HANDLS Monthly Income Report: October 2025

October Category Performance

9/30/2025 - 10/31/2025

The graph and table above provide return data for major income-oriented asset categories for the month of October 2025 and YTD 2025. Returns for each asset category are based on the returns of the constituent(s) in the Nasdaq HANDLS™ Base Index representing that category. Also included are returns for the Nasdaq 5HANDL™ Index, the Nasdaq 7HANDL™ Index and the Nasdaq 10HANDL™ Index. 

In the Fog of Policy: Markets Find Their Own Compass 

October was a month defined less by new data and more by the absence of it. The ongoing government shutdown has frozen much of Washington’s statistical machinery, leaving investors to navigate without key economic readings on inflation, jobs, and GDP. Yet markets continued to signal a story that policymakers at the Federal Reserve seem reluctant to acknowledge: the economy is cooling, and rates may be headed lower—whether the Fed concedes it or not.

Despite the data blackout, markets found direction through corporate earnings, credit spreads, and yield movements. Long-term Treasury yields drifted modestly lower as investors sought safety, pushing bond prices up across most fixed-income sectors. Aggregate Bonds rose 0.63% for the month and 6.85% year-to-date. Risk-oriented bond segments such as High Yield (+0.03%) and Preferreds (-0.72%) lagged, suggesting a cautious tone among income investors.

Equities, meanwhile, continued their uneven ascent. The Large Cap Equity and Growth & Income categories rose 3.99% and 2.34%, respectively, extending robust year-to-date gains above 20%. Utilities and Dividend Equity also advanced, highlighting investors’ renewed preference for quality and yield. Rate-sensitive sectors such as REITs (-2.23%) and MLPs (-0.62%) remained under pressure, reflecting lingering skepticism that the Fed’s tightening cycle is over—and renewed unease in credit markets following the late-Sept bankruptcy of First Brands, which cast a spotlight on leveraged finance and opaque corporate balance sheets. 

Structured allocation benchmarks such as the Nasdaq 5HANDL™, 7HANDL™, and 10HANDL™ Indexes posted modest monthly gains between 0.48% and 0.54%, preserving solid year-to-date returns that have historically outpaced most traditional balanced strategies and far outpace their target distributions. 

In sum, October highlighted a widening disconnect: markets are behaving as though the rate-cut cycle has already begun, while the Fed clings to its higher-for-longer rhetoric. With fiscal uncertainty mounting and consumer resilience fading, investors are positioning for a turn—whenever policymakers finally admit what the data, even unseen, already suggests.

Since Inception Category 

3/12/2009—10/31/2025

*The graph and table above provide return data for major income-oriented asset categories since inception of HANDLS Indexes (3/12/2009). Returns for each asset category are based on the returns of the constituent(s) in the Nasdaq HANDLS™ Base Index representing that category. Also included are returns for the Nasdaq 5HANDL™ Index, the Nasdaq 7HANDL™ Index and the Nasdaq 10HANDL™ Index.  Inception dates for MLPs (1/2/2013), Build America Bonds (1/2/2010) and Active Fixed Income (1/2/2014)

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