2022

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Collapse in Prospective Home Buyer Traffic

The Big Picture

At the beginning of each quarter, I prepare a short but in-depth conference call for RWM clients. The team & I put together the most revealing and informative slides. In that half hour, I blow through ~40 slides that capture and explain what is going on. About a quarter of the October 2022 slides were focused on real estate. This is atypical. The reason we emphasized real estate this Q is that housing is very often where we see FOMC policy having its most immediate effect.

Budgeting 363
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Bitcoin Hits a New 52-Week Low, Where to From Here?

Mish Talk

Bitcoin daily chart courtesy of StockCharts.Com. I have been making notes, some of them incorrectly. Apologies offered. Generational Bottoms Bitcoin is Life Hoot of the Day (From May 2022). Hmm 6 months is up. On May 8, Bitcoin was $34,000. It's now under $16,000. That's OK because 6 months doesn't matter and $1BTC is still $1BTC. Bitcoin Log Chart.

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RIP Financial Conferences

The Big Picture

The traditional finance conference was murdered this week. A stake was driven through its heart by innovators tired of the old ways. It was, to be fair, a mercy killing. Living in the past, running on inertia, nobody bothered to tell the patient that it was time to say your goodbyes before we pull the plug. The industry had forgotten why it even exists: To serve an audience that wants to get out of the office, hang with its peers, and learn how to be better at what it does.

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Why they clapped for Sam Bankman-Fried

The Reformed Broker

LET’S GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO SAM BANKMAN-FRIED pic.twitter.com/HIVB3nTX2V — The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) November 30, 2022 Last night’s interview between the New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin and Sam Bankman-Fried ended with the host thanking the accused criminal mastermind for coming, despite the protestations of his lawyers. The audience applauded as the screen went black.

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Register Now: Sneak Peek Into Close Automation SkyStem Web Demo

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.

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Update: Framing Lumber Prices Close to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Calculated Risk

Here is another monthly update on framing lumber prices. This graph shows CME random length framing futures through December 6th. Lumber was at $413 per 1000 board feet this morning. This is down from the peak of $1,733, and down 54% from $907 a year ago. Prices are close to 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, although prices peaked much earlier this year.

Marketing 145

More Trending

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Was that the Bottom?

The Irrelevant Investor

Stocks got washed out in the third quarter. Whether you were looking at prices or people’s reactions to said prices, it was hard to find anything positive to say other than things are so bad they’re actually good. That might sound silly, but it’s not. It’s the truth. The riskier stocks feel, the less risky they get over time.

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How to Make Money Fast: 21 Proven Ways to Earn Money Quickly

Good Financial Cents

While investing for the long haul is the best way to build long-term wealth, there are situations where what you really need is the ability to earn money within a day or a few hours. Maybe you need to fill up your gas tank so you can get to work, or perhaps you have bills that need to be paid before your next check comes in. Either way, it’s easy to stress over making ends meet when your bank balance is teetering dangerously close to $0.

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Episode #456: Marc Cohodes on SBF, Fraud, & The FTX Death Spiral

Meb Faber Research

Episode #456: Marc Cohodes on SBF, Fraud, & The FTX Death Spiral Guest: Marc Cohodes is a famed short seller with 40-years of experience. He’s best known for exposing fraud at mortgage lender Novastar Financial. Date Recorded: 11/21/2022 | Run-Time: 1:06:23 Summary: Earlier this year, famed short-seller Marc Cohodes, who has investigated and brought […].

Investing 143
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Our Plans to Remain an Independent Company

Wealthfront

Today we announced that together with UBS we decided to terminate our pending acquisition and will instead remain an independent company. We are continuing to explore ways to work together in a partnership and UBS has given us $69.7 million in financing at a $1.4 billion valuation. I am incredibly excited about Wealthfront’s path forward […]. The post Our Plans to Remain an Independent Company appeared first on Wealthfront Blog.

Planning 139
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2024 Lending Outlook: Innovations and Evolutions in the Financial Sector

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.

