Calculated Risk

MAY 19, 2025

Altos reports that active single-family inventory was up 1.5% week-over-week. Inventory is now up 22.9% from the seasonal bottom in January and is increasing. Usually, inventory is up about 13% from the seasonal low by this week in the year. So, 2025 is seeing a larger than normal pickup in inventory. The first graph shows the seasonal pattern for active single-family inventory since 2015.

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Wealth Management

MAY 16, 2025

The move was accompanied by a set of FAQs on how to custody digital assets, and marked the latest step in the commissions effort to significantly reform its previous approach to cryptocurrencies.

Commission 254

Commission Assets 254

Wealth Management

MAY 14, 2025

Advisors can better serve wealthy clients through strategic charitable giving of appreciated assets, from real estate to business interests.

Assets 288

Assets Clients 288

The Big Picture

MAY 15, 2025

Hey, just back after taking the redeye home from Futureproof Colorado , and getting my feet back under me. But I wanted to briefly discuss tomorrow’s release of the University of Michigan (UMich) long-term inflation expectations. You probably know my thoughts on both Inflation Expectations and Sentiment Surveys. ICYMI, Inflation Expectations are a backwards looking exercise in the Recency Effect.

Media 211

Media Banking 211

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Clients

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 16, 2025

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that Republicans in the House of Representatives this week released their long-awaited tax plan to address the impending sunset of many measures in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The proposed legislation makes several aspects of TCJA 'permanent', including maintaining TCJA's tax brackets and the elevated estate tax exemption, while also introducing new potential tax-savings op

Financial Planner 239

Financial Planner Financial Advice Education Taxes 239

Abnormal Returns

MAY 16, 2025

Companies Charter Communications ($CHTR) and Cox Communications are merging. (cnbc.com) Meta's ($META) Facebook and Instagram are increasingly scam-filled. (wsj.com) How big an additional opportunity is experiences for Airbnb ($ABNB)? (platformaeronaut.com) Apple Apple ($AAPL) made a strategic mistake. (spyglass.org) Apple ($AAPL) is never going to make iPhones in the U.S.

Communication 167

Communication Media Economy Marketing 167

The Big Picture

MAY 20, 2025

The transcript from this weeks, MiB: John Montgomery, Bridgeway Capital Management , is below. You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube , and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here. ~~~ Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.

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Management Numbers Transportation Accounting 130

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 15, 2025

Young advisors may feel – and face – an extra burden to prove their expertise to clients. After all, it can feel odd to create an estate plan that will impact a client’s grandchildren… when those grandchildren may be older than the advisor themselves! And while any advisor needs to determine how much detail to share when explaining strategic decisions, younger advisors may feel added pressure to prove their credibility.

Financial Planning 147

Financial Planning Planning Communication Clients 147

Abnormal Returns

MAY 19, 2025

Podcasts Michael Kitces talks with Ed Slott about the benefits of becoming an IRA expert. (kitces.com) Matt Zeigler and Jack Forehand talk with Wade Pfau about the dangers of sequence of returns risk. (youtube.com) Advisortech How Robinhood's ($HOOD) robo-advisor works in practice. (riabiz.com) Basic Capital wants to bring leverage to your 401(k) plan.

CFP 144

CFP Clients Planning Sales 144

Wealth Management

MAY 14, 2025

Betterment has acquired Rowboat Advisors, a portfolio optimization software provider with a focus on tax efficiency and direct indexing.

Taxes 246

Taxes Portfolio 246

Speaker: Claire Grosjean, Global Finance & Operations Executive

Finance teams are drowning in data—but is it actually helping them spend smarter? Without the right approach, excess spending, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities continue to drain profitability. While analytics offers powerful insights, financial intelligence requires more than just numbers—it takes the right blend of automation, strategy, and human expertise.

