Bitcoin’s surprising fast exit from its “crypto winter” has once again put the notoriously volatile digital currency atop the leader-board in the first quarter for being the best-performing asset class by a wide margin.

Steve Chiavarone doesn’t want to scare anyone, but what he remembers most from the last banking crisis was how sure most people were that it wouldn’t happen.

Investors continued to increase their bets on two exchange-traded funds tied to natural gas as prices for the heating fuel show signs of bottoming following a seven-week selloff that sent the commodity plunging more than 60%.

Cracks are appearing in Wall Street’s bullish case for emerging markets as hurdles — from Adani Group’s $108 billion rout to the Federal Reserve’s rate-hiking plans — prompt a more selective approach to investment.

This year’s 40% rally in Bitcoin is heading toward a potentially big test in the shape of the upcoming Federal Reserve policy decision.

Optimists were still to be found in the world of US exchange-traded funds, where more than 400 new ETFs were launched despite a harsh bear market. Funds took in more than half a trillion dollars as more investors learned to embrace their easier-to-trade and tax-friendly structure.

Investors are spurning mutual funds at a record clip, driving a $1.5 trillion gap in the flow of money from the old-school investment vehicles and into ever-popular ETFs.

For investors trying to gauge levels of hawkishness at the Federal Reserve, Wednesday was an example of words carrying more weight than actions.

At a time when virtually all of Wall Street is on guard against a recession, Jim Paulsen of The Leuthold Group said stocks are about to rally at least 25% in the next year.

In the Federal Reserve’s quiet period before its officials meet to decide their final actions this year, Wall Street watchers are filling the void, loudly warning that next year’s outlook for the US economy and stocks is grim.

The latest US jobs report doused nascent optimism that the American economy was weakening enough to warrant a go-slower approach by the Federal Reserve in its battle against inflation.

Being glued to crypto news this week meant missing adventures in regular markets that while lacking the same high drama, made up for it in terms of money at stake.

Monday brought a stark warning for Wall Street daredevils: Stocks are still in free fall and bearish sentiment is far from getting exhausted -- especially with hawkish central bankers rattling recession-obsessed markets like this.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s message to investors was short and blunt: The central bank will likely keep raising interest rates and leave them elevated for some time to battle inflation.

Stocks tumbled on Wednesday after inflation accelerated in June more than expected, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to remain aggressive in its fight against price increases.

Wall Street analysts are sticking with their bullish earnings forecasts for this quarter, and Morgan Stanley’s Lisa Shalett says they need a reality check.

Options insurance. Hedging with Treasuries. Using sentiment to pick a bottom. The things that have lessened the pain of past equity selloffs are coming up short this time around.

As corporate leaders increase their grim pronouncements about the future, there are still market economists who see stocks heading higher in the second half of this year and who say the US could sidestep a recession.

First it was a rout in the stay-at-home names that surged in the pandemic. Then speculative software makers with barely any earnings went south. Now the giant technology names whose sway on benchmarks has been decried by bears for years are dragging the market down.

Investors are flooding into exchange-traded funds focused on semiconductor stocks, wagering the industry will rebound from the supply-chain snags and chip shortage that have dragged the shares lower.