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Medical Office Deals Slow Down as Rising Rates Reset Price Expectations

Wealth Management

“We know firsthand from deals we’ve been working on that buyers have pulled back and lenders are more conservative,” says one broker. Nevertheless, the medical office sector is still considered a favored asset class among investors.

Medical 138
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Consumer Confidence Falls Again in November

Advisor Perspectives

The headline number of 100.2 was a decrease of 2.0 from the final reading of 102.2 for October.

Numbers 131
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Binance's Alleged Crypto Audit Failed, Not Even Its Auditor Would Vouch For It

Mish Talk

"CZ" Image likeness courtesy of Coin Telegraph article below. Binance's Proof of Reserves Statement When we say Proof of Reserves, we are specifically referring to those assets that we hold in custody for users. This means that we are showing evidence and proof that Binance has funds that cover all of our users assets 1:1, as well as some reserves. When a user deposits one Bitcoin, Binance's reserves increase by at least one Bitcoin to ensure client funds are fully backed.

Assets 362
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Supply Chain Is 40% of Inflation

The Big Picture

. There is a new 60/40 in town, and it is the contribution to inflation from consumer demand for goods and the pandemic-broken supply chain. That is according to a study by Julian di Giovanni, who publishes at the NY Fed’s blog Liberty Street Economics. Over the summer, he posed a fascinating question: How Much Did Supply Constraints Boost U.S. Inflation?

Medicine 363
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Banking on Loyalty: Holistic Financial Advice for Unparalleled Business Growth

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.

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Twitter is cigarettes

The Reformed Broker

A lot of reporters and public intellectuals were writing their obituaries for Twitter this weekend. First, we saw the revolt of the Blue Checkmarks. Then, the first inklings of an advertiser exodus. The timing of all this – on the eve of a midterm election that will determine whether or not Americans actually care about democracy – could not have been more ominous.

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November Employment Report: 263 thousand Jobs, 3.7% Unemployment Rate

Calculated Risk

From the BLS : Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000 in November , and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent , the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, health care, and government. Employment declined in retail trade and in transportation and warehousing. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September was revised down by 46,000, from +315,000 to +269,000, and the change for October was re

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Boring is Beautiful in Investing

A Wealth of Common Sense

Boring is better this year in the markets. The more exciting your portfolio, the worse your performance is in this bear market. Those old stodgy blue chip stocks in the Dow that pay dividends and have stable cash flows are crushing the innovation-led stocks that have more potential than profits in 2022. This is in stark contrast to the FOMO days of 2020 and 2021 when it felt like the only place to put your money was the.

Investing 143
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The Worst Year Ever

The Irrelevant Investor

One of these things is not like the others. A 60/40 portfolio just experienced the worst eight-month stretch to start a year going back to the inception of the Barclay’s aggregate bond index in 1976. One year ago the 10-year rate was 1.32%. It’s 3.35% today. The last time it experienced a 12-month increase that large was in January 2000!

Portfolio 144
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Navigating Financial Storms: Strategies for Building Resilient Balance Sheets

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.

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Lessons From the Badass Muscular Neurobiologist

Mr. Money Mustache

Have you ever noticed that as a whole, our society has its daily habits almost completely backwards? We’re generally so “busy” that we don’t have time to get much exercise. And then we spend countless sedentary hours sitting in our cars each week because we think that car driving saves us time. To fuel our bodies during these chaotic days, we pack ourselves with whatever convenient or tasty food we happen to crave at the moment, then add in additional snacks between meals, while watching TV, and

Food 134
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Can Anyone Catch Nokia?

The Big Picture

Today’s edition of “ Nobody Knows Anything ” is about a once-dominant mobile phone maker. Exactly 15 years ago, Forbes’s new cover story lauded Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia’s CEO. The headline trumpeted: “Nokia, one billion customers – can anyone catch the cell phone king?” It was posted online October 26, 2007 — 15 years ago today.

Economy 364
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The Philadelphia Fed Just Revised Jobs Lower by 1.2 Million for Q2

Mish Talk

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).

