Calculated Risk

JANUARY 26, 2025

Weekend: Schedule for Week of January 26, 2025 Monday: At 8:30 AM ET, Chicago Fed National Activity Index for December. This is a composite index of other data. At 10:00 AM, New Home Sales for December from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for 670 thousand SAAR, up from 664 thousand in November. At 10:30 AM, Dallas Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for January.

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Sales Manufacturing Marketing Marketing 147

Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)

JANUARY 26, 2025

By Amy Wakem During the 20 years of being a financial advisor, my agency has gone through a lot of transitions. And I’ve been asked a few times, At what point did your numbers start becoming consistent and you were making MDRT regularly? Our production became more consistent when we started becoming deliberate with the words we use when interacting with prospects or clients.

Clients 101

Clients Financial Advisor Numbers Management 101

A Wealth of Common Sense

JANUARY 26, 2025

Institutional investors made a huge push into hedge funds following the bursting of the dot-com bubble. It was the perfect environment because you had a situation where expensive stocks crashed while cheap stocks were a wonderful hedge. Going long cheap and short expensive allowed them to win in both directions.1 The S&P 500 got clobbered so it wasn’t hard to sell hedge funds to all of the pensions, endowments a.

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Random Roger's Retirement Planning

JANUARY 26, 2025

Ray Dalio was interviewed by a couple of outlets while in Davos including by Yahoo Finance. The article was thin but there was a reference to his "holy grail" of 10-15 uncorrelated assets in portfolio construction. I haven't seen any articles/interviews where he shares idea on what should make up the uncorrelated bucket and how much to put into the uncorrelated bucket so if you've seen anything along those lines please leave a comment.

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Accounting

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2025

The world’s biggest stock market is heading for its best start for a new US president since Ronald Reagan was sworn in to power in 1985.

Marketing 98

Marketing Marketing 98

oXYGen Financial

JANUARY 26, 2025

![CDATA[ Maintaining balance between health and wealth is vital for a fulfilling life. Whether you are excelling in both areas or striving to improve one, the choices you make today shape your future. In this article, we explore how to optimize your resources, enhance your health, and secure financial stability for a better quality of life. The Critical Connection Between Health and.

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Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 26, 2025

Top clicks this week Market consensus is max bullish. (downtownjoshbrown.com) Bonds vs. bond funds: you're still exposed to interest rate risk. (awealthofcommonsense.com) Have we entered a new era for interest rates? (bonddad.blogspot.com) Why interest rates are rising. (disciplinefunds.com) 7 life lessons including 'If you want to live a quiet life, live a quiet life.

Financial Advising 173

Financial Advising Marketing Marketing 173

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2025

US bond funds actively managed by industry heavyweights like Pacific Investment Management Co. attracted the most new investment last year as money returned after a two-year dry spell.

Management 52

Management Investing Investments 52

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 26, 2025

Most analysts expect no change to FOMC policy at the meeting this week, keeping the target range at 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 percent. Market participants currently expect the FOMC to be on hold at the January, March and May meetings, with the next rate cut in May. From BofA: We expect the Fed to stay on hold at its January meeting. The focus will be on the March decision and the Trump agenda.

Banking 235

Banking Economics Marketing Marketing 235

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2025

In December, most strategists predicted positive returns for the S&P 500 in 2025. The range of reasonable outcomes for stocks is wide.

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Clients

The Big Picture

JANUARY 26, 2025

Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at risk, corruption and policy failures: High Interest Rates Are Hammering Investors. What Lies Ahead Could Be Worse. Rising rates would be bad news for bondholders and borrowers of all stripes, particularly the U.S. government. They cast a shadow over stocks, too. ( Barron’s ) First-Time Homeownership Became Less Affordable Across Most of the United States in Recent Years : New homeownership became less affordable across much of the United States

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Insurance Government Banking Assets 130

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2025

Raw data needs sophisticated infrastructure to drive AI innovation. Snowflake provides critical infrastructure provider for the AI age.

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Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 26, 2025

Markets Can corporate profit margins keep going up? (tker.co) AI is moving faster than the markets can keep up. (disciplinefunds.com) Your risk profile isn't static. (awealthofcommonsense.com) Crypto Pump.fun keeps pumping. (theblock.co) The many ways Trump can profit from his presidency, not just crypto. (motherjones.com) Finance Blackrock ($BLK) and the FDIC are at loggerheads.

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Math Startup Economy Communication 147

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2025

In mid-2023, the estimated costs to roll S&P 500 futures on a quarterly cycle was roughly 0.40%, or 40 basis points (bps) annualized—a fairly justifiable expense for most investors considering the benefits of the instrument.

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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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