Trending Articles

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MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Calculated Risk

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 11.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 7, 2025. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 11.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

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Thursday links: getting back in

Abnormal Returns

Strategy The stock market is a big distraction to the business of investing. (albertbridgecapital.com) Six reasons to avoid hedge funds, including high fees. (blogs.cfainstitute.org) Companies Jamie Dimon is no fan of Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis. (semafor.com) The DEI backlash as seen in corporate filings. (nytimes.com) Lego's operating margins are falling.

Economy 162
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Gathering Feedback That Counts: Crafting Client Surveys To Offer Services That Matter Most

Nerd's Eye View

Financial advicers often market their comprehensive financial services as a way to differentiate themselves from other advisory firms and to stand out in the broader landscape of financial advice. These services may range from 'standard' offerings like retirement planning to less traditional areas like credit card consulting. In a firm's early years, there tends to be more room for experimentation, with advisors adding new services to provide value and attract clients.

Clients 235
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Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-March 2025

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-March 2025 A brief excerpt: This 2-part overview for mid-March provides a snapshot of the current housing market. Inventory, inventory, inventory! Inventory usually tells the tale. Currently Im watching months-of-supply closely. Since both inventory and sales have fallen significantly, a key for house prices is to watch months-of-supply.

Marketing 232
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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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Rabbithole: What Do People Get Wrong About Money?

The Big Picture

Money Delusions: What Do People Get Wrong About Money? David Nadig, “ Rabbithole ” March 7, 2025 I had fun chatting with Dave Nadig about philosophy, behavior, and investing ( video after the jump). His new podcast is called “Rabbithole” because Dave does not do broad and shallow; rather, he picks a narrow topic and goes deep down the rabbithole for 30 minutes — which is only a few questions.

Investing 189
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What RIAs Can Learn from Ellevest’s Decision to Sell Its Robo Advisor

Wealth Management

Matt Sonnen explains Ellevest's decision to sell its robo advisor to Betterment and focus on its more profitable clients.

Clients 284

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Talking How Not to Invest with Prof G

The Big Picture

I have known Scott Galloway since way before his first book, The Four , came out in 2017. He had been on MiB prior, and it was my pleasure to intro it at NYU Stern when it first was published. As always, it was so much fun chatting with Scott on the Prof G podcast: Barry Ritholtz, the co-founder, chairman, and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management and the host of the Masters in Business podcast, joins Scott to discuss his new book, How Not to Invest: The Ideas, Numbers, and Beha

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Wednesday links: creating nothing

Abnormal Returns

Markets A reminder that degenerate traders are not confined to the U.S. (acadian-asset.com) Another example, why the stock market is not a level playing field. (ft.com) Palantir Palantir ($PLTR) CEO Alex Karp is selling a lot of shares. (ft.com) The index inclusion boost is now in the rearview mirror for Palantir ($PLTR). (institutionalinvestor.com) Air travel Why Delta's ($DAL) profit warning matters.

Media 162
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FINRA: Sanctuary Wealth’s B/D Fell Short on Money Laundering Oversight

Wealth Management

According to a settlement, Sanctuary Securities allegedly had anti-money laundering procedures that fell short of Bank Secrecy Act requirements.

Banking 275
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#FASuccess Ep 428: Leveraging (Salesforce) CRM To Really Systematize A Mid-Sized Advisory Firm, With Lorie Jones

Nerd's Eye View

Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 428th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Lorie Jones. Lorie is the wealth manager of Fearless Financial Advisors, a dba of hybrid advisory firm Fidelis Wealth Advisors based in Castle Rock, Colorado, where Lorie personally oversees $30 million in assets under management for 88 client households.

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Fall In Love With the Month-End Close

It's the time of year to give our close process some TLC. Join us in this one hour webinar where we discuss how to adopt leading practices and infuse technology into the month-end close process to improve our experience and increase our productivity during month-end and quarter-end close. Learning Objectives: This course's objective is to understand how the month-end close can be improved with automation and adoption of leading practices.

