The Big Picture
MAY 30, 2024
I’m just finished wrapping up the chapter in the new book1 on the dangers of denominator bias, along with related chapters on lack of context, framing, and the inherent deceptiveness of asymmetrical arguments. Simultaneously with sending those to my editor, an email arrives asking: “ If the economy is so robust, how do you explain all of these restaurant closings ?!
Abnormal Returns
MAY 30, 2024
Books An excerpt from "In This Economy? How Money and Markets Really Work" by Kyla Scanlon. (kyla.substack.com) A Q&A with Teresa Ghilarducci author of "Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy." (fa-mag.com) An excerpt from Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr.’s new book, "The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century.
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Nerd's Eye View
MAY 29, 2024
Small business owners often treat their businesses not only as their source of income during their working years, but also as an asset that can be sold to fund their retirement. And while many businesses can build up substantial value over the years, the downside is that, when that value is realized upon the sale of the business, a large amount of it is treated as taxable income.
Calculated Risk
MAY 29, 2024
From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications decreased 5.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 24, 2024. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 5.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Speaker: Nancy Wu, Head of Sales and Customer Success at SkyStem
Automation generally supercharges any process and brings its value to the forefront. See how infusing automation such as ART (our month-end close solution), into your close can get you to the next level of closing. We will share a live demo of SkyStem's solution, ART and share the key elements of month-end close automation. Through ART, we'll take a look at: What month-end close automation entails Which process steps can and should be automated Benefits of achieving process automation, and Why i
The Big Picture
MAY 29, 2024
At The Money: Your Financial Captain with Peter Mallouk (May 29, 2024) Who’s in charge of all of the details of your financial life? Not just the stocks and bonds, but your taxes, your will, your estate, any trusts, insurance, credit line, real estate, and anything that affects your financial health. In today’s ATM, we discuss the advantages of having a financial captain in charge of all of your financial affairs Full transcript below. ~~~ About this week’s guest: Peter Mallouk
Financial Advisor Source brings together the best content for financial advisor professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Nerd's Eye View
MAY 27, 2024
The first few years of building an advisory firm from scratch are typically the most demanding for solo advisors since this often means putting oneself 'out there' as much as possible – working through lead generation services, trying to network with Centers Of Influence (COIs) and the community at large, and battling through all of the "no" s needed to get a "yes" (and therefore a client).
Calculated Risk
MAY 30, 2024
The DOL reported : In the week ending May 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 219,000 , an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 215,000 to 216,000. The 4-week moving average was 222,500, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average.
The Big Picture
MAY 26, 2024
Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures: • Realtors Are in Crisis—and Home Buyers Could Be the Winners : A wave of lawsuits over fees paid to agents has put the giant trade association on the defense; ‘it got arrogant’ ( Wall Street Journal ) see also Powerful Realtor Group Agrees to Slash Commissions to Settle Lawsuits : The National Association of Realtors will pay $418 million in damages and will amend several rules that housing experts say wil
Abnormal Returns
MAY 28, 2024
Research Average performance can obscure some bad outcomes. (portfoliocharts.com) No matter where you look, momentum shows up. (alphaarchitect.com) Why don't more investors use equal-weighted indices? (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) How LLMs can be used to do security analysis. (papers.ssrn.com) Hedge funds outperform when markets are expensive. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) How fund flows can cause an unsustainable feedback loop.
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As we step into 2024, the lending landscape evolves rapidly with technology, regulations, and market dynamics driving change. For banks and financial institutions to stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of their customers, these drivers must be understood and engaged with. Lenders can anticipate significant transformation fueled by technological advancements, regulatory shifts, and changing consumer behaviors.
