Thu.May 01, 2025

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Inflation Adjusted House Prices 0.8% Below 2022 Peak; Price-to-rent index is 7.5% below 2022 peak

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Inflation Adjusted House Prices 0.8% Below 2022 Peak Excerpt: It has been over 18 years since the housing bubble peak. In the February Case-Shiller house price index released this week, the seasonally adjusted National Index (SA), was reported as being 79% above the bubble peak in 2006. However, in real terms, the National index (SA) is about 12% above the bubble peak (and historically there has been an upward slope to real house prices).

Numbers 147
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Kitces & Carl Ep 163: Overcoming Objections When Clients Reject The Recommendation By Asking What You Missed

Nerd's Eye View

Advisors spend a lot of time crafting their financial advice recommendations – and how they deliver those recommendations – for their clients. These ultra-personalized suggestions are central to what makes financial advice valuable and can have a significant impact on a client's life. So, what happens when a client doesn't act on that advice – especially when their inaction can compromise their financial and holistic wellbeing?

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Q&A: Your Money Map

The Big Picture

I chatted with Jean Chatzky of Your Money Map about HNTI and some general investing concepts. As always, we did notget to all of them, but they were so thoughtful, I wanted to share them with you. *Lets start with the why. Many, if not most, investing books aim to teach people how TO invest. Your focus is giving readers advice on how NOT to invest. Why did you decide to take this approach?

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Turn Off TV – Emperor Media Has No Clothes!

Investing Caffeine

Famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen told a renowned fairy tale of an emperor who was conned into believing he is wearing an invisible suit. The crowd was too embarrassed to acknowledge his nakedness, so they pretend to not notice until a young boy shouted, The emperor has no clothes! Much like the fairy tale, when it comes to pointing out the many shortcomings of the financial media, I have no problem yelling, The Emperor Media has no clothes!

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How to Streamline Payment Applications & Lien Waivers Through Innovative Construction Technology

Speaker: Dylan Secrest, Founder of Alamo Innovation and Construction Digital Transformation Consultant

Construction payment workflows are notoriously complex when you consider juggling multiple stakeholders, compliance requirements, and evolving project scopes. Delays in approvals or misaligned data between budgets, lien waivers, and pay applications can grind progress to a halt. The good news? It doesn't have to be this way! Join expert Dylan Secrest to discover how leading contractors are turning payment chaos into clarity using digital workflows, integrated systems, and automation strategies.

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Light Vehicles Sales "Beat the tariff" at 17.3 million SAAR in April

Calculated Risk

Wards Auto released their estimate of light vehicle sales for April: Tariff-Induced Buying Pumps U.S. Light-Vehicle Sales for Second Month in April (pay site). Tariff-related buying lifted sales over the past two months to a seasonally adjusted annual selling rate of 17.6 million , well above the roughly 16.0 million they would have totaled otherwise.

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Ten Top Warren Buffett Stocks – May 2025

Validea

Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy, cultivated over decades of exceptional market performance, centers on a simple yet powerful principle: “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” This approach emphasizes acquiring businesses with durable competitive advantageswhat Buffett famously calls “economic moats”that can sustain superior returns for extended periods.

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Stocks Should Not Be Going Up!

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

But they are. For the last eight sessions anyway. In a recent post, I asked if it was over making it crystal clear that I had no idea and I still have no idea. There is always a working list of pros and cons to weigh out in trying to assess risk. No matter how bad things may appear there are always at least a few positives. Sometimes though, markets go up for no reason at all.

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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 130,000 jobs added, and for the unemployment rate to be unchanged at 4.2%. There were 228,000 jobs added in March, and the unemployment rate was at 4.2%. From Goldman Sachs: We forecast that payrolls rose 140k in April (vs. consensus +130k) and the unemployment rate was flat at 4.2%.