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YoY Measures of Inflation: Services, Goods and Shelter

Calculated Risk

Here are a few measures of inflation: The first graph is the one Fed Chair Powell had mentioned two years ago when services less rent of shelter was up around 8% year-over-year. This declined, but is still elevated, and is now up 3.8% YoY. Click on graph for larger image. This graph shows the YoY price change for Services and Services less rent of shelter through February 2025.

Food 251
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MiB: Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, Global Chief Economist for BCG

The Big Picture

This week, I speak with Philipp Carlsson , Global Chief Economist for Boston Consulting Group. Prior to this role at BCG, Philipp advised financial institutions and governments at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well as McKinsey & Company. He was also Chief Economist at Stanford C. Bernstein. He is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review and World Economic Forum.

Economics 130
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Adviser links: estate uncertainty

Abnormal Returns

Advisortech The CFP Board has released guidelines for using AI. (citywire.com) The latest in advisor fintech news including saturation in the portfolio management tech space. (kitces.com) Estate planning Estate plans are a big lift for everyone, including advisers themselves. (kindnessfp.com) Why clients need to organize their digital assets for estate planning purposes.

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Court-Approved Termination of Trust Doesn’t Result in GST or Gift Tax Consequences

Wealth Management

The IRS ruled that beneficiaries recognize capital gains.

Taxes 273
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Next-Level Fraud Prevention: Strategies for Today’s Threat Landscape

Speaker: Sierre Lindgren

Fraud is a battle that every organization must face – it’s no longer a question of “if” but “when.” Every organization is a potential target for fraud, and the finance department is often the bullseye. From cleverly disguised emails to fraudulent payment requests, the tactics of cybercriminals are advancing rapidly. Drawing insights from real-world cases and industry expertise, we’ll explore the vulnerabilities in your processes and how to fortify them effectively.

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How Many Americans Don’t Save For Retirement?

A Wealth of Common Sense

I have some good news and bad news about the state of retirement savings for Americans. Let’s start with the bad news. Torsten Slok shows half of American households have no retirement assets to speak of: Young people still have time to play catch-up. It’s scary so many people 65 and older have no retirement assets to lean on. This is not great.

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Part 2: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-March 2025

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 2: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-March 2025 A brief excerpt: Earlier this week, in Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-March 2025 I reviewed home inventory, housing starts and sales. In Part 2, I will look at house prices, mortgage rates, rents and more.

Marketing 229
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How Bond ETFs Make Trading Easier and Cheaper

Alpha Architect

Bond ETFs have attracted new investors who previously never owned bonds or bond funds. Bond ETFs have made it easier for more people and institutions to start investing in bonds. How Bond ETFs Make Trading Easier and Cheaper was originally published at Alpha Architect. Please read the Alpha Architect disclosures at your convenience.

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Podcast links: being less stupid

Abnormal Returns

AI Shane Parrish talks AI with Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner of Lux Capital. (fs.blog) Ezra Klein talk the implications of AGI with Ben Buchanan. (podcasts.apple.com) Finance Dave Nadig talks with Barry Ritholtz about his new book "How Not to Invest." (youtube.com) Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway talk efficient markets with Eugene Fama and David Booth.

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The Future Of Finance: How To Manage Spend The Right Way

Speaker: Aaron Berson

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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Former Allianz Exec Launches Advanced Planning Firm

Wealth Management

Heather Kellys Mosaic Advanced Planning is a platform to help advisors integrate risk management and insurance into their practices.

Planning 264
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The Importance of Temporal Diversification

Discipline Funds

As I write this the US stock market is down -2.5% on the day. It’s down about -8.5% from its peak just a few weeks ago. Then again, it’s up 11% over the last year, 38% over three years and 110% over 5 years. This is what the stock market does. Over long periods of time the stock market will go up in value because corporations accrue revenues and profits over long periods of time.

Assets 72
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Q1 GDP Tracking: Mid-to-High 1% Range

Calculated Risk

Special Note: There was a surge in gold imports in January. There is a time lag for when the imported gold will show up in inventories. GDPNow will correct for this once the gold is included as an increase in inventories, but currently GDPNow just included the import side. That is why GDPNow's tracking estimate of GDP is likely way too low. From BofA: Our 1Q GDP tracking is down from 2.3% q/q saar to 1.9% q/q saar since our last weekly publication.

