The Big Picture

APRIL 6, 2023

Ever see those IR stories announcing a firm is “increasing its exposure” or “boosting our stake” or “unloading shares” in a given company? Sounds like someone with more resources, insights, and connections KNOWS something about a stock that you do not. Should you then follow the recommended announcements? Absolutely not. Here is why: These posts seem to be a bizarre combination of public records scraping and AI; they look like they were designed to generate clicks rather than reflect honest inve

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Wealth Management Portfolio Management Clients Portfolio 269

The Reformed Broker

APRIL 5, 2023

I get a lot of emails and LinkedIn messages about our “funnel” these days. Hiring funnel, sales funnel, etc. Usually it’s coming from well-meaning companies who are focused on recruiting and headhunting or lead generation and prospecting. A typical firm in our industry is probably in need of what they’re offering. I have tried to build an atypical firm.

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Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 5, 2023

In recent years, the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) has endured some drastic changes resulting from legislative action that have altered the strategies estate planning professionals have recommended to clients. And while the near-constant drumbeat of proposed legislative actions that would further alter the estate planning landscape has led some planners to try to 'get ahead' of those changes by suggesting action in anticipation of those bills becoming laws, doing so can come with risks… espe

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Estate Planning Planning Taxes Clients 219

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 7, 2023

Strategy What does ChatGPT know about investing? (morningstar.com) Why fund managers don't want to talk about skill. (behaviouralinvestment.com) Money market mutual fund assets are surging. (axios.com) Companies Microsoft ($MSFT) and Google ($GOOGL) are pushing ahead with AI despite their limitations. (nytimes.com) The metaverse was a 'fever dream.' (youngmoney.co) Tech stock investors love big layoffs.

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Startup Financial Advising Economy Media 207

Speaker: Nancy Wu, Head of Sales and Customer Success at SkyStem

Join us for an enlightening webinar as we delve into the transformative realm of modern accounting practices. In today's digital age, the convergence of outsourcing and automation has revolutionized how businesses manage their financial operations. In this webinar we will explore the synergistic potential of these two strategies to streamline processes, enhance accuracy, save cost and drive strategic decision-making.

Accounting

The Big Picture

APRIL 3, 2023

The consulting firm Global SWF tracks all the important info about Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) and Public Pension Funds (PPFs). Its an amazing collection of charts and data. The asset value peak was $33.6 trillion (USD) in 2021; that’s down only slightly to $31.4 trillion as of the end of 2022. Given the rough year markets had in 2022, including all of the held asset classes, it is an impressive, albeit curious showing.

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Assets Consulting Taxes Marketing 300

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 7, 2023

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that the T3/Inside Information Software Survey is available, providing insights into which technology tools advisors use and their level of satisfaction with them, which highlighted the continued rise of specialized financial planning software tools for topics like taxes and Social Security as advisors continue to seek tools tobroaden and deepen their planning capabilities.

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Financial Planner Ethics Financial Advisor Clients 199

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 7, 2023

The biz Is the podcast boom going bust? (vanityfair.com) How Edward Herrmann continues to narrate audiobooks after his passing. (wsj.com) Spotify ($SPOT) has shut down Spotify Live. (musically.com) Recommendations 10 podcast episodes you might like including Cliff Asness on 'Masters in Business' with Barry Ritholtz. (riskofruinpod.substack.com) 10 podcasts the team at Oaktree Capital recommend including 'Masters in Business.

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Assets Management 201

The Big Picture

APRIL 7, 2023

My end-of-week, market’s-closed-but-BLS-open Good Friday reads: • Here’s What Happens at the IRS After You File Your Taxes Refunds can come in five days—or a few months. ( Wall Street Journal ) • How Models Get the Economy Wrong : Seemingly complex and sophisticated econometric modeling often fails to take into account common sense and observable reality. ( American Prospect ) see also Six Ways Existing Economic Models Are Killing the Economy : The alleged science doesn’t match up to the r

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Valuation Advertising Economy Food 286

The Reformed Broker

APRIL 1, 2023

And if you haven’t subscribed yet, don’t wait. Check it out below or wherever fine podcasts are played. . The post This Week on TRB appeared first on The Reformed Broker.

