The Big Picture
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Do you want to continue working from home? Is it past time to return to the office? How much collaboration can you do remotely? How much screen time are you wasting in the office? This has become a contentious debate between senior management at large companies and their staffers; it is especially true for younger employees. As always, there are much broader factors driving this issue than what appears on the surface.
Abnormal Returns
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Markets The FTSE 100 Index has risen above 8,000 points for the first time ever. (bloomberg.com) Bitcoin is at its highest level since June 2022. (theblock.co) Companies Cory Doctorow, "In its nearly 25-year history, Google has made one and a half successful products: a once-great search engine and a pretty good Hotmail clone. Everything else it built in-house has crashed and burned.
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The Big Picture
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
My morning train WFH reads: • Five Clues This Isn’t Just a Bear Market Rally : The S&P 500 is up 17% from the October lows, the same magnitude as the 17% rally we saw last summer. Back then, stocks rolled back over and made new lows, something most strategists on tv are saying will happen again. Well, the facts are changing for us, and as Keynes told us in the quote above, we had better change our minds as well.
Abnormal Returns
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Books Five insights from "For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest" by Nathan Vardi. (nextbigideaclub.com) A Q&A with Malcolm Harris author of "Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism and the World." (fastcompany.com) Five insights from "Escape from Model Land: How Mathematical Models Can Lead Us Astray and What We Can Do About It" by Erica Thompson.
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Technology is rapidly changing the way accountants perform and manage month-end activities. Spreadsheets, email, and shared drives no longer have to slow us down. Join us as we present a "sneak peek" recorded demo of SkyStem's month-end close solution – ART. In under four weeks, your team can start reaping the benefits of month-end close automation by vastly reducing spreadsheets, cut down on reconciliation work, speed up the month-end close, and better manage your remote team.
Calculated Risk
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
The DOL reported : In the week ending February 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 194,000 , a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 196,000 to 195,000. The 4-week moving average was 189,500, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average.
Financial Advisor Source brings together the best content for financial advisor professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Calculated Risk
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
From the MBA: Mortgage Delinquencies Increase in the Fourth Quarter of 2022 The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.96 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
The author of the recently published book, Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track, discusses the challenges of retirement planning from both an advisor’s and client’s perspective.
Calculated Risk
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
From the NY Fed: Total Household Debt Reaches $16.90 trillion in Q4 2022; Mortgage and Auto Loan Growth Slows The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The Report shows an increase in total household debt in the fourth quarter of 2022, increasing by $394 billion (2.4%) to $16.90 trillion.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
As sellers become more concerned about marketing a property that fails to sell, it has opened up more opportunities for investors looking for off-market acquisitions.
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As we step into 2024, the lending landscape evolves rapidly with technology, regulations, and market dynamics driving change. For banks and financial institutions to stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of their customers, these drivers must be understood and engaged with. Lenders can anticipate significant transformation fueled by technological advancements, regulatory shifts, and changing consumer behaviors.
MarketWatch
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Snap Inc. SNAP Chief Executive Evan Spiegel on Thursday said the company’s Snapchat product now reaches more than 750 monthly active users, up from 600 million in April 2022 and 500 million in April 2021. The news kicked off Snap’s investor day. Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
The New York Times looks at how mall owners are using the addition of apartment components to their properties to drive up foot traffic and revenue. Eastdil Secured is laying off 7% of its workforce as investment sales have slowed down, according to Bisnow. These are among today’s must reads from around the commercial real estate industry.
MarketWatch
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Moderna Inc. will keep its COVID-19 vaccines available and free for all people in the U.S. after the public-health emergency ends. The news came as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, chair of the Senate's health, education, labor and pensions committee, called on Moderna to testify before Congress on a proposed price increase for the vaccine, which Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel agreed to do.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Service platform NewEdge plans a pivot to acquisitions with a focus on buying the practices of younger, growth-hungry advisors who will then buy and manage firms of retiring advisors in their own regions.
Speaker: Joe Buhrmann, MBA, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC® Senior Financial Planning Practice Management Consultant eMoney Advisor
During an era of evolving consumer preferences, the banking sector is undergoing a profound shift. As customers continue to broaden their perspectives, banking professionals must support their customers' financial wellness by providing holistic financial advice that aligns with individual goals and circumstances. Without adapting, financial institutions will find that loyalty may crumble amid uncertainty.
Good Financial Cents
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Over the last year and a half, investors have been learning firsthand the importance of diversification. When the stock market is going up consistently, diversification isn’t usually “front of mind” for investors. That is because, for that period of time at least, inadequate diversification is benefitting you. The problems start when prices of stocks begin to go the other direction.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Sequoia’s latest acquisition will double assets and clients under the firm’s family office practice and expand its asset management menu across its entire client base.
Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
By Antoinette Tuscano, MDRT Content Specialist Don’t wait to evaluate your performance. Instead, start early in the year to think about how you can improve in the upcoming months to create a successful year. Here are a few ideas from MDRT members and other experts on how to keep getting better. 1) Review goals weekly Don’t wait until the end of the year to review your goals, because it could be too late by then, said 19-year MDRT member Ravi Pahlajrai Rajpal from Mumbai, India.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Focus Financial released quarterly earnings exceeding industry and in-house expectations, despite dips in the firm’s organic growth and M&A activity in 2022.
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Digital platforms can provide you with plenty of solutions, yet many are still intimidated by them. It's time to end that worry and embrace what could make a major difference for your bank. Understanding how they work and how to best utilize them for your banks is key toward success. In this article, Biz2X breaks down all things digital platforms, including the many advantages of embracing them.
eMoney Advisor
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
There’s nothing quite like the flurry of excitement and activity around onboarding a new client and getting started on their financial plan. It’s a busy time—having meetings and conversations to get to know the client, collecting and inputting their information, and helping them uncover their financial hopes and aspirations. But what often happens after that initial influx of activity is a lull that can make you feel like you should be doing more.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Shane Morrow discusses leaving insurance-based independent broker/dealer, Lincoln Financial, and how his new firm, IronBridge Wealth Counsel, has thrived with Advisor Group's SagePoint Financial.
A Wealth of Common Sense
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
A reader asks: So I work in Tech at a company whose name ends in dot ai and there is all this talk of the AI bubble and how VCs have quickly moved from Crypto to AI, not to mention all the buzz around ChatGPT. Question is – can you have a bubble in a high rate / rising rate interest environment or do we need low rates / easing Fed as a precursor to any bubble?
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
The Wall Street Journal analyzes how a hedge fund helped Bed Bath & Beyond avoid bankruptcy. After scaling back its workforce by thousands, Google has reassessed the timeline for a massive project in San Jose, Calif., reports The Real Deal. These are among today’s must reads from around the commercial real estate industry.
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All accounting teams know what it is like to dread the inevitable month-end scaries. If there was a way to feel less burdened and maybe even a little enthusiastic to work on your month-end close and reconciliation process, would you do it? No, don't answer that, of course you would! Automate your month-end close process by up to 40% with SkyStem's ART and see how much more alive you feel!
Advisor Perspectives
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
The Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U) released for January puts the year-over-year inflation rate at 6.41%. It is well above the 3.74% average since the end of the Second World War and above its 10-year moving average, now at 2.52%.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Toronto is North America’s fourth-largest city and second-largest financial center, and on many days its downtown is bustling again. However, a range of data suggest a more downbeat trend: Toronto’s workers are returning to the office at consistently lower rates than comparable metros.
MarketWatch
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Tesla Inc. TSLA stock turned lower Thursday after news that more than 300,000 of its vehicles are hit by a recall related to the EV maker’s self-driving software. Tesla had shaken off weakness earlier in the week, gaining for two straight sessions and starting Thursday in the black. The stock earlier this month notched an 8-day winning streak, leading one analyst to say it was “overextended.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Funds focused on clean energy and semiconductors were among the best-performing over the last five years.
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Creating a winning digital lending experience requires plenty of focus on the needs of customers and more. Biz2X Chief Product Officer Aaron Traub covers everything from how to create such an experience, areas to hone in on, pitfalls to avoid, and plenty more in this insightful article. Discover how to utilize new technology without alienating existing customers, what to emphasize when working on your platform, and how to utilize the data at your disposal while not becoming overly reliant on it.
MarketWatch
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
TravelCenters of America Inc. TA said Thursday it has agreed to be acquired by BP Plc BP for $86 a share in cash, or about $1.3 billion. The price is equal to an 84% premium over the average trading price of the stock in the 30 days ended Feb. 15. The deal is expected to close by mid-year, 2023, and two of the company’s main shareholders — RMR Group RMR, with a 4.1% stake, and Service Properties Trust SVC with 7.8% of the stock — have agreed to vote their shares in favor of it.
Wealth Management
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein provides his take on the biggest news to hit advisor technology in the previous month.
MarketWatch
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Moderna Inc. MRNA shares dove more than 5% in after-hours trading Thursday, after the company announced that a study into a flu vaccine candidate failed to reach one of its goals. The company said that the candidate accomplished superiority in two goals and non-inferiority in another, but did not reach the non-inferiority standard on the other goal of the study.
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