Rithm Capital Corp. is a publicly traded REIT focused on residential housing and commercial asset management. The company's investment portfolio consists of servicing assets, residential securities and loans, CRE and consumer loans. Operating businesses include mortgage lending, servicing, appraisal, title insurance, diversified mortgage services, insurance, and property management. It also manages assets for institutional clients. The company has around 7,240 employees, is headquartered in New York City and has over 100 billion in investable assets and $59 billion in assets under management.

Earnings season is now more than halfway over. About 700 public companies will report this week, and some key inflation data will be released. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%, the S&P 500 rose 2%, and the Nasdaq gained 4.5%. Year to date, all three indices are in positive territory. The Dow is now up 3%, the S&P 500 is higher by 8%, and the Nasdaq is up 13%. On the earnings calendar, highlights this week include Constellation Energy and Fox Corp on Monday; Cisco Systems on Wednesday; and Applied Materials on Thursday. Some 83% of S&P 500 companies have reported so far, and overall earnings are up a big 29% from last quarter. Communication Services, up 55%, and Information Technology, up 53%, are leading the pack. At the bottom are Healthcare, down 3%, and Energy, down 1%, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. Note that next week, Nvidia and Walmart report. On the economic calendar, Existing Home Sales data will be reported on Monday; the Consumer Price Index (inflation) is due on Tuesday; the Producer Price Index (wholesale inflation) comes out on Wednesday; and data on Retail Sales will be released on Thursday. As well, many Federal Reserve officials speak publicly this week. Gas prices jumped $0.33 cents last week and are now at an average of $4.45 per gallon for regular gas. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow now forecasts 3.7% GDP growth in the first quarter. That's a big jump from the 1.2% forecast given just a few weeks ago. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast calls for a CPI print of 3.6% for April and 3.9% for May. Those compare to a 3.3% reading in March. Mortgage rates moved higher last week, up 7 basis points, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.37%, according to FreddieMac. The next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting is on June 17. Odds are at 6% for a rate cut. President Trump's nominee to be the next Fed chairman, Kevin Warsh, has been voted through on the Senate side. The next step is to be confirmed by the House of Representatives. Jerome Powell's term as chairman expires on May 15 and he has said that he will remain on the committee as a governor. Taking a deeper dive into performance so far in 2026, a leading industrialized global stock market index, the ETF EFA, is up 8% year to date. The leading emerging market ETF (EEM) is up 24% year to date. U.S. growth stocks are up 4% year to date looking at ETF IWF, while value stocks (IWD) are up 10%. Crude oil prices continue to be volatile. On Friday, oil was at $95 per barrel, up 63% for the year so far. In other asset classes for the year to date, AGG bonds are down 1%, gold is up 8%, and Bitcoin is down 8%. The U.S. dollar is flat, tracking DXY. The VIX volatility index was at 17 on Friday, below its historical average of 20. Turning to sector performance, the list from first to worst so far in 2026 (and as of April 30) is Energy (+32%), Industrials (+13%), Materials (+12%), Real Estate (+11%), Consumer Staples (+10%), Utilities (+10%), Communication Services (+10%), Information Technology (+7%), Consumer Discretionary (+1%), Financials (-5%), and Healthcare (-6%). By comparison, the S&P 500 is up 8% year to date.

Despite bursts of outperformance, small- and mid-cap stocks (SMID) have underperformed large-caps year to date -- as they have over the past six years. But they may be in a better position to generate market-beating returns going forward. SMID companies tend to focus on domestic markets, so their businesses could be less disrupted by the trade and tariff debate, fallout from unrest in the Middle East, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, issues in China, or other geopolitical developments. As well, the prices of SMID stocks generally are lower than the prices of large-caps, with the P/E ratio on the Russell 2000 SmallCap Index at 20, compared to a trailing P/E of 29 for the S&P 500. Finally, there are long stretches in the record books when SMID stocks have outperformed large-caps. SMID risks do carry risk, but diversified investors look to have exposure to small- and mid-caps based on the long-term performance record.

Value stocks -- a market segment that includes high-yield stocks -- outperformed growth stocks in 2022. In 2025, value stocks and growth stocks had similar returns, with growth advancing 13.8% and value returning 13.6%. That's a recent rarity, as for the past decade-plus, the performance record has favored growth. But in 2022, the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines gave a lift to some of the cyclical companies (energy and regional banks), and value stocks outpaced growth stocks that year. While growth stocks led for a few years after that, value stocks are back in the picture as investors rotate out of higher-priced AI growth stocks in search of more reasonable valuations. Value stocks tend to be more resilient in times of market uncertainty and higher volatility as they are less likely to overreact to economic news. In any event, the value sector is the place to achieve income.