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Banking

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 3, 2023

Welcome to the April 2023 issue of the Latest News in Financial #AdvisorTech – where we look at the big news, announcements, and underlying trends and developments that are emerging in the world of technology solutions for financial advisors! This month's edition kicks off with the news that RIA custodial platform Altruist has built its own full self-clearing capabilities, while nearly simultaneously buying competing (not-self-clearing) custodian Shareholder Services Group (SSG) – wh

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Estate Planning Financial Planning Wealth Management Clients 189

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 1, 2023

EVs The Ford Mustang Mach-E is attracting new drivers to the brand. (msn.com) GM ($GM) is cutting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto out of future EVs. (theverge.com) The strange path that Shorepower, an EV charger provider, took to going public. (axios.com) Energy Japan is not taking advantage of its geothermal resources. (nytimes.com) The upside of modular nuclear: it takes up less space than wind or solar.

Financial Advising 199

Financial Advising Education Media Numbers 199

The Big Picture

APRIL 5, 2023

A quick note before everybody scampers off for the holidays. The impact of Technology on indices since the GFC is indisputable. But if you want to see exactly what their weight looks like on markets over that decade-plus era, check out the Statista video above. Or, you can see Invictus applying Bob Farrell’s rules to the Tosteern Slok’s FANGM work: Time to invoke Farrell’s Rule #7?

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Communication Marketing Marketing 278

The Reformed Broker

APRIL 6, 2023

I’ve been reading Jamie Dimon’s letter to JPMorgan Chase shareholders over the last two days (it’s long) and wanted to check in here to share this bit about what happened with the banking system this spring. He is uniquely positioned to share a point of view on it… The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States and Credit Suisse in Europe, and the related stress in the bankin.

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Banking Marketing Marketing 246

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.

Financial Advice

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 6, 2023

One of the benefits of owning a financial planning business is an advisor’s ability to control their work schedule. While some advisors might want to go full throttle, perhaps working well over 40 hours per week and taking few days off, others might prefer a more relaxed schedule, perhaps taking every Friday off or going on vacation for multiple weeks each year.

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Clients Communication Financial Planning Numbers 171

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 5, 2023

Podcasts Morgan Housel talks about why our brains covet the pursuit of new stuff. (open.spotify.com) Benjamin Felix and Cameron Passmore talk with Daniel Pink about the power of regret to help induce change. (rationalreminder.libsyn.com) Investing The stock market is in a drawdown more often than not. (awealthofcommonsense.com) Index funds don't call you in the middle of the night saying the roof is leaking.

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Ethics Financial Planner Financial Advising Financial Planning 183

The Big Picture

APRIL 5, 2023

My mid-week morning train WFH reads: • What to Know About TurboTax Before You File Your Taxes This Year : Don’t get tricked into paying for tax prep if you don’t have to. Learn how the biggest tax preparation companies have suppressed free filling options for years. ( ProPublica ) • The Bloomberg Terminal Just Got a ChatGPT-Style Upgrade : The new technology is designed to make searching the terminal simpler. ( Institutional Investor ) see also How Will AI Change Investing?

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Taxes Valuation Assets Media 278

The Reformed Broker

APRIL 7, 2023

Welcome to the latest episode of The Compound & Friends. This week, Michael Batnick, Tony Dwyer, and Downtown Josh Brown discuss how long an inverted yield curve can last, the unemployment rate and recession, bank lending standards, the Fed, commercial real estate, AI, and much more! You can listen to the whole thing below, or find it wherever you like to listen to your favorite pods!

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Banking Marketing Marketing 235

Speaker: Carolina Aponte - Owner and CEO, Caja Holdings LLC

In today's rapidly changing business environment, building a resilient balance sheet is crucial to the survival of any business. A resilient balance sheet allows a company to withstand financial shocks and adapt to changing market conditions. To achieve this, companies need to focus on key strategies such as maintaining adequate liquidity, managing debt levels, diversifying revenue streams, and prioritizing profitability over growth.