Economics 179
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Market Commentary: Tariffs Have Increased Market Uncertainty, but Job Growth Remains Solid

Carson Wealth

Stocks Fell Again The S&P 500 had a late week bounce on Friday last week, but still fell more than 3% for the week for the worst week for the index since early September 2024. The worries are growing, from a potentially slowing economy, to a growing and more aggressive trade war, to worries over Washington policy. The bottom line is headlines are driving much of the volatility and investors are worried.

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Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

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Longform links: a fun challenge

Abnormal Returns

Books An excerpt from "Abundance: How We Build a Better Future" by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. (nytimes.com) A Q&A with Thor Hanson author of "Close to Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door." (grist.org) History Pardoning insurrectionists doesn't have a good historical track record. (theconversation.com) How the postal service shaped America.

Media 147
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Edward Jones Laying Off Home Office Workers Amid Restructuring

Wealth Management

The broker/dealer is embarking on a multi-year effort to restructure its home office to boost collaboration and client focus, with layoffs to come on the administrative side of the business.

Clients 262
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The Top 10 Stocks in the S&P 500

A Wealth of Common Sense

Kevin Young joined me on the show to answer a question for a young financial advisor who is dealing with his first correction with nervous clients. We also touched on questions about when to sell Palantir, when to sell a rental house and how to deal with a regional recession in Washington DC. Further Reading: Mega Cap World Domination 1Exxon is back in the top 15 now so they might make a return visit.

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CoreLogic: 1.1 million Homeowners with Negative Equity in Q4 2024

Calculated Risk

From CoreLogic: CoreLogic: Borrowers Gained Over $280B in Home Equity in 2024 CoreLogic. today released the Homeowner Equity Report (HER) for the fourth quarter of 2024. Nationwide, borrower equity increased by $281.9 billion, or 1.7% year-over-year. The report shows that U.S. homeowners with mortgages (which account for roughly 61% of all properties) saw home equity increase by about $4,100 between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024, which is less than the gain of $6,000 in Q3 2023.

Numbers 191
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Avoiding Lease Accounting Pitfalls in 2025: Lessons Learned from Spreadsheet Errors

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

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Facts Vs Feelings Take 5 – Tariffs 101

Carson Wealth

Welcome back to Carsons Take Five with Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, and Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group! This week, we break down the latest round of tariffs, their impact on inflation, corporate profits, and market volatility. While uncertainty looms, we explain why this isn’t necessarily a sign of recession or stagflation and what investors should focus on moving forward.

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Personal finance links: putting in the reps

Abnormal Returns

Podcasts Peter Lazaroff talks with DFA co-founder David Booth about why human ingenuity drives long-term returns. (peterlazaroff.com) Christine Benz talks with Ramit Sethi, author of "Money For Couples: No more stress. No more fights." (morningstar.com) Dan Haylett talks with Greg Davies, Head of Behavioural Finance at Oxford Risk, about the behavioural traps that retirees often fall into.

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Alaris Acquisitions Launches Matchmaking App for RIA M&A

Wealth Management

The new tech platform sets aside the typical financial auction process for matchmaking in favor of an AI algorithm that narrows the pool by measuring the compatibility between buyers and sellers.

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Laying the Foundation for Your Brand

XY Planning Network

Branding isnt just about a visual identity for your business; its about defining the core of your business. Having clarity and an authentic brand communicated succinctly is the most powerful and strategic way to gain confidence, make an impact, and grow your business to life-changing levels. When your brand is deeply rooted in your purpose and unique ways (beyond advising folks on their finances), it resonates with the right audience and sets you apart from competitors.

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Confronting the Change Challenge

Change is difficult, whether in our private or work life. However, without change, growth and learning are difficult not to mention keeping up with the market and staying competitive. We have all worked for or ourselves are the bosses that prefer to keep the status quo. We will discuss how to address the "change challenge" to enable you to be a changemaker and a graceful recipient of change.