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Change is difficult, and when faced with the prospect of a change, many people opt to stick with the status quo. This is even true in the case of positive changes, such as a new job opportunity or relationship: Even though it might be very likely to make the person’s life better, it represents a departure from life as usual, and there is always the risk that the change won’t work out the way it was expected to.
From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 3.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 9, 2022. The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week and was 85 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
Early Benchmark Revisions of State Payroll Employment Please consider Early Benchmarks for All 50 States and the District of Columbia for the second quarter of 2022. Estimates by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia indicate that the employment changes from March through June 2022 were significantly different in 33 states and the District of Columbia compared with current state estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES).
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
There seems to be a lot of confusion going on today with respect to inflation, interest rates, and ongoing Federal Reserve policy. A framework for exploring this has many parts: What the Fed (obviously) knows, how it express those views through police like FOMC rates, ZIRP, QE, QT, etc. There remains the question of what the Fed is actually wrong about. 1 .
Active inventory decreased last week. Here are the same week inventory changes for the last four years ( usually inventory declines seasonally through the Winter ): 2022: -13.9K 2021: -11.7K 2020: -12.4K 2019: -12.4K Altos reports inventory is down 2.6% week-over-week and down 7.2% from the peak on October 28th. Click on graph for larger image. This inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research.
This past week we stayed at the Post Oak in Houston, one of the top ten hotels in America, supposedly 6 or 7 stars – and let me tell you, that place was opulent. More marble in one building than anywhere I’ve ever been, save for perhaps the Vatican. Billionaire hospitality guru Tilman Fertitta, the hotel’s owner, furnished this place as though he would actually live there – and he does.
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This past week we stayed at the Post Oak in Houston, one of the top ten hotels in America, supposedly 6 or 7 stars – and let me tell you, that place was opulent. More marble in one building than anywhere I’ve ever been, save for perhaps the Vatican. Billionaire hospitality guru Tilman Fertitta, the hotel’s owner, furnished this place as though he would actually live there – and he does.
In this week’s podcast, I chatted with Kathleen McCarthy , Global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate. 1 We recorded this on November 30 th , before all the news broke on the BREIT liquidity gates. But I am very familiar with the product. RWM is a discretionary RIA, which primarily invests in stocks and bonds via ETFs, Mutual Funds, and Direct Indexing.
Expectations are the FOMC will announce a 50bp rate increase in the federal funds rate at the meeting this week and increase the "terminal rate" to 5-5.25%. From Merrill Lynch: "A relatively soft November inflation report is unlikely to affect the Fed’s decision. It has clearly telegraphed a 50bp hike in December , which would take the federal funds rate to 4.25-4.5%.
Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” - this week’s edition kicks off with the news that CFP Board is forming a Competency Standards Commission in 2023 to review and evaluate its competency requirements for Education, Examination, Experience, and CE, which represents an opportunity for CFP Board to adjust its requirements, in alignment with the desires of the CFP community itself, to build confidence among the public that those with the CFP m
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.
My morning train WFH reads: • Why You Should Enable Apple’s New Security Feature in iOS 16.2 Right Now : Apple just rolled out iOS 16.2, a software update that includes a key new feature called Advanced Data Protection for iCloud. That means you can finally enable end-to-end encryption for your iCloud backups so no one but you—not even Apple—can access your iCloud data. ( New York Times ). • The FUD Behind the Crypto Collapse : Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance’s Changpeng Zhao were ostensible partn
Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report released today from Chief Economist Danielle Hale: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending Dec 10, 2022. Note: They have data on list prices, new listings and more, but this focus is on inventory. • Active inventory growth held steady with for-sale homes up 55% above one year ago.
A few weeks back I sat down with Bank of America’s quantitative and equity strategist Savita Subramanian and fellow financial advisor Georgia Lee Hussey to talk about how investors can protect themselves and find opportunity in 2023. There’s definitely a cloud hanging over the year to come – we’ve never seen a steeper or faster rate hiking cycle in the last half century and a lot of trends that mad.
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.
Increasingly, dynamic, high-growth companies are staying private, closing off significant options for workplace retirement savers. But putting a traditional PE fund inside a 401(k) plan would bring more problems than it solves.
Quant The CFA Institute has fallen down on the job of advancing industry knowledge. (linkedin.com) A round-up of recent research on valuation including 'Valuation When Disaster Risks Increase at an Increasing Rate.' (capitalspectator.com) Hedging strategies Hedging strategies come in two different flavors: fast and slow. (aqr.com) Can trend following move the needle on a portfolio?
