Thu.May 16, 2024

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What Stagflation?

The Big Picture

The Misery Index — the combination of Inflation and unemployment — failed as a bearish criticism of the economy. Unemployment remains at 60-year lows, and Inflation has plummeted from 9% down to the 3s. If you have a bearish mindset , and seek confirmation of that perspective, then the next economic critique after the Misery Index you try on for size is “Stagflation.” We have heard the S-word from Jamie Dimon , Stanley Druckenmiller , Bank of America , Barclays , Fox , Ma

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MBA: Mortgage Delinquencies Increased Slightly in Q1 2024

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: MBA: Mortgage Delinquencies Increased Slightly in Q1 2024 A brief excerpt: From the MBA: Mortgage Delinquencies Increase Slightly in the First Quarter of 2024 The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.94 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2024, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey.

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Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors: How NorthRock Built a $6B+ Firm By Listening to Clients

Wealth Management

NorthRock Partners CEO and founder Rob Nelson shares his formula for mastering excellence and creating a superstar enterprise.

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Realtor.com Reports Active Inventory Up 35.0% YoY; Most Home For Sale Since August 2020

Calculated Risk

What this means: On a weekly basis, Realtor.com reports the year-over-year change in active inventory and new listings. On a monthly basis, they report total inventory. For April, Realtor.com reported inventory was up 30.4% YoY, but still down almost 36% compared to April 2017 to 2019 levels. Now - on a weekly basis - inventory is up 35.0% YoY. Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market.

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Are Robots Replacing You? Keeping Humans in the Loop in Automated Environments

Speaker: Erroll Amacker

As businesses increasingly adopt automation, finance leaders must navigate the delicate balance between technology and human expertise. This webinar explores the critical role of human oversight in accounts payable (AP) automation and how a people-centric approach can drive better financial performance. Join us for an insightful discussion on how integrating human expertise into automated workflows enhances decision-making, reduces fraud risks, strengthens vendor relationships, and accelerates R

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Schwab's Bernie Clark to Step Down

Wealth Management

Clark, the head of Schwab Advisor Services, will be replaced by COO Jon Beatty.

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Industrial Production Unchanged in April

Calculated Risk

From the Fed: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization Industrial production was little changed in April. Manufacturing output decreased 0.3 percent; excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing output edged down 0.1 percent. The index for mining fell 0.6 percent, and the index for utilities rose 2.8 percent. At 102.8 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production in April was 0.4 percentage point lower than its year-earlier level.

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Longform links: inherent instability

Abnormal Returns

Books A Q&A with Michael Muthukrishna author of "A Theory of Everyone: The New Science of Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going." (behavioralscientist.org) An excerpt from "Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs" by Johann Hari. (tim.blog) A Q&A with Zoë Schlanger author of "The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth.

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Cetera Beefs Up Advisory Solutions Team

Wealth Management

The firm recently expanded the team building out Cetera's RIA services.

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Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Decrease to 222,000

Calculated Risk

The DOL reported : In the week ending May 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 222,000 , a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 231,000 to 232,000. The 4-week moving average was 217,750, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average.

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AI vs. the Economy – A Tale of Two Outlooks

Wealth Management

Why Silicon Valley is confident, amid slowing economic growth.

Economy 248
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Book of Secrets on the Month-End Close

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.

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Single Family Starts Up 18% Year-over-year in March; Multi-Family Starts Down Sharply YoY

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Single Family Starts Up 18% Year-over-year in March; Multi-Family Starts Down Sharply YoY A brief excerpt: Total housing starts in April were above expectations, however, starts in February and March were revised down. The third graph shows the month-to-month comparison for total starts between 2023 (blue) and 2024 (red).

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Bonds Take Center Stage: The Fixed Income Outlook and Multi-Sector Opportunities

Wealth Management

Thursday, June 20, 2024 | 4:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Thursday links: forced returns

Abnormal Returns

Markets Three assets that don't diversify your portfolio as well as you think. (morningstar.com) Risk-on assets have failed to outperform in 2024. (allstarcharts.com) How market consensus forms. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) Exchanges CME Group ($CME) is planning to launch bitcoin trading. (ft.com) The CFTC doesn't want you betting on event contracts.

