Thu.Aug 04, 2022

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Trade Deficit decreased to $79.6 Billion in June

Calculated Risk

From the Department of Commerce reported : The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $79.6 billion in June, down $5.3 billion from $84.9 billion in May, revised. June exports were $260.8 billion, $4.3 billion more than May exports. June imports were $340.4 billion, $1.0 billion less than May imports. emphasis added Click on graph for larger image.

Economics 361
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Edelman Financial Engines Acquires Smart Investor

Wealth Management

Edelman acquires a Northern California firm with small retirement plan capabilities as it moves to incorporate more M&A into growth strategy.

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10 Thursday AM Reads

The Big Picture

My morning train WFH reads: • Could This Little European Fund Be the Spark for a ‘Vanguard of Hedge Funds’? Hedge fund replication — which can be thought of as a slightly more complicated version of a stock index fund — just got a big boost from a small fund. Seven years after its launch, an SEI fund is beating all its illustrious peers. That could be enough to finally make this hedge fund replication’s moment.( Institutional Investor ). • Things Are Clear as Mud : This year has been all about i

Economy 277
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11 Must Reads for the CRE Industry Today (Aug. 5, 2022)

Wealth Management

Las Vegas’ hospitality and casino industries are booming, reports The Wall Street Journal. GeekWire looks at the role online investment platforms have played in the U.S. housing market. These are among today’s must reads from around the commercial real estate industry.

Investing 290
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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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Surprises? Not Many

The Big Picture

“With over 71% of S&P 500 companies finished reporting revenues and earnings for Q2-2021, the revenue and earnings surprises are at their lowest levels since the pandemic recovery began. Revenues are beating the consensus forecast by 2.5%, and earnings have exceeded estimates by 5.6%.” – Ed Yardeni. We enter the dog days of summer with markets coming off of their best July in years.

Economics 264
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Hub International Buys $2.3B RIA WealthPlan

Wealth Management

Hub International's latest acquisition will continue its Southwest expansion.

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More Trending

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Q&A: Lacey Shrum's Quest to Fix RIAs' Billing Problems

Wealth Management

The attorney and founder of Smart Kx talks about the why behind her startup, among other things.

Startup 288
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Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increase to 260,000

Calculated Risk

The DOL reported : In the week ending July 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 260,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 2,000 from 256,000 to 254,000. The 4-week moving average was 254,750, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average.

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RIA Edge Podcast: Jim Gold on Breaking the Mold in the RIA Business

Wealth Management

The co-founder and CEO of Steward Partners discusses the biggest drivers of growth in his firm.

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Longform links: restaurant problems

Abnormal Returns

Books An excerpt from Peter Norton’s book “Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City.” (thereader.mitpress.mit.edu) An excerpt from "The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss by Mary-Frances O’Connor. (behavioralscientist.org) Environment Louisiana has been losing land for decades. A look at a plan to reverse things.

Media 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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Hype or Not? Episode 6: Decumulation Technology

Wealth Management

Senior Tech Editor Davis Janowski and industry consultant Tim Welsh debate the merits of technology platforms aimed at helping clients in the decumulation phase.

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July Employment Preview

Calculated Risk

On Friday at 8:30 AM ET, the BLS will release the employment report for July. The consensus is for 250,000 jobs added, and for the unemployment rate to be unchanged at 3.6%. There were 372,000 jobs added in June, and the unemployment rate was at 3.6%. Click on graph for larger image. • First, currently there are still about 500 thousand fewer jobs than in February 2020 (the month before the pandemic).

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WeWork Offices Are Now Just as Full as They Were Before the Pandemic

Wealth Management

WeWork management has maintained that more customers are drawn to its flexible office space offering as they attempt to figure out long-term real estate strategies in a new world of hybrid and remote work. It now has 62,000 subscriptions to its All-Access pass.

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Goldman July Payrolls Preview

Calculated Risk

A few brief excerpts from a note by Goldman Sachs economist Spencer Hill: We estimate nonfarm payrolls rose by 225k in July (mom sa). The July seasonal factors have become significantly more restrictive—even more so than in June—and the seasonal adjustment algorithm may be overfitting to the reopening-related job strength in the summers of 2020 and 2021.

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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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Mindy Diamond on Independence: Ex-Merrill ACTM Chair to Independent Business Owner

Wealth Management

Kelly Milligan describes his journey at Merrill from zero to $1.5B in AUM, his role as chair of the ACTM, the change in culture at the firm and how that motivated him and his team to launch independent firm Quorum Private Wealth.

