In 2023, ETFs gathered nearly $600 billion in net flows. While that’s less than some previous years, including 2021’s nearly $1 trillion record haul, it still shows the massive, sustained momentum behind ETFs.

BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, announced it is buying Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition is part of the firm’s increased focus on infrastructure.

Private-equity investment has dramatically changed the life insurance and annuity business over the past decade. By 2022, buyout firms owned 137 U.S. insurance companies with $534 billion in assets, about 6.5% of the entire U.S. market, up from 90 insurers and $314 billion in 2018, around 4.8% of the market.

U.S. retail sales rose 3.1% from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, reflecting a year marked by rising prices. After a busy Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend, many consumers waited for the last minute to shop, with Saturday, Dec. 23, the biggest sales day of the year—topping Black Friday.

The 30-year mortgage rate has fallen by more than a percentage point recently to 6.62%. The shrinking spread between that and the 10-year Treasury yield amounts to roughly one-sixth of the decline.

General Motors just had its best year for vehicle sales since 2019. The automaker reported that it sold 2.6 million vehicles in 2023 — good for a 14.1% increase over 2022.

The employee retention tax credit (ERC), projected to cost the government $55 billion, is a Covid giveaway that keeps on giving. The government has paid $230 billion in claims, including about $120 billion this year.

The December index of consumer sentiment jumped to 69.7 from November’s 61.3. This was still below its April 2020 level of 71.8. In February 2020, it was at 101.

Warburg Pincus turned to investment giant Apollo Global Management Inc. for a $1 billion loan to pay down bank facilities involving an older fund.

U.S. Steel, the Pittsburgh steel producer that played a key role in the nation’s industrialization, is being acquired by Nippon Steel in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $14.1 billion. The transaction is worth about $14.9 billion when including the assumption of debt. The price tag for U.S. Steel is nearly double what was offered just four months ago by rival Cleveland Cliffs.