Management

Calculated Risk

MAY 16, 2025

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Housing Starts Increased to 1.361 million Annual Rate in April A brief excerpt: Total housing starts in April were at expectations and starts in February and March were revised up, combined. The third graph shows the month-to-month comparison for total starts between 2024 (blue) and 2025 (red). Total starts were down 1.7% in April compared to April 2024.

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The Big Picture

MAY 19, 2025

My back-to-work morning train WFH reads: The Stealthy Lab Cooking Up Amazons SecretSauce : The online giant bought a mysterious chip startup 10 years ago. It now looks like one of the smartest deals in tech history. ( Wall Street Journal ) Warren Buffett Reveals He Stepped Down After Finally Feeling His Age : The legendary investor, 94, opens up about his decision to hand the top job to Greg Abel; How do you know the day that you become old?

Engineering 130

Engineering Startup Manufacturing Assets 130

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 19, 2025

Training programs for new financial advisors have traditionally followed a sales-focused, sink-or-swim approach that primarily paid on commission for product sales. While some of these programs still exist, the role of an associate advisor has evolved alongside the broader financial planning profession. In many advisory firms today, associate advisors don't begin with prospecting or running client meetings; instead, they start with back-end technical work, such as financial plan preparation, bef

Financial Planning 130

Financial Planning Communication Certification Planning 130

Abnormal Returns

MAY 13, 2025

Quant stuff The case for upping the complexity of your models. (alphaarchitect.com) Some recent academic research including 'Bond Factor Momentum and Its Predictability for Stock Returns.' (alphainacademia.substack.com) A review of "Reminiscences of a Bond Operator: A Guide to Investing in Corporate Debt" by Mark A. Rieder. (blogs.cfainstitute.org) Research Why profitability matters.

Investments 144

Investments Investing 144

Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker

Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.

Numbers

Wealth Management

MAY 13, 2025

Up to $30 billion in mutual fund marketing and distribution fees could be at risk if the SEC approves dual share classes. The Mag Seven stocks have regained momentum in recent weeks, but will that last? These are among the investment must reads we found this week for financial advisors.

Investments 236

Investments Investing Distribution Financial Advisor 236

Calculated Risk

MAY 13, 2025

From the NY Fed: Change in Household Debt Balances Mixed; Student Loan Delinquencies Rise Sharply The Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorks Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The report shows total household debt increased by $167 billion (0.9%) in Q1 2025, to $18.20 trillion. The report is based on data from the New York Feds nationally representative Consumer Credit Panel.

Retail 165

Retail Banking Accounting Economics 165

The Big Picture

MAY 14, 2025

A bonus LIVE episode of Masters in Business: I speak with bestselling author and financial journalist Michael Lewis, live, from the Landmark Theater in Port Washington, NY. Our wide-ranging, 90-minute conversation covered the full arc of his career, from Liars Poker to this years Who is Government. The informative and at times hilarious conversation included his experiences turning Moneyball into a film (including on-set hijinks from Brad Pitt), how his career as a writer evolved, and what he

Government 130

Government 130

Nerd's Eye View

MAY 13, 2025

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 437th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Ed Slott. Ed is the president of Ed Slott And Company, a financial education company based in Rockville Centre, New York that offers seminars and newsletters for financial advisors and consumers focused primarily on IRAs. What's unique about Ed, though, is how he has been able to charge premium fees for his accounting and education services over time by becoming a nationally r

Financial Advisor 130

Financial Advisor Accounting Education Estate Planning 130

Speaker: Erroll Amacker

Automation is transforming finance but without strong financial oversight it can introduce more risk than reward. From missed discrepancies to strained vendor relationships, accounts payable automation needs a human touch to deliver lasting value. This session is your playbook to get automation right. We’ll explore how to balance speed with control, boost decision-making through human-machine collaboration, and unlock ROI with fewer errors, stronger fraud prevention, and smoother operations.

Accounting

Advisor Perspectives

MAY 16, 2025

Consumer sentiment fell for a fifth straight month as ongoing economic uncertainty and inflation worries continue to drag down consumer attitudes. The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 50.8 in May, the second lowest reading on record.