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RIA Edge: Preparing for Succession

Wealth Management

Too many RIAs fail to clear a path for junior advisors to take over, threatening the future viability of the business. A panel of practice management consultants at Wealth Management EDGE discussed why that’s a mistake and what advisors can do to change it.

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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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Kitces & Carl Ep 138: Crafting Your Own Stop-Doing List To Create Capacity For What Really Matters

Nerd's Eye View

In the initial stages of their careers, many financial advicers find that, with little revenue coming in and less than a full load of client-facing work to do, they spend the majority of their time on operations and marketing as they try to establish their practice. As a result, an advicer often has the capacity to say "yes" to any opportunity that comes along as they try to keep busy and (hopefully) improve their cash flow.

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Hedging Against World War III

A Wealth of Common Sense

A reader asks: I ran across this blog post by Econ blogger Noah Smith, “Americans are still not worried enough about the risk of world war.” He makes the case that we could well be in what he calls “the foothills” of another conflict on the scale of World War II, arguing that right now feels a lot like the mid-late 1930s must have felt as conflicts broke out across the world and gradually merged in.

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Jai Balaji Industries: Forging Ahead with Growth and Sustainability

Trade Brains

Steel is the sinew of a nation. From towering skyscrapers to sturdy bridges and the intricate machinery that powers industries, steel is woven into the fabric of our progress. Jai Balaji industries, a fully integrated steel company is pushing their boundaries for innovation, crafting lighter, stronger and even more sustainable steel, shaping a future as resilient as the metal itself.

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The Big Four Recession Indicators: Real Retail Sales Down 0.3% in April

Advisor Perspectives

Month-over-month nominal retail sales in April were up 0.4% and up 3.04% year-over-year. However, after adjusting for inflation, real retail sales were down 0.3% MoM and down 0.31% year-over-year.

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Demo SkyStem’s Award Winning Month-End Close Solution & Earn $100

Is your finance team bogged down by endless data requests and disorganized spreadsheets during the month-end close? It’s time to consider a better option – automate with ART! SkyStem’s solution works alongside your ERP to transform the close and account reconciliation process and speed up month-end work. Explore SkyStem’s ART - the award-winning account reconciliation automation platform - and receive a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you for your time.

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The Necessary Leap

The Better Letter

My high school chorale was rehearsing the terrific William Dawson arrangement of the spiritual, “Soon Ah Will Be Done,” when the director, trying to get us to sink into the harmonies at the end of each phrase, many of which were on the word, “God,” said “God is a groove.” I immediately wrote the following on the front of my choir folder: “‘God is a groove.’ ~ John Sternisha.” In the interest of fairness, my friend and folder-mate (now a

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The Inflation Battle Is Far From Over

Advisor Perspectives

There was white smoke over the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sort of, on Wednesday morning. The key measures of consumer price inflation for April confirmed expectations for a slight decline, and alleviated growing anxiety over a possible reacceleration. Risk assets across the world spent the rest of the day exhaling deeply.

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Overly Academic?

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

Corey Hoffstein had a thought provoking Tweet thread that started with "leveraged portfolios are subject to variance drain." The conversation went on to compare the effect of variance drain in leveraged portfolios, which is what the ReturnStacked ETFs do, versus variance drain in more common, long only portfolios. Variance drain is a fancy term for the potential underperformance that could be caused by volatility working against a portfolio's result.

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Unemployment Claims Down 10K, Worse Than Expected

Advisor Perspectives

In the week ending May 11, initial jobless claims were at a seasonally adjusted level of 222,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's figure. The latest reading is higher than the forecast of 219,000 jobless claims.

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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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Housing Starts Rise 5.7% in April

Advisor Perspectives

In April, housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.360 million, falling short of the forecