Wed.Sep 06, 2023

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MBA: Mortgage Applications Decreased in Weekly Survey; Purchase Applications Lowest in 28 Years

Calculated Risk

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications decreased 2.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 1, 2023. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Economy 340
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Reviewing August's Busy Month of ETF Launches

Wealth Management

More than 40 new ETFs were introduced to the market last month.

Marketing 317
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Nobody Knows Anything, John Wick edition

The Big Picture

 In 2016, I wrote about the novelist and screenwriter William Goldman, and his delightful book, “ Adventures in the Screen Trade.” He is the Academy award-winning scriptwriter who penned such classics as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), “All the President’s Men” (1976), “Marathon Man” (1974), and the cult-favorite “The Princess Bride (1973).

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Modern Wealth Management Announces 4th Acquisition in 5-Month History

Wealth Management

Modern Wealth has completed a 4th acquisition after establishing its first anchor offices just weeks after its PE-backed April launch.

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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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Fed's Beige Book: "Growth was modest during July and August"

Calculated Risk

Fed's Beige Book "This report was prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City based on information collected on or before August 28, 2023." Contacts from most Districts indicated economic growth was modest during July and August. Consumer spending on tourism was stronger than expected, surging during what most contacts considered the last stage of pent-up demand for leisure travel from the pandemic era.

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Focused on the Future: Lazetta Braxton Offers Advice on Making an Impact by Doing the Work

Wealth Management

Lazetta Braxton, co-CEO of 2050 Wealth Partners discusses how she is structuring her firm to serve the investor of the future.

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More Trending

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Life Settlements — Planning Considerations Beyond the Offer

Wealth Management

Collaborative advisors set the stage for a client’s informed decision.

Planning 306
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Personal finance links: long forgotten subscriptions

Abnormal Returns

Podcasts Khe Hy talks building long term wealth with Adam Katz. (podcasts.apple.com) Eric Newcomer talks with Rey Flemings, the CEO of the YC-backed startup Myria which serves the ultra-wealthy. (newcomer.co) Morgan Housel talks about the lifecycle of greed and fear. (open.spotify.com) Justin Peters talks with Jesse Cramer about the importance of getting a raise, especially early in your career.

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NASAA: Non-Traded REIT Recommendations Don't Meet Reg BI Requirements

Wealth Management

Too many firms were failing to consider and offer lower-cost or lower-risk alternatives to the non-traded products, or other complex offerings like private placements, according to a new report from state regulators.

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How Advisors Can Help (Not-So HNW) Clients Maximize Asset Protection By Assessing Strategies, Tools, And Education

Nerd's Eye View

Financial advisory clients are routinely concerned about lurking threats to their hard-earned wealth in the form of a large unforeseen judgment on a liability claim. While asset protection is a popular planning topic for High-Net-Worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth clients, those who are not HNW are susceptible to the same threats to wealth. However, while some protection options come with a high cost (that might not be practical for non-HNW clients), asset protection can come in many forms, so

Education 246
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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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401(k) Real Talk Episode 75: September 6, 2023

Wealth Management

Open, honest and candid discussions about the latest news in the RPA industry.

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Thursday: Unemployment Claims

Calculated Risk

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios. Thursday: • At 8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.

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Don’t Underestimate the Value of 'Tschotchkes'

Wealth Management

Unwanted items in an estate aren’t necessary a bunch of junk.

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Black Knight Mortgage Monitor: Purchase Rate Locks "are now running 39% below pre-pandemic levels"

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Black Knight Mortgage Monitor: Purchase Rate Locks "are now running 39% below pre-pandemic levels" A brief excerpt: Black Knight on purchase rate locks: • Rate locks have slumped in response to the highest mortgage rates in more than 20 years, as the 30-year conforming topped 7.27% and 30-year jumbo offerings climbed above 7.4% on August 21 • Purchase locks are now running 39% below pre-pandemic levels – among the steepest deficits we’ve seen

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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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Show Me the Money

Wealth Management

How should an advisor think about transition dollars when evaluating a potential firm or model?

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Trade Deficit at $65.0 Billion in July

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 $65.0 billion in July , up $1.3 billion from $63.7 billion in June, revised. July exports were $251.7 billion, $3.9 billion more than June exports. July imports were $316.7 billion, $5.2 billion more than June imports. emphasis added Click on graph for larger image.

Economics 173
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New Proposals to Raise SALT Cap Disproportionately Benefit the Wealthy

Wealth Management

A report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy suggests two proposals for raising the SALT deduction cap would benefit high-income earners.

Economics 299
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ISM® Services Index Increases to 54.5% in August

Calculated Risk

(Posted with permission). The ISM® Services index was at 54.5%, up from 52.7% last month. The employment index increased to 54.7%, from 50.7%. Note: Above 50 indicates expansion, below 50 in contraction. From the Institute for Supply Management: Services PMI® at 54.5% August 2023 Services ISM® Report On Business® Economic activity in the services sector expanded in August for the eighth consecutive month as the Services PMI® registered 54.5 percent, say the nation's purchasing and supply executi

Economics 140
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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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High Earners Get Reprieve With Delay to Rule Change on 401(k) Catch-Ups

Wealth Management

The IRS pushed back the date when higher earners will have to direct some contributions to a Roth account, giving employers time to adjust.

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10 Wednesday AM Reads

The Big Picture

My mid-week morning train WFH reads: • How BYD snatched Tesla’s crown : BYD dominates the Chinese EV market. Now it’s coming for the world. ( Rest of World ) • The incredible American consumer : The biggest driver of the surprisingly resilient US economy has been the ability and willingness of Americans to shrug off the bad vibes and buy “everything that isn’t nailed down”, as Chris Rupkey puts it.

Medicine 130
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Episode #498: Liz Ann Sonders on The State of the Markets

Meb Faber Research

Episode #498: Liz Ann Sonders on The State of the Markets Guest: Liz Ann Sonders is the Chief Investment Strategist of Charles Schwab. She has a range of investment strategy responsibilities, from market and economic analysis to investor education, all focused on the individual investor. Recorded: 8/16/2023 | Run-Time: 57:07 Summary: In today’s episode, Liz Ann starts […] The post Episode #498: Liz Ann Sonders on The State of the Markets appeared first on Meb Faber Research - Stock

Marketing 128
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Stock Market Winners and Losers

The Irrelevant Investor

One of the gripes investors had with the stock market during the ZIRP era was that every stock moved together. Fundamental analysis wasn’t rewarded because buying sent everything higher, and selling sent everything lower. This isn’t exactly true, but it’s not exactly wrong either. During the early part of the last decade, as we were coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, the money printing machine was.

Marketing 118
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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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The Total Return Roller Coaster

Advisor Perspectives

Here's an interesting set of charts that will especially resonate with those of us who follow economic and market cycles. Imagine that five years ago you invested $10,000 in the S&P 500. How much would it be worth today, with dividends reinvested but adjusted for inflation? The purchasing power of your investment has increased to $14,122 for an annualized real return of 6.92%.

Economics 105
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Exhibitors Who Make XYPN LIVE Happen

XY Planning Network

Every year at XYPN LIVE we have a one-of-a-kind Exhibit Day. But what makes it so special? Peeling back the curtain on what advisors are adopting, outsourcing, and leveraging is one of our goals of the one-day Exhibit Day format. Because finding (and integrating) the right solutions for your firm is a pain point whether you have a firm of 1 or 100. We're not interested in wasting your time—that's why we've done the research for you and only invited the tech and solutions that are backing our mis

Clients 103
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Animal Spirits: The Market Cap of Taylor Swift

A Wealth of Common Sense

Today’s Animal Spirits is brought to you by the Compound Network and Quartr: See here for Josh’s post on ten million downloads! See here for more information on the latest earnings updates from Quartr! And lastly, Amazon Prime Members: see here for a year of free Grubhub+: You’ll get free delivery fees on orders over $12 Exclusive deals and promotions 5% back on pickup orders On today’s show, w.

Marketing 101
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In Memory of My Dad, Alfred Munro Flaxington

Advisor Perspectives

I lost my dad, Alfred Munro Flaxington, this past weekend.

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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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Mortgage Rates 20 year high

MainStreet Financial Planning

You can’t control mortgage rates, but there is plenty you can control about your home purchase! Are you like me feeling like you missed the boat on buying a home when mortgage rates were lower? Well, here is a little history lesson on mortgage rates that hopefully makes you feel better! In August, mortgage rates hit a 20 year high, but rates are not at their highest.

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Why Investors in Retirement May Want to Consider an Income Approach

Advisor Perspectives

As multi-asset income investors, we seek to help a wide range of clients meet their income needs. The benefits of an income-centric approach are especially relevant for investors as they enter retirement – and that’s especially true today. We bring that to life with two case studies.

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What’s Wrong with China’s Economy?

Trade Brains

China is back in the spotlight again after COVID-19 spread, which presumably began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak is widely believed to have started! ? First – Xi Jinping will ‘Not’ be attending the G20 summit this time in Delhi, with no reason given. ?️ Second – China has officially released its 2023 “standard map” edition, which shows Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as part of China. ?

Economy 72
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The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq Since Their 2000 Highs

Advisor Perspectives

Here is a look at real (inflation-adjusted) charts of the S&P 500, Dow 30, and Nasdaq composite since their 2000 highs. We've updated this through the August 31, 2023 close.

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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.