Good Returns

Long-term Treasury yields hit 20-year highs this week — for structural reasons that won't be fixed by the next Fed meeting. The economy got a significant upward revision. And the gap between the headline S&P 500 and the typical stock is as wide as it's been all year.

In the Planning Room: the 401k question a lot of people are sitting with right now. Why doesn't my account look like the market? What should I not do about it? And what's actually worth reviewing before you talk to your advisor?

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Meta's AI agent surpassed ChatGPT as the top free app in the U.S. this week. Tech rallied. Travel, insurance, and financial services stocks fell. The market is pricing AI disruption in real time — company by company, industry by industry.

In the Planning Room: BlackRock's big picture thesis on AI, tokenization, and the AI-agent economy. What these concepts actually mean in plain English, why the investment opportunity may extend well beyond today's AI stocks, and why a good financial advisor may become more valuable — not less — as the financial world gets more complex.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

The Fed raised rates for the first time since 2023. Stocks finished higher. Long-term yields fell. Your savings account is paying more. A week that surprised almost everyone — including us.

Matt and Garrett explain why the market reacted the way it did, make the honest case that hiking rates to fight energy-driven inflation might be fighting a problem that interest rates can't solve, and cover the Planning Room conversation most ARM holders need to have right now.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Oil surged back above $100. Global yields rose simultaneously across multiple developed markets — a signal bigger than any single economic report. And the Fed meets next week with a 70% probability of a hike. Matt and Garrett's honest view: they don't think the hike comes this year. Here's why.

In the Planning Room: the question most bond fund holders have been sitting with for two years. Why did the safe part of my portfolio lose money? The answer involves the difference between owning a bond and owning a bond fund — and most people don't know it. Including what the stable value fund in your 401k actually is and why it might deserve a second look.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Recorded live while Warsh was speaking at Jackson Hole — and his comments made it into the episode. Inflation at 3.7%, financial conditions not restrictive, "we have work to do." No forward guidance. The Fed is quieter and the message is more hawkish than markets hoped.

Oil is in the $80s — not $120 — because ships are turning off tracking systems to get through the Strait of Hormuz. Bitcoin crossed $80,000 with $2.5 billion in institutional ETF inflows behind it. And Nvidia doubled its revenue year over year.

In the Planning Room: the housing questions millions of people are sitting with right now. The golden handcuffs. Whether to wait for rates to drop. 15-year versus 30-year. Buying near retirement. Downsizing as a retirement planning tool.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Stocks sold off. Treasury yields hit a 19-year high even as consumer data weakened. Bitcoin surged 14% and crossed a key technical level that's worth understanding. And in the Planning Room — the Social Security decision most people make too quickly.

Matt and Garrett flip their usual dynamic on this one. Garrett is the one pushing people to wait. Matt is more understanding when clients need the income now. The honest conversation about the "take it at 62 and invest it" strategy — what it actually requires, and why life usually gets in the way — is the part most financial media skips.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Three straight weeks of gains. Jobs softened, inflation stayed contained, and the September rate hike that was looking increasingly likely a few weeks ago has become increasingly unlikely. CoreWeave reported a $104 billion backlog — signed contracts for AI computing capacity that proves the demand is real.

And small business confidence hit its highest level in nearly a year.

Matt and Garrett break down the week's data and what it means for the rate outlook — then head into a Planning Room that's a genuine celebration of small business in America. What it looks like, why it matters, and the financial building blocks every owner needs. They know this topic from the inside — Momentum Wealth is a small business too.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Microsoft's biggest single-day gain ever. Amazon's first $200 billion quarter. Meta fell. The AI earnings picture is being sorted in real time, and the answers are diverging fast.

Matt and Garrett break down what the earnings split means for investors, why the GDP headline understates how well the economy is actually doing, and what the Fed's deliberate silence is costing markets in near-term volatility.

In the Planning Room: tokenized deposits. Not crypto — the banking infrastructure upgrade being built by JPMorgan, Citi, Wells Fargo, and nearly every major U.S. bank simultaneously. What it is, what it means, and what investors should know about it.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Oil surged above $90 as Yemen's Houthi rebels opened a second front in the Red Sea. Alphabet beat earnings estimates and posted its first-ever negative free cash flow quarter. And next week brings five major market events in 48 hours.

Matt and Garrett keep it tight this week — breaking down what's new in the Middle East escalation, what Alphabet's negative free cash flow actually means for the AI spending debate, and exactly what to watch for at the Fed meeting, big tech earnings, Q2 GDP, and the PCE reading next week.

Consider this the setup episode. Next week is the main event.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.

Inflation posted its biggest monthly drop in more than six years. The catch: almost all of it came from falling gasoline prices during a window that has already partially closed — oil is back near $80 as the Middle East conflict resumes.

Matt and Garrett break down the inflation nuance, explain what the ongoing rotation out of tech and into financials and industrials is actually signaling, and cover what Goldman's best quarter ever and JPMorgan up 40% tells you about the health of the financial system.

Remote episode — tight and worth the 20 minutes.

Good Returns is for educational purposes only and is not individual financial, tax, or legal advice. Momentum Wealth is a registered investment advisor.