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Thursday links: methodical implementation

Abnormal Returns

Markets Michael Batnick, "Maybe we aren’t in a recession, but there’s certainly a lot of pain out there. And a lot of pessimism. If everyone feels like we’re in a recession, why does it matter what the data says?" (theirrelevantinvestor.com) The stock market is seemingly pricing in a shallow recession. (ritholtz.com) Strategy Jack Raines, "The market doesn't care about your obsession.

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Creating Your Ideal Job. Throughout Your Career

Wealth Management

It’s up to you to choose your path.

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Avoiding Momentum Crashes

Alpha Architect

Across markets, momentum is one of the most prominent anomalies and leads to high risk-adjusted returns. On the downside, momentum exhibits huge tail risk as there are short but persistent periods of highly negative returns. Crashes occur in rebounding bear markets, when momentum displays negative betas and momentum volatility is high. Based on ex-ante calculations of these risk measures we construct a crash indicator that effectively isolates momentum crashes from momentum bull markets.

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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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Bracing for Like-Kind Exchange Reform

Wealth Management

August 25, 2022

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Is Housing a Bubble Waiting to Pop?

A Wealth of Common Sense

A reader asks: For all these new home buyers who bought at massive house prices due to ultra-low rates…will they then get screwed when house prices normalize with ~6% rates being the norm? So like when they sell their home to move, they may be selling at a loss? Is this not a bubble waiting to pop? This is always a possibility. There was a massive pull forward in housing returns these past couple of years.

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SEC Tells Advisors How To Address Conflicts of Interest

Wealth Management

The SEC staff bulletin detailed instances in which firms may be required to disclose, mitigate and if necessary, eliminate conflicts of interest to comply with the Regulation Best Interest rule.

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How To Use Case Studies on Your Advisor Website: A Complete Guide

Twenty Over Ten

If you’re trying to add a little something extra to your website, case studies may be just the new creative piece you’re looking for!

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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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August 2022 Riskalyze Fintech 5

Wealth Management

Founder and CEO Aaron Klein provides his take on the biggest news to hit advisor technology in the previous month.

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Why I decided to part ways with my mentor 

Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)

By Xiao Chen, CFP This is one of the major decisions I had to make during my business career. When I started in the financial services profession, I was with a mentor, and she was a very warm person. She taught me a lot — everything that I needed to know to get started. But later on, as I took on more of a management role within the company, there were some fundamental philosophical differences on in how we run our businesses.

CFP 104
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Some Institutional Investors Are Pulling Out of the Industrial Sector. Here’s Why.

Wealth Management

The pandemic caused many institutional investors to switch their focus to industrial properties. Now that interest rates are rising, they are changing course again.

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Denver Real Estate in July: Sales Off 31.6% YoY, Inventory Up 81.5%

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Denver Real Estate in July: Sales Off 31.6% YoY, Inventory Up 81.5% A brief excerpt: Every month I track about 35 local housing markets in the US, and I usually post several markets at a time. But this is worth noting. Sales in Denver were off almost 32% year-over-year in July, compared to down 23.6% in June.

Sales 100
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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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ETF Takeover of Wall Street Deepens as Debt Funds Are OK'd as Collateral

Wealth Management

"Overall, it’s another use case for ETFs, besides long-term investing, tactical directional bets, and hedging.

Investing 173
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Paying for Health Care in Retirement

Carson Wealth

By Ryan Yamada, Senior Wealth Planner . . When putting away for retirement, we often dream about all the things we’ll be able to do with that money – traveling, going out to eat, maybe trying new hobbies. . Of course, there are always the everyday household expenses to account for in your post-retirement budget. But one budget line that doesn’t always get enough attention?

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No One Should Be Buying Single-Stock ETFs

Wealth Management

The longer people dabble in them, the worse off they’re likely to be.

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Financial Advisor Website Showcase: New Lantern Advisors

FMG

For today’s Advisor Website Showcase, we are joined by Michael Allison of New Lantern Advisors. We sent Michael some of our most in-depth questions so far to see how he handled his website, transitioning into virtual work, and fighting against his kryptonite. Modernize Your Website. The second you open the New Lantern Advisors website, you’re instantly drawn in with a unique and interesting animated set of videos along with a CTA.

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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.