Economics 114

Economics 114

Wealth Management

MAY 15, 2025

Jump, Zeplyn and Zocks, which can all capture meeting notes and create summaries, help generate client communications and trigger service actions, have now been integrated with the AdvisorEngine platform.

Communication 254

Communication Clients 254

Calculated Risk

MAY 15, 2025

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.1% from March to April (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 5.2 percent from April 2024. From the Census Bureau report : Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April 2025, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $724.1 billion, up 0.1 percent from the previous month , and up 5.2 percent from April 2024.

Retail 194

Retail Sales Food 194

The Big Picture

MAY 16, 2025

This week, I speak with John Montgomery , CEO, Founder and Portfolio Manager of Bridgeway Capital Management. His responsibilities include the firms strategic direction, investment management and risk oversight, portfolio management, and mentoring. John holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a BA in Philosophy from Swarthmore College, and graduate degrees from MIT and Harvard Business School.

Management 130

Management Portfolio Management Transportation Engineering 130

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Accounting

A Wealth of Common Sense

MAY 15, 2025

Bill Sweet joined me on the show again to discuss questions from our audience about harvesting gains in your stock portfolio to diversify, remote work for less money versus going back to the office for more, mis-timing the market and picking the right benchmark for your investments. Further Reading: How Long Does it Take For Stocks to Bottom in a Bear Market?

Portfolio 99

Portfolio Marketing Marketing Investments 99

Advisor Perspectives

MAY 13, 2025

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped for a fourth straight month, falling to 95.8 in April. Notably, the percent of small business owners who reported difficulty filling job openings fell to its lowest level since January 2021.

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Wealth Management

MAY 19, 2025

Learn how to protect clients from tax penalties and missed opportunities as international business travel increases. Maximize portfolio performance across borders.

Taxes 248

Taxes Financial Advisor Portfolio Clients 248

Calculated Risk

MAY 19, 2025

From Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: Mortgage Rates Briefly Over 7% Before Mid-Day Improvement Mortgage rates jumped sharply over the weekend as financial markets reacted to Moody's credit rating downgrade of the U.S. News of the downgrade broke with only minutes left in Friday's market/business day, so most of the response played out when global markets opened again late last night.

Financial Market 147

Financial Market Economics Marketing Marketing 147

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Sales

Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)

MAY 18, 2025

By Susan Quinn Being a long-term, successful financial advisor isnt just about navigating market trends or chasing the next big idea its about establishing a lasting foundation. Strong guiding principles are the cornerstone of lasting success. Essential elements of guiding principles Guiding principles articulate who you are, why you exist and how you intend to create value over the long haul.

Financial Advisor 94

Financial Advisor Clients Marketing Marketing 94

Alpha Architect

MAY 16, 2025

Profitability subsumes all of the quality factor, explaining both the performance of the strategies the investment industry market and the factors that academics employnone of the quality factors generated significant positive alpha relative to profitability, the other Fama and French factors, and momentum. Profitability Retrospective: Key Takeaways for Investors was originally published at Alpha Architect.

Investments 86

Investments Investing Marketing Marketing 86

Advisor Perspectives

MAY 15, 2025

Wholesale inflation unexpectedly fell in April, experiencing its largest monthly decline in five years. The producer price index for final demand was down 0.5% month-over-month after a flat reading in March. This was lower than the expected 0.2% growth.

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Wealth Management

MAY 19, 2025

Decoding covered gifts and bequests under the final regulations.

Estate Planning 237

Estate Planning Taxes Planning 237

Speaker: Aaron Berson

Managing spend is more than a cost cutting exercise – it's a pathway to smarter decisions that unlock efficiency and drive growth. By understanding and refining the spending process, financial leaders can empower their organizations to achieve more with less. Explore the art of balancing financial control with operational growth. From uncovering hidden inefficiencies to designing workflows that scale your business, we’ll share strategies to align your organization’s spending with its strategic g

Management