Nerd's Eye View
MAY 28, 2024
Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 387th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Jenny Martella. Jenny is a Principal and Wealth Manager at Modera Wealth Management, an RIA based in Westwood, New Jersey, that oversees $12.5 billion in assets under management for approximately 4,700 client households. What's unique about Jenny, though, is how she and her previous business partner were so successful in the early years of growing their advisory firm, that the
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 30, 2024
The U.S. economy grew at a slower than expected pace to start off the year. Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.3% in Q1 2024, according to the second estimate. The latest estimate is lower than the forecasted 1.6% growth and is a slowdown from the Q4 2023 GDP final estimate of 3.4%.
The Big Picture
MAY 25, 2024
The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads: • This Isn’t Your Father’s Marijuana Use : A new study shows pot use has exploded—surpassing daily alcohol use in 2022. Potency is way up, too. Thoughts on the new age of weed and what to do. ( Washington Monthly ) • The Algorithm Behind Jim Simons’s Success : Unless you’re a quant, the valuable lessons are about how Simons did what he did (and why), not what he did s
Abnormal Returns
MAY 27, 2024
Podcasts Josh Brown and Michael Batnick talk to the one and only Nick Murray. (downtownjoshbrown.com) Brendan Frazier talks about how to do better intro meetings. (wiredplanning.com) The biz CI Financial is giving its U.S. affiliate Corient some additional financial flexibility. (riabiz.com) Betterment continues to double down on the adviser channel.
Speaker: Joe Buhrmann, MBA, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC® Senior Financial Planning Practice Management Consultant eMoney Advisor
During an era of evolving consumer preferences, the banking sector is undergoing a profound shift. As customers continue to broaden their perspectives, banking professionals must support their customers' financial wellness by providing holistic financial advice that aligns with individual goals and circumstances. Without adapting, financial institutions will find that loyalty may crumble amid uncertainty.
Nerd's Eye View
MAY 30, 2024
Over the past couple of decades, the financial advice industry has seen a tremendous shift as the focus has evolved away from being primarily transaction-based and towards forming long-term service-based relationships with clients. Yet, one of the hurdles advicers have faced along the way is figuring out how to demonstrate the seemingly intangible value of financial planning as a service.
Calculated Risk
MAY 29, 2024
The FDIC released the Quarterly Banking Profile for Q1 2024: Reports from 4,568 commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) report aggregate net income of $64.2 billion in first quarter 2024, an increase of $28.4 billion (79.5 percent) from the prior quarter. A large decline in noninterest expense because of several substantial, non-recurring items recognized by large banks in the prior quarter, as well as higher noninterest income and lo
The Big Picture
MAY 27, 2024
It’s Memorial Day, and a time to honor the fallen.: • Memorial Day : Each year on the last Monday in May, the Defense Department joins the nation in honoring service members who lost their lives in defense of the nation, and mourns with their families. ( U.S. Dept of Defense ) • Eric Paliwoda was a big dude. Probably six-foot-six. Those big, meaty hands that would swallow your own in a tight handshake.
Abnormal Returns
MAY 26, 2024
Mentions Sam Ro's favorite free finance newsletters. (tker.co) The 18 best investing blogs of 2024. (thecollegeinvestor.com) Top clicks this week The 18 best investing blogs of 2024. (thecollegeinvestor.com) 11 investing principles from Bill Miller including how to avoid value traps. (investmenttalk.co) Sam Ro's favorite free finance newsletters. (tker.co) Why don't more people engage in probabilistic thinking?
Speaker: Carolina Aponte - Owner and CEO, Caja Holdings LLC
In today's rapidly changing business environment, building a resilient balance sheet is crucial to the survival of any business. A resilient balance sheet allows a company to withstand financial shocks and adapt to changing market conditions. To achieve this, companies need to focus on key strategies such as maintaining adequate liquidity, managing debt levels, diversifying revenue streams, and prioritizing profitability over growth.
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 30, 2024
The second estimate for Q1 GDP came in at 1.25%, a deceleration from 3.40% for the Q4 final estimate. With a per-capita adjustment, the headline number is lower at 0.79%, a decrease from 2.79% for the Q4 headline number.