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2025 Housing Market: Challenges and What’s Next

Your Richest Life

The spring months bring peak housing market activity, and we are starting to see some shifts for buyers and sellers in the 2025 housing market. High home prices and mortgage rates are still slowing sales, while tariffs and economic uncertainty could drive prices up further in the coming months. That being said, we have started to see a small but noticeable decrease in the growth of home prices and mortgage rates. 2025 Housing Market: Decrease in Home Price Growth While the prices of homes on the

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ISM® Manufacturing index Decreased to 48.7% in April

Calculated Risk

(Posted with permission). The ISM manufacturing index indicated expansion. The PMI was at 48.7% in April, down from 49.0% in March. The employment index was at 46.5%, up from 44.7% the previous month, and the new orders index was at 47.2%, up from 45.2%. From ISM: Manufacturing PMI at 48.7% April 2025 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in April for the second month in a row , following a two-month expansion preceded by 26 straight months

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You upgrade everything else. Why not your close process?

You wouldn’t keep using a 2009 flip phone - so why settle for outdated close processes? It’s time for an upgrade. SkyStem's Guide to Month-End Close Software walks you through what today’s best tools can do (and what your team shouldn’t have to deal with anymore). Get smart, fast, and a whole lot less stressed when it’s time to close the books.

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How to Turn Your Content Into a 24/7 Sales Team for Your Firm

Indigo Marketing Agency

How to Turn Your Content Into a 24/7 Sales Team for Your Firm Do you wish you had an agency sales machine to run all day, every day? Imagine having a top-performing salesperson who never sleeps, never asks for a raise, and warms up prospects before they ever hit your calendar. Sounds too good to be true? Thats exactly what strategic content can do for your business: become a 24/7 agency sales machine.

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Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Increase to 241,000

Calculated Risk

The DOL reported : In the week ending April 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 241,000 , an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 222,000 to 223,000. The 4-week moving average was 226,000, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average.

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Rollercoaster Ride

Investing Caffeine

Remember Liberation Day the day reciprocal tariffs were announced? For those of us strapped daily into the financial market seat, it has felt like an endless rollercoaster ride since that eventful day. It may not seem like it, but reciprocal tariffs were unveiled a mere four weeks ago. Initially, after the April 2 nd announcement, the stock market experienced a scary free fall.

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Longform links: economic surrealism

Abnormal Returns

Books Annie Duke talks with Rosalind Chow author of "The Doors You Can Open: A New Way to Network, Build Trust, and Use Your Influence to Create a More Inclusive Workplace." (annieduke.substack.com) An excerpt from "How to Fall in Love with Questions" by Elizabeth Weingarten. (behavioralscientist.org) An excerpt from "Learning to See: Inside the Worlds Leading Art and Design Schools" by Keith Sawyer (thereader.mitpress.mit.edu) An excerpt from "Year of the Rat: Undercover in the British Far Righ

Economics 147
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Your Accounting Expertise Will Only Get You So Far: What Really Matters

Speaker: Victor C. Barnes, CPA, MBA

In the climb from contributor to leader, the rules quietly change. If you’re aiming for the summit, the air gets thinner—and what got you here won’t be enough to get you to the top (a concept first popularized by Marshall Goldsmith in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There ). What made you successful early in your finance career—technical accuracy, sharp analysis, flawless execution—won’t be what carries you to the next level.

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May Is Disability Insurance Awareness Month

NAIFA Advisor Today

May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month (DIAM), an important time to highlight the critical role disability insurance plays in protecting the financial well-being of American workers and their families. NAIFA is committed to raising awareness and educating about necessity and value of disability insurance. NAIFA proudly participates in Disability Insurance Awareness Month, a national initiative led by Life Happens.

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Thursday links: creating lasting change

Abnormal Returns

April 2025 The S&P 500 returned -0.68% in April 2025. (on.spdji.com) How major asset classes performed in April 2025. (capitalspectator.com) Crypto Crypto trading is coming to E*Trade. (fa-mag.com) How Trump came to embrace crypto. (theatlantic.com) Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett has been in charge of Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.A) for 60 years now.

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The Essential Guide to Document Preservation for Estate and Business Planning

Wealth Management

Learn which personal and business documents to retain, how long to keep them, and best practices for document management to protect your future and estate.

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Friday: Employment Report

Calculated Risk

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios. Thursday: At 8:30 AM ET, Employment Report for April. The consensus is for 130,000 jobs added, and for the unemployment rate to be unchanged at 4.2%.

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Live Demo - Supercharge your Month End Close

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

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Former Ameriprise Exec Launches Advisory Practice with John Thiel’s Indivisible Partners RIA

Wealth Management

Sandy Bolton, former head of wealth management solutions at Ameriprise, has created SanWealth Partners, the second practice to join Indivisible Partners, the RIA launched by former Merrill Lynch executive John Thiel earlier this year.

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The U.S. Dollar vs. Your Portfolio

A Wealth of Common Sense

We also covered questions about the crazy moves in the stock market, bonds vs. high yield savings accounts, how to plan for a layoff and what to teach high school kids about personal finance. Further Reading: Is International Diversification Finally Working? The post The U.S. Dollar vs. Your Portfolio appeared first on A Wealth of Common Sense.

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Inside the Family Office Advantage in Private Real Estate: What RIAs Should Know

Wealth Management

Discover how RIAs should leverage family office platforms to provide clients with sophisticated real estate investment strategies and enhanced portfolio protection.

Portfolio 180
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Market Valuation: Is the Market Still Overvalued?

Advisor Perspectives

Here is a summary of the four market valuation indicators we update on a monthly basis.

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How To Overcome Change Fatigue In Finance With Neuroscience-Backed Strategies

Speaker: Kim Beynon, CPA, CGMA, PMP

The most overlooked, yet most critical, element of transformation is preparing people for change. Automation and AI aren't just technical upgrades, they’re cultural shifts which can challenge identities. That’s why change management isn’t a side project—it’s the foundation. In finance, where precision and process rule, navigating change can feel especially disruptive.

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CW Advisors Adds More Than $1B in Assets for 2nd Time This Year

Wealth Management

Boston-based RIA CW Advisors grows to $14B AUM through strategic acquisitions of Wolf Group Capital Advisors and Parsons Capital Management.

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Regression to Trend: S&P Composite 145% Above Trend in April

Advisor Perspectives

At the end of April, the inflation-adjusted S&P Composite Index was 145% above its long-term trend, down from 160% in March. This is the lowest variance in twelve months.

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How ETF Share Classes Could Transform Investor Access

Wealth Management

Explore how the potential approval of ETF share classes in mutual funds could transform investment options, enhance tax efficiency and reshape wealth management.

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ISM Manufacturing PMI: Slipped Further into Contraction in April

Advisor Perspectives

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) came in at 48.7 in April, indicating contraction in U.S. manufacturing for a second straight month. The latest reading was above the forecast of 48.0.

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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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Lido Adds $720M Arizona Firm, Bolstering Southwest Presence

Wealth Management

Copperwynd Financials entire team will join Lido, with the advisors becoming partners at the $29 billion RIA backed by Charlesbank and Constellation.

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Markets Look Forward. So Should Investors.

Financial Symmetry

Key Takeaways With a stark shift in US tariff policy announced on April 2 and ongoing responses worldwide, investors are on edge. Pain that investors may be feeling from current volatility reflects markets setting prices such that expected returns are always positive. While drops in stock prices can be nerve-racking, markets have historically bounced back from downturns.

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Carlyle, State Street Mull Partnership to Tap Retail Wealth

Wealth Management

State Street Corp.s asset-management arm held preliminary talks with Carlyle Group Inc. about a potential tie-up to create a product that would combine public and private markets for individual investors.

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WealthManagement.com: How ETF share classes could transform investor access

SEI

Wealth managers can act today to prepare their firms and clients for the potential regulatory shift to allow ETF share classes.

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The New Way Remote Finance Teams Are Protecting Accuracy And Building Resilience In A Cyber-Threatened World

Speaker: Cheryl J. Muldrew-McMurtry

Remote finance teams are rewriting how the back-office runs—and attackers are taking notes. Disconnected workflows, process blind spots, and rising cyber threats have become more than just “growing pains”. They’re now liabilities. The challenge isn’t just team distribution, but building resilient systems that protect accuracy, control, and speed across every transaction and touchpoint.