You wouldn’t know it from the gut-wrenching fourth-quarter decline and 2019’s stock market snapback, but the euro has been downright sleepy. What does it mean for advisors? Be careful.

The U.S. dollar is one of the most hotly debated questions right now. It’s a macroeconomic factor that impacts returns of many asset classes, from emerging markets to U.S. large-cap multinationals. Inspired by recent research on a stronger dollar from economist Danielle Di Martino Booth, Jeremy Schwartz makes the case for currency hedging in international portfolios.

Currencies rarely move in a single direction for an extended period, especially in today’s world. WisdomTree is a strong believer that hedging helps neutralize currency movements and should be used strategically in portfolio allocations.

Although many investors remain focused on the potential impact of U.S. tax reform on corporate earnings, we believe any change in tax policy can have an equally important effect on the price and supply of corporate credit.

During a period of robust inflows and more positive sentiment, emerging markets (EM) have outperformed developed markets by a margin of 6% to 12% year-to-date. This is primarily a function of a rebound in earnings, higher asset prices and a rise in the value of EM currencies against the U.S. dollar. With many emerging equity markets up over 20% year-to-date, the logical question many investors are asking is, “Have I missed the rally?”

Having a broad cross section of Funds across global markets and asset classes gives us perspective on how markets are behaving. Depending on whether one wants to look for positive momentum trends continuing or for a reversal in negative sentiment from the list of poor performers, this review of the top five and bottom five performers in the WisdomTree family could be useful for midyear portfolio check-ups and rebalances.