-over-year. Investing returns outlook is resilient, with long-term government contracts strengthening revenue pipelines across industry leaders. You can purchase an ETF as you would a stock as they trade daily on the market, so it's quick and easy to get in on these assets. One thing to note is that ETFs charge fees, and you can see them reflected in the expense ratio ; go for ones with ratios of less than 1% in order to optimize your overall gains. The Vanguard S&P 500 fits the bill as its expense ratio is only 0.03%. Firms like AQR, Avantis, BlackRock, Bridgeway, Dimensional, and Vanguard have championed this approach. By shifting the question from “Which stocks?” to “Which factors?” investors hope to harvest persistent return premiums while avoiding the pitfalls of active management. However, as you will see, scale and rules-based execution bring their own challenges. As these strategies attract billions in assets, they too run into implementation bottlenecks: crowded trades, liquidity constraints, and transaction costs that aren’t obvious to the end investor. Once again, implementation is key. Retail sales data beat expectations, lifting consumer discretionary stocks. Analysts predict investing returns could benefit from robust holiday spending patterns, driving Q4 portfolio gains.