Calculated Risk
MAY 30, 2024
What this means: On a weekly basis, Realtor.com reports the year-over-year change in active inventory and new listings. On a monthly basis, they report total inventory. For April, Realtor.com reported inventory was up 30.4% YoY, but still down almost 36% compared to April 2017 to 2019 levels. Now - on a weekly basis - inventory is up 36.5% YoY. Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market.
Wealth Management
MAY 29, 2024
FSI Wealth Management, a San Diego, Calif.-based team with $215 million in assets, is joining LPL from Securities America, in the wake of Osaic's integration and rebranding efforts.
Abnormal Returns
MAY 29, 2024
Nvidia It's hard to overstate just how big a rally Nvidia ($NVDA) has seen. (downtownjoshbrown.com) Then again, few large companies have grown this fast. (theirrelevantinvestor.com) AI A look at the AI tech stacks for various players in the industry. (stratechery.com) Why Zuck and Meta ($META) have embraced an open AI standard. (nytimes.com) AI spending is going to grow as more countries jump into the game.
Speaker: Wayne Spivak, President and CFO of SBA * Consulting Ltd., Industry Writer, Public Speaker
If you’re lost in the world of spend management needs and your GAP analysis is lacking perspective on the future state of your business performance, listen up! With the advancement of technology, the implementation of spend management best practices and concrete GAP analyses is more streamlined and accessible than ever before. And while this may sound like great news for you and your clients, it won’t be worthwhile unless you have the latest techniques to back up your ambitions!
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 30, 2024
The semiconductor industry is a strange field. Play your cards right, and you can turn $60 billion or so of annual revenue into a $2.62 trillion business. Do things differently, and roughly the same volume of sales might translate into $44 billion of market capitalization.
Calculated Risk
MAY 28, 2024
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Case-Shiller: National House Price Index Up 6.5% year-over-year in March; FHFA: House Prices Increased 0.1% in March, up 6.6% YoY Excerpt: S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for March ("March" is a 3-month average of January, February and March closing prices). March closing prices include some contracts signed in November, so there is a significant lag to this data.
Wealth Management
MAY 29, 2024
Steward Partners' Jim Gold details the major trends in the industry, including the future of hybrid RIAs, the impact of private equity and concerns about succession planning.
Abnormal Returns
MAY 30, 2024
Markets Trading in Nvidia ($NVDA) shares dwarf other large companies. (sherwood.news) The 0DTE market just keeps growing. (ft.com) Strategy How much to allocate to private equity, if you must. (morningstar.com) Pay less attention to your investments. (timharford.com) Crypto Gemini customers are finally going to start getting their money back. (cnbc.com) Signs that a Mt.
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Digital platforms can provide you with plenty of solutions, yet many are still intimidated by them. It's time to end that worry and embrace what could make a major difference for your bank. Understanding how they work and how to best utilize them for your banks is key toward success. In this article, Biz2X breaks down all things digital platforms, including the many advantages of embracing them.
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 30, 2024
In spite of the highest Federal Reserve policy rates in two decades, the US economy grew about 2.5% last year, unemployment remains low and stocks are near all-time highs, leading many observers to conclude that the economy must have become less interest-rate sensitive — and probably needs permanently high benchmark rates to prevent overheating.
A Wealth of Common Sense
MAY 29, 2024
Inflation and wages are kind of a chicken or egg issue. Do higher prices cause higher wages or do higher wages cause higher prices? I suppose it’s probably a little of both. There is an obvious relationship when you look at the data. Here’s a look at year-over-year wage growth versus trailing twelve-month inflation going back to 1965: Wages grow faster than prices most of the time, but not always.
Wealth Management
MAY 28, 2024
The American Council of Life Insurers, the Insured Retirement Institute and Finseca are among the plaintiffs in the newest suit against the Labor Department’s rule. This is the second suit filed against the rule in Texas this month.
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