Thu.May 04, 2023

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Want More Jobs? Raise the Minimum Wage

The Big Picture

I have been writing about issues with the minimum wage for (it seems like) decades. During that time, consuming lots of academic research, I reached a few logically supported conclusions. The least contentious of which is that modest increases in minimum wages increase economic activity and create jobs. But there are other surprises around the minimum wage.

Food 364
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Trade Deficit decreased to $64.2 Billion in March

Calculated Risk

The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported : The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $64.2 billion in March, down $6.4 billion from $70.6 billion in February, revised. March exports were $256.2 billion, $5.3 billion more than February exports. March imports were $320.4 billion, $1.1 billion less than February imports. emphasis added Click on graph for larger image.

Economics 360
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10 Thursday AM Reads

The Big Picture

My morning train WFH reads: • You’ve Heard About Behavioral Finance. But What About Physical Finance? Research suggests a fascinating link between the physical world and how investors price stocks. ( Institutional Investor ) • The real reason Mexico suddenly dominates global beer exports : Today, Mexico ships out more than twice as much beer as any other country and single-handedly accounts for 30 percent of the world’s entire export-beer market, according to Geneva-based trade statistics provid

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Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increase to 242,000

Calculated Risk

The DOL reported : In the week ending April 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 242,000 , an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 230,000 to 229,000. The 4-week moving average was 239,250, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average.

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2025 Industry Index: How Top Advisors Are Scaling Smarter (and Faster) This Year

Where are top advisors focusing in 2025? AcquireUp’s 2025 Industry Index reveals it all. Based on insights from 200+ financial professionals nationwide, discover why 74% say seminars and referrals deliver the best ROI, how automation is helping advisors scale faster, and why only 8% are tapping into niche marketing (a major growth opportunity!). Whether you're refining your client acquisition strategy or scaling your practice, this report gives you the real-world data, benchmarks, and action ste

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Politics Have Put the Brakes on ESG in Workplace Retirement Plans

Wealth Management

The political circus has taken on dimensions few expected to see just a few years ago.

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Longform links: how our minds work

Abnormal Returns

Books An excerpt from “Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America” by Brendan Ballou. (theatlantic.com) A excerpt from "Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral." by Ben Smith. (semafor.com) An excerpt from "For The Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want To Be" by Marcus Collins.

Planning 246

More Trending

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Kitces & Carl Ep 111: Who To Hire First As Your Advisory Firm Grows (And Why Do You Even Want To)

Nerd's Eye View

One of the biggest challenges faced by solo financial advisory firm owners as their firms grow and encounter capacity issues is deciding whether (and when) to hire an employee. While hiring staff members can offer a helpful lift in reducing capacity constraints for the firm owner, it also comes with its own burdens such as managing, training, and supervising employees, which many firm owners may have never considered when first launching their firms.

Clients 244
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Real Estate Debt Funds Aim to Be Players on Opportunistic, Distressed Strategies

Wealth Management

The path is paved for real estate debt funds to get into the mix with more opportunistic plays, including in the office sector.

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Thursday links: the changing political climate

Abnormal Returns

Commodities Why Warren Buffett seems so keen for oil companies. (wsj.com) How direct lithium extraction could upend the lithium market. (ft.com) Crude oil prices keep falling. (axios.com) Strategy How stock-bond correlations change with Fed actions. (morningstar.com) It's inevitable people will try to use ChatGPT to pick stocks. (ft.com) Venture capital The world of venture investing has changed a lot since Andreessen Horowitz came on the scene.

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Advisor Innovations Podcast: How Larry Swedroe Helps Advisors Make Sense of Investments

Wealth Management

The head of financial and economic research at Buckingham Strategic Wealth talks "dumb indexes," "smart beta" and intelligent design.

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Data Talks, CFOs Listen: Why Analytics Are Key To Better Spend Management

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.