Food 361
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You weren’t supposed to see that

The Reformed Broker

I’m going to tell you a quick story in the order in which it happened. You were there. You will be familiar with the sequence of these events. But you may not have reached the shocking conclusion that I have. At least not yet. Wait for it… Our story begins in 2019… It was the best of times, it was the best of times. The tail end of a decade of uninterrupted asset price appreciation for the top decile of.

Assets 364
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Putting the ‘Tech’ in Spend Management Techniques

Speaker: Wayne Spivak, President and CFO of SBA * Consulting Ltd., Industry Writer, Public Speaker

If you’re lost in the world of spend management needs and your GAP analysis is lacking perspective on the future state of your business performance, listen up! With the advancement of technology, the implementation of spend management best practices and concrete GAP analyses is more streamlined and accessible than ever before. And while this may sound like great news for you and your clients, it won’t be worthwhile unless you have the latest techniques to back up your ambitions!

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U.S. Cropland Values Hit Record Highs

The Big Picture

Source: AgWeb. If you are interested (as I am) in Real Estate , then allow me to suggest you consider exploring the world of Farmland. It is something I have done for a while, and it is a fascinating rabbit hole to fall into. Not so much as an investor, but as someone interested in how agriculture works (but yes, there is an investor angle here as well).

Sales 358
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You’re not good at this.

The Reformed Broker

A recession so contrived and man-made that every economist, politician, business owner, college student, CEO, rapper and professional athlete has been able to see it coming in real-time for months and months… Take a picture, you may never see anything so obviously about to happen ever again. A child could have foreseen it. At a certain point, a person who is charge of price stability should probably look in the mirr.

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The Many Ways the FOMC Can Be Wrong…

The Big Picture

Since it is late on a Friday, I thought I might share some quick thoughts about the week. I have been wondering, more than usual, about the disconnect between what we see in falling prices and the Federal Reserve’s anti-inflation actions. It is difficult to reconcile Fed rhetoric with the actual price of Goods. One can reach only so many conclusions: Perhaps the Fed is right and everybody else is wrong.

Economy 352
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Tales from the Dark Side

The Big Picture

I had a fascinating conversation with an old friend who has been working in a giant bulge bracket firm his entire multi-decade career. What made this particular conversation so intriguing was his sudden epiphany about the Sell-side. Our previous discussions (debates really) were over the traditional model of brokerage I push back against versus the fee-based fiduciary asset management I embrace.

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Connect, Care, Convert: Secrets to Establishing Trust with Niche Markets and Turning Them Into Clients

Speaker: Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, The Money Coach®

Niche markets represent a huge opportunity for the financial services industry in America. From college students and women to communities of color and low-to-moderate-income households, niche populations have specialized financial needs – but they often underutilize many valuable financial products and services. How can you better connect with these consumers?

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MiB: Antti Ilmanen, Co-Head, Portfolio Solutions, AQR

The Big Picture

This week, we speak with Antti Ilmanen, who is the principal and global co-head of the portfolio solutions group at AQR Capital Management. His research into markets and valuation has won numerous accolades and recognitions, including the Graham and Dodd award, the Harry M. Markowitz special distinction award, multiple Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy awards for his articles, and CFA Institute’s 2017 Leadership in Global Investment Award.

Portfolio 354
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Shift Your Perspective

The Big Picture

After yesterday’s discussion on the uncertainty monster , a friend who “loves perspective changers” reached out with a challenge: “Most people rarely question their own basic ideas,” he said, He challenged me to find 10 concepts to do just that. I agreed to give it a shot, assembling a list of my own, filling it out with a few classics from others: Uncertainty : Objectively speaking “uncertainty” does not increase or decrease – by definition, the future is always inherently uncertain.

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The Investor Opportunity Index hits a two-year high

The Reformed Broker

Every bear market has these two things in common: They end Expected returns go up The first thing is self-explanatory. The second thing should be obvious but from my talks with thousands of investors over the years, I have found that it is most certainly not intuitive to most people. When I tell you that expected returns are rising as stock prices fall, this is an overly simplistic way of saying that investors only get.

Marketing 345