Weekly Wrap: Meme Stocks, Fourth-Quarter Predictions, and Open Enrollment Tips

We recap the week on Morningstar.com and note the most popular stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds.

Oct 15, 2021

Editor's note: Read the latest on how the coronavirus is rattling the markets and what investors can do to navigate it.

Editor's Picks

What's a Meme Stock? These stocks tend to experience huge prices swings, often driven by social-media chatter. What Bad Returns at the Wrong Time Can Mean for College The order in which returns unfold over time can either help or hurt. Morningstar's Outlook for the Fourth Quarter And a recap of the past quarter. 10 Undervalued Stocks With Solid Dividends We think the payouts on these names are sustainable. A Checklist for Open Enrollment Season If you're signing up for employer-provided benefits, don't just re-up for last year's choices; read this first. Can Homeownership Really Close the Racial Wealth Gap? Here are three perspectives on whether homeownership is an effective way to shrink the racial wealth gap.

Portfolio Planning and Personal Finance With Christine Benz

Your Financial To-Do List for October Year-end is right around the corner; here's what to focus on this month. What Proposed Tax Changes May Mean for You Here's a rundown of the provisions to keep on your radar.

Mutual Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds

What's in a Meme ETF? A non-clickbait look into a few clickbait tickers. Elevated Risk, Limited Experience Lower the Ratings for This Pair of Bond Funds Here are some highlights from September. How to Get the Highest Yield Out of Your Dividends Mind the tax consequences. 3 Fantastic Funds Here's a peek at our annual list of prime funds. Most Active Funds Have Failed to Capitalize on Recent Market Volatility Stock-pickers have had a particularly difficult time keeping up. Did the Pandemic Change How Fund Managers Think About Risk? They have varied in their response to COVID-19.

Stocks

Is Driving Doomed? We don't think so. In fact, we think driver demographics bode well for auto sales. Busting the Tech-Stock, Bond-Yield Connection Myth While rates matter to technology stock valuations, they haven't been driving performance. Energy Impacts Your Portfolio Less Than You Think While large-value funds typically hold more in this surging sector than other categories do, the typical stake is still small. 5 Underperforming and Undervalued Stocks in Q3 Some of these stragglers just turned cheap. 3 Trends to Watch in Digital Advertising Podcasts, connected TVs, and e-commerce platforms will help grow digital ad spending. Tesla's Growing Investor Revolt Despite the stock's meteoric rise, shareholders are pushing back against Tesla's management and board.

Rekenthaler Report

BlackRock Takes a Step Toward Empowering Fund Shareholders Institutions today, individuals tomorrow? The Close-Up View of Target-Date Fund Performance Putting 2030 funds under the microscope.

Advisor Insights

Now's the Time to Consider a Roth Conversion of Aftertax Money Take advantage of this loophole before proposed legislation takes it away at the end of the year.

The Long View Podcast

Dhananjay Phadnis: 'ESG Investing Is Still at a Very Early Stage in Asia' The Fidelity Sustainable Asian Equity manager talks investing amid turmoil in China, the state of the Asian supply chain, ESG's role in the investment process, and more.

Sustainability Matters

ESG Keeps Pace in Q3 Morningstar's sustainability indexes generally keep up with the broad market for the quarter, owing mainly to technology.

Policy

Labor Department Proposal to Clear Way for Retirement Plans to Consider ESG We believe this new rule is a step in the right direction for retirement savers.

Commentary

Tadas Viskanta: 'Retirement Is Such a Personal Decision' The financial blogger and Ritholtz director of financial education discusses the interplay between portfolio consumption and annuitization. Why Some People Invest and Others Don't What makes some people more inclined to invest than their peers?