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Hotels: Occupancy Rate Up 0.1% Year-over-year

Calculated Risk

From CoStar: STR: US Hotel Occupancy Remains Flat in Final Week of April U.S. hotel performance showed mixed results from the previous week but remained up year over year, according to STR‘s latest data through April 29. April 23-29, 2023 (percentage change from comparable week in 2022): • Occupancy: 66.6% (+0.1%) • Average daily rate (ADR): $156.14 (+5.5%) • Revenue per available room (RevPAR): $104.01 (+5.6%) emphasis added The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy

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Mindy Diamond on Independence: From Merrill Resident Director to Breakaway

Wealth Management

Amir Monsefi, the co-founder and CEO of AIRE Advisors, describes “conflicts of interest” with the ability to serve clients and grow the business at Merrill. The former resident director shares how building their own RIA allowed them the freedom to innovate and remove conflicts.

Clients 275
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Is the Bear Market Over?

The Reformed Broker

Hopping on Ask The Compound (formally known as Portfolio Rescue) with Ben and Duncan at 1:30pm ET! Tune in as we discuss loan prepayments, bear market exhaustion, spending v saving, and more! Submit your questions to askthecompoundshow@gmail.com for a chance to be featured! Listen here: Apple podcasts Spotify podcasts. The post Is the Bear Market Over?

Marketing 200
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Focus Posts Net Loss in First Quarter, As It Readies for Sale

Wealth Management

Focus Financial Partners posted a net loss and lower-than-expected revenue during the first quarter, as it nears a sale to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

Sales 264
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What Your Financial Statements Are Telling You—And How to Listen!

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.

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Friday: April Employment Report

Calculated Risk

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios. Friday: • At 8:30 AM: Employment Report for April. The consensus is for 178,000 jobs added, and for the unemployment rate to increase to 3.6%.

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Current Market Presents Opportunity for Strategic Investment in Office Assets

Wealth Management

As office real estate continues to navigate headwinds, investors are realizing that certain assets and markets within the sector can offer stability in volatile times.

Assets 263
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Goldman April Payrolls Preview

Calculated Risk

A few brief excerpts from a note by Goldman Sachs economist Spencer Hill: We estimate nonfarm payrolls rose 250k in April (mom sa), above consensus of +182k but a slowdown from the +345k average pace of the last three months. We believe high but falling labor demand more than offset continued layoffs in the information and financial sectors and a roughly 25k hiring drag from reduced credit availability.

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RBC Nabs Two More First Republic Advisors in California

Wealth Management

Former First Republic duo, managing $452 million in client assets, has jumped ship and joined RBC’s San Francisco office.

Assets 263
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How to Avoid Pitfalls In Automation: Keep Humans In the Loop

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.

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April Employment Preview

Calculated Risk

On Friday at 8:30 AM ET, the BLS will release the employment report for April. The consensus is for 178,000 jobs added, and for the unemployment rate to increase to 3.6%. There were 236,000 jobs added in March, and the unemployment rate was at 3.5%. From BofA economists: "For the April employment report, we expect the data to show a moderation from red-hot hiring to strong hiring.

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Is It Time for ESG to Retire?

Wealth Management

The political circus has taken on dimensions few expected to see just a few years ago.

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Clips From Today’s Halftime Report

The Reformed Broker

Final Trades: Shake Shack, Bunge & more from CNBC. The post Clips From Today’s Halftime Report appeared first on The Reformed Broker.

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Real Estate Debt Funds Aim to Be Players on Opportunistic, Distressed Strategies

Wealth Management

The path is paved for real estate debt funds to get into the mix with more opportunistic plays, including in the office sector.

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Book of Secrets on the Month-End Close

Based off SkyStem's popular e-Book, the book of secrets to the month-end close will be revealed in this one-hour webinar. Learn leading practices when it comes to building a strong and sustainable month-end close that has room to grow and evolve. Learn about the power of precise estimates, why reconciliations are critical to closing the books, how and when to automate, and how the chart of accounts play into your close process.

