Alternative investments are often added to diversified portfolios to hedge against stock market weakness and reduce the riskiness of overall returns. At least that's what the textbooks say. Real-time market performance can be another matter. Of all the alternatives in the marketplace, oil and gold often zig when the broad U.S. equity market zags, and can serve as relatively dependable alternative options. In 2022, when the S&P 500 dropped 19%, oil prices rose 4% and gold was steady. Last year was a solid year for stocks, while oil tumbled and gold soared. And there are years when all move in lockstep. For our asset-allocation models, which are featured in our Investment Portfolio Guide and comprise the framework of our ETF Model Portfolios, we typically have alternatives constitute up to 1%-3% of the portfolios. (As of this writing, given the current stage of the equity bull market, we are recommending an under-weighting in alternatives.) We think it is early to be adding cryptocurrency-related securities to most portfolios, though we are encouraged about the long-term opportunities for blockchain technology. Bitcoin eased 7% in 2025 after doubling in back-to-back years 2023 and 2024. In 2022, bitcoin plunged 64%. That stings. While we expect the volatility of the underlying security to decline over time as the market matures, it remains speculative for now. The recent results demonstrate that Bitcoin ETFs may offer attractive returns for investors with a long-term investment horizon and high tolerance for risk. In the near-term, we believe there may be a place for Bitcoin ETFs with limited exposure in an aggressive diversified portfolio.

Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Robinhood Markets operates a brokerage platform that lets clients trade stocks, options, futures, and cryptocurrencies. The company also has a dedicated Prediction Markets hub, where clients can trade event contracts on various outcomes, including sports, economics, and politics. The shares were added to the S&P 500 in September 2025.

The major U.S. indices were generally higher on Thursday, although the Nasdaq stood out as the one place not to be for the session. The tech-heavy index was off 0.44%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500% danced in place, but pulled off a 0.01% 'gain' by the close; the DJIA was higher by 0.55%; and the Russell 2000 popped 1.11%. Now all eyes turn to today's employment report.

Robinhood Markets Inc has an Investment Rating of BUY; a target price of $151.000000; an Industry Subrating of High; a Management Subrating of High; a Safety Subrating of High; a Financial Strength Subrating of High; a Growth Subrating of High; and a Value Subrating of High.