Financial Planning

Calculated Risk

APRIL 6, 2023

Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report released today from Sabrina Speianu: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending Apr 1, 2023 • Active inventory growth continued to climb, but at a lower rate, with for-sale homes up 53% above one year ago. The inventory of for-sale homes rose compared to last year, but at a slower pace than the previous week for a third time in a row as a smaller number of hopeful homebuyers still outnumber new se

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Sales Numbers Marketing Marketing 145

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 2, 2023

Strategy Your investment strategy needs to work in all markets. (awealthofcommonsense.com) How to dole out risk in your portfolio. (humbledollar.com) AI is going to change just about every industry. (thereformedbroker.com) Banks Why SVB was able to skate stricter bank regulation. (nytimes.com) Regional banks are a linchpin for the economy. (nytimes.com) Why banks resist mark-to-market accounting rules.

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Financial Advising Banking Economy Insurance 175

A Wealth of Common Sense

APRIL 6, 2023

I am a glass-is-half-full kind of person and have been getting a lot of feedback from people of late that the world is only getting worse. Here’s a post from a few years ago that lists the immense progress we’ve seen as a species. * “I am not an optimist. I am a very serious possibilist.” – Hans Rosling You don’t have to look too far to find negativity these days.

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The Reformed Broker

APRIL 4, 2023

Join Downtown Josh Brown and Michael Batnick for another round of What Are Your Thoughts? On this week’s episode, Josh and Michael discuss the biggest topics in investing and finance, including: ►Inflation Cooling – “Excluding food and energy, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures price index — rose 0.3% in February after the prior month was revised down.

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Marketing Marketing Food Investing 231

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Accounting

Calculated Risk

APRIL 7, 2023

From the BLS : Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 236,000 in March, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.5 percent , the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services, and health care. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised down by 32,000, from +504,000 to +472,000, and the change for February was revised up by 15,000, from +311,000 to +326,

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Government 144

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 2, 2023

Also on the site Do you wonder why everything looks the same these days? (abnormalreturns.com) Top clicks this week Just because you can invest in alternative assets, means you should. (realreturns.blog) The stock market is almost always in a drawdown. (awealthofcommonsense.com) Shifting your asset allocation based on economic forecasts is a fool's errand.

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Asset Allocation Assets Economics Portfolio 167

Wealth Management

APRIL 4, 2023

Rising CMBS delinquencies and potential defaults continued to dominate headlines. The real estate industry is not doing enough to cut down on carbon emissions, reported Bisnow. These are among today’s must reads from around the commercial real estate industry.

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The Reformed Broker

APRIL 6, 2023

Final Trades: Pioneer, Oracle, CVS & more from CNBC. The post Clips From Today’s Halftime Report appeared first on The Reformed Broker.

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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.

Banking

Calculated Risk

APRIL 2, 2023

Here is another monthly update on framing lumber prices. This graph shows CME random length framing futures through March 31st. Lumber is currently at $60 per 1000 board feet. This is down from the peak of $1,733, and down 63% from $1008 a year ago. Prices are below the pre-pandemic levels of around $400. Click on graph for larger image. There is somewhat of a seasonal demand for lumber, and lumber prices usually peak in April or May.

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Getting Your Financial Ducks In A Row

APRIL 3, 2023

We’ve covered a lot of ground with regard to how various tax laws impact your retirement plans: pensions, IRAs, 403(b) and 401(k) plans. But we’ve primarily focused on the US income tax laws (the IRS) affect your plans – and there are many nuances that you need to take into account with regard to state tax laws. State Tax The big deal with state tax laws and retirement plans is that some states have special tax deals for money inside of retirement plans.

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Retirement Planning Retirement Planning Taxes 113

Wealth Management

APRIL 3, 2023

Recent surveys indicate a high demand over the next two years from family offices for illiquid assets, including real estate.

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Assets 136