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An Alternative To Money Market Funds

January 2026

 

MARKET OVERVIEW
2025 has come and gone and what a year it was!! At year’s end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 12.97%, the S&P 500 was up 16.39% and the Nasdaq was up 20.36%.

Some items of note: Mars completed its acquisition of Kellanova, Lulu Athletica’s Founder Chip Wilson has launched a proxy fight after the exit of its CEO Calvin McDonald, Softbank announced it will acquire Digital Bridge, Picea Robotics, owner of the Roomba vacuum cleaner company, has filed for bankruptcy, the EU has ended its 2025 combustion engine ban as the demand for EVs globally has plunged. Investment firm Janus Henserson is being acquired by Trian Fund Management and General Catalyst, Google’s parent company Alphabet is acquiring data center infrastructure firm Intersect, Tiger Woods recently turned 50 and is now eligible to compete on the PGA’s Champions Tour and finally,  the UK’s FTSE Index hit the 10,000 mark for the first time.

ECONOMIC SUMMARY
Friday’s Nonfarm Payroll report was weak as employers added 50,000 jobs in December, below the estimate of 73,000 jobs.The U-3 unemployment rate declined slightly to 4.4% from 4.5% in November while the U-6 rate was reported as 7.4%. The job figures for October and November were revised down by 76,000 jobs. The next employment report will be released on February 6.

FEDERAL RESERVE
The Fed met December 9-10 and announced a quarter point cut in the Fed Funds rate. The target rate for Fed Funds stands at 3.50% - 3.75% with traders growing pessimistic regarding a Fed rate cut when the Fed next meets January 27-28.

STOCKS TO WATCH
As has been discussed previously, college sports has become big business. This point was hammered home after news broke that private equity firm Otro Capital had formed a partnership with the University of Utah. The partnership has been named Utah Brands & Entertainment LLC and will manage a variety of Utah’s athletic operations including media, hospitality, technology and finance.

Otro Capital is reportedly making an upfront payment of $400 million to Utah. In return, it will receive a percentage of the partnership’s revenues going forward, according to Yahoo Sports. This is a ground breaking development for college sports and many observers expect to see a surge in these types of deals during 2026. Many athletic departments at major universities are facing a similar problem, rising expenses. Expenses are rising due to NIL deals, the transfer portal, rising salaries of coaches and their assistants and the NCAA settlement that allows the universities to pay student athletes. College sports will never be the same!!

My weekly radio show is now on holiday and should return soon on WWPR 1490 AM. My prior radio shows and columns are available on our website (www.amescapmgmt.com).

If you are unhappy with the returns offered by money market funds, feel free to contact us.

 

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