Note: This index is a leading indicator primarily for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment. From the AIA: Demand for design services continues to slow Demand for design services from architecture firms continued to decrease in November, according to a new report from The American Institute of Architects (AIA). The pace of decline during November accelerated from October, posting an Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score of 46.6 from 47.7 (any score below 50 indicates a decline in firm bi
Financial advisors have had to navigate many challenges in 2022, from an inflationary environment, the likes of which we have not experienced in decades, to weak stock and bond market performance. Here at Kitces.com, we have sought to provide advisors with the insights and education they need to help their clients (and their firms) navigate these uncertain conditions, from blog posts and podcasts on these trending topics to the continued expansion of our Kitces Courses and our popular monthly Of
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.
Podcasts Christine Benz and Jeff Ptak talks with Jamie Hopkins of Carson Wealth about some common retirement planning questions. (morningstar.com) Peter Lazaroff talks with Ben Carlson about questions that spreadsheets can't necessarily answer. (peterlazaroff.com) Dan Kemp and Ollie Smith talk with Joe Wiggins author of the new book "The Intelligent Fund Investor.
The DOL reported : In the week ending December 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 211,000 , a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 230,000 to 231,000. The 4-week moving average was 227,250, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average.
Month-over-month CPI food prices from the BLS, chart by Mish. Month-Over-Month Details For November Meat, Fish, Poultry, Eggs: -0.2%, up 9 of 11 months in 2022 Cereals and Bakery:+1.1%, up 11 of 11 months in 2022 Dairy: +0.7 percent: up 11 of 11 months in 2022 Fruits and Vegetables: up 1.4%, up 9 of 11 months in 2022 Nonalcoholic Beverages: -0.3%, up 10 of 11 months in 2022 Other Food at Home: -0.1%, up 10 of 11 months in 2022 Three Major Food Categories.
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.
Friday ranks as the most popular day to work from home over the past six months, followed closely by Thursday, while Wednesday is the most common day to be on site.
Finance Why Robinhood ($HOOD) is offering IRA accounts to its customers. (riabiz.com) HSBC has announced it will stop financing new oil and gas fields. (bbc.com) Elon Elon Musk sold another big batch of Tesla ($TSLA) shares. (wsj.com) While SpaceX shares hold their value. (axios.com) Funds Blackrock's ($BLK) iShares is set to best Vanguard when it comes to 2022 fund flows.
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: 3rd Look at Local Housing Markets in November A brief excerpt: First, a few excerpts from the Austin Board of Realtors® November release: For the first time since February 2019, median home prices in the Austin-Round Rock MSA experienced a 0% year over year increase , according to the Austin Board of REALTORS® November 2022 Central Texas Housing Market Report. … housing inventory almost quadrupled to 3.1 months of inventory year over year for
Target 2 balances from the ECB, numbers and caption by Mish. TARGET2 is the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system owned and operated by the Eurosystem. The Target2 Lead Chart is courtesy of the ECB. It shows Target 2 creditor and debtor nations. Tatget2 is one of the fundamental flaws of the Eurozone. Primary Creditors and Debtors Target2 surpluses to the tune of €1.23 trillion continue to mount in Germany.
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?
My Two-for-Tuesday train reads: • The fall of FTX shocked everyone. Except this guy. The world of cryptocurrency is rich with eccentric characters and anonymous Twitter personalities. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the early figures who called attention to the problems with Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, is a 30-year-old Michigan psychiatrist who investigates financial crimes as a hobby. ( The Atlantic ). • You Bought a Hot Fund.
With the pandemic, there was a surge in 2nd home buying. I'm looking at data for some second home markets - and I'm tracking those markets to see if there is an impact from lending changes, rising mortgage rates or the easing of the pandemic. This graph is for South Lake Tahoe since 2004 through November 2022, and shows inventory (blue), and the year-over-year (YoY) change in the median price (12-month average).
Dot Plot Interest Rate projections from FOMC, highlights and annotations by Mish. Please consider the FOMC Press Release from December 14. Recent indicators point to modest growth in spending and production. Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures.
Managing spend is more than a cost cutting exercise – it's a pathway to smarter decisions that unlock efficiency and drive growth. By understanding and refining the spending process, financial leaders can empower their organizations to achieve more with less. Explore the art of balancing financial control with operational growth. From uncovering hidden inefficiencies to designing workflows that scale your business, we’ll share strategies to align your organization’s spending with its strategic g
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