Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that “investors poured almost $1 billion into Fidelity Investments’ two zero-fee index funds in their first month of operation.” As new fund launches go, this one looks like a win-win for all sides — for Fidelity as well as investors. It’s too early to say for sure how this plays out in the financial industry, but the early signs suggest we haven’t seen the last of the freemium model in asset management. For some perspective, take a look at a story I wrote for RIABiz.com, which was published a few days ago here.

Year-to-date returns for US equity investing are still dominated by small-cap and growth factors, based on a set of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).  By contrast, large-cap-value stocks are currently posting the weakest gain so far in 2018 among the main equity factor buckets.
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Anonymous NY Times op-ed roils White House: Politico
Trump attacks NY Times for “gutless” op-ed: The Hill
Supreme Court nominee won’t recuse himself from Trump cases: Wash. Times
China vows retaliation if US imposes new trade tariffs: Reuters
N. Korea’s Kim affirms “unwavering trust in Trump: CNN
Emerging markets flirting with a bear market: Bloomberg
White House: US wages rising via alternative methodology: NY Times
US trade deficit jumped to a five-month high in July: Reuters
Tech stocks due for hefty weight cut in S&P 500 in upcoming sector revamp: LPL