Rising Utility: Independent Power Producers in an Electricity Bull Market

The energy landscape, and particularly the market for electricity, is evolving rapidly. Electricity demand and energy infrastructure spending are expected to continue growing over the coming years. Several catalysts have been cited for this growth — grid modernization to support renewable energy, electric vehicle (EV) adoption, and increased electrification broadly. However, the market didn’t credit utility stocks for these supposed growth drivers and only became interested when artificial intelligence (AI) was part of the story. In today’

Despite May's usual reputation for underwhelming performance, U.S. stocks experienced a robust monthly gain. The S&P 500 delivered a total return of 6.3%, marking its biggest gain during the month of May since 1990, and turning positive year to date. Broad equity benchmarks stabilized on optimism surrounding trade deals, encouraging investors to return to previously struggling sectors. Given such a notable return for the month, we decided to dive into the sector components driving those returns and explore themes of what worked.

Sector Performance

Ten out of 11 sectors experienced gains in May, with the three largest

Hot Takes:

• Long-term unemployed as a percent of total unemployed is four percentage points higher than pre-pandemic, a potential harbinger of things to come.

• Trade tensions put pressure on manufacturers, driving up delivery times and prices paid, according to the latest ISM survey.

• The stable job market is providing the necessary support for an economy filled with uncertainty, but watch out for early signs of weakness, such as the rising ratio of long-term unemployed.

• For now, we expect the economy to grow, especially in the latter part of the year. The engine of growth will likely come from i

There has been no shortage of trade policy curveballs thrown at the market since the White House announced shockingly high reciprocal tariffs on April 2. Stocks declined sharply and interest rates spiked higher on the news, prompting President Trump to pivot to a 90-day pause on the newly added import duties for most goods entering the U.S. Since then, trade negotiations have progressed as the U.S. struck a deal with the U.K. and significantly reduced tariffs on Chinese imports until August 12. However, there have been plenty of bumps along the way. Just last week, President Trump announced a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union (EU) s