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Stock Market Tops, Bottoms & Middles

A Wealth of Common Sense

A reader asks: I’m in my late-30s so I know I should look at this environment as an opportunity to buy at lower prices but I’m sick of the bear market. I got caught up investing in tech in 2020 and 2021 so I’m down way more than the S&P 500 (probably down 25-30% from my previous highs). It would help to hear your best and worst-case scenarios between new all-time highs this year and a 1970s environment where we.

Marketing 125
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[Exclusive Research] A Flight to Safety

Wealth Management

With economic uncertainty on the horizon, investors are looking to the security of net lease assets as a port in the storm.

Economics 130
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A Perspective on Secular Bull and Bear Markets

Advisor Perspectives

The S&P 500 real monthly averages of daily closes peaked in November of 2021 and 2022 was a bear market. Let's examine the past to broaden our understanding of the range of historical trends in market performance.

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U.S. stocks open lower after Fed interest-rate decision, regional banks under renewed pressure

MarketWatch

U.S. stock indexes opened lower on Thursday as investors assessed the latest Federal Reserve decision which hiked the interest rate by 25 basis points and opened the door to a long-awaited pause in its tightening campaign. Wall Street also picks on more U.S. regional banks on returning fears over the financial system. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 78, or 0.2%, to 33,341.

Banking 98
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Stop Falling Short When It Matters Most—The Elite Advisor’s Playbook to Success

Like being inches from the end zone, many advisors are frustratingly close to their next level of success. You work hard. You put in the hours. But if your closing rate is stuck or your pipeline feels like a revolving door… something has to change. Most advisors are just one small shift away from dramatically increasing their revenue. The difference?

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3 Classic Arcade Video Games

Integrity Financial Planning

They just don’t make arcades like they used to. The hallmark clack of pinball machines and the 8-bit orchestras playing from all sorts of machines isn’t something you can really find anymore. Here’s a list of some of the greatest arcade classics of all time. Pong The game that started it all. It’s a simple system–two players with a paddle and a ball that bounces back and forth between them.

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: Minnesota may soon be the 23rd state to allow adult-use cannabis consumption and sales

MarketWatch

Minnesota is closing in on legislation to allow adults over 21 to buy and consume marijuana in what would be the 23rd U.S. state to do so. The state Senate OK’d the measure on Friday by a vote of 34-33 after the House approved its own version. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has said he plans to sign the legislation once a final version from the House and Senate arrives at his desk.

Sales 98
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Chalk Talk: Exploring Retirement Housing Decisions

MainStreet Financial Planning

“MainStreet Chalk Talk” The MainStreet Financial Planning Discussion Club When: Tuesday 5-16-23 at 7:30pm Eastern; 4:30pm Pacific ~30-45 minutes Recorded and able to retrieve for one week How : Zoom Meeting, Free to current clients; $10 for guests Register Here! Exploring Retirement Housing Decisions Hosted by: Jennifer Bush, CFP® MainStreet Financial Planning As people approach retirement age, one of the most significant decisions they face is where and how they will live during their golden ye

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While Things Are Opening Up, What Are You Banking On?

NAIFA Advisor Today

Financial Advisors are in the best position possible to be of service to their clients during this recent wave of banking news. “Kevin O'Leary thinks regional banks and their shares are doomed. wherein small regional banks will consolidate into super-regionals.” – March 30, 2023 Who would better know what to do now, in this place, with their knowledge, than a financial advisor?

Banking 98
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Demo SkyStem’s Award Winning Month-End Close Solution & Earn $100

Is your finance team bogged down by endless data requests and disorganized spreadsheets during the month-end close? It’s time to consider a better option – automate with ART! SkyStem’s solution works alongside your ERP to transform the close and account reconciliation process and speed up month-end work. Explore SkyStem’s ART - the award-winning account reconciliation automation platform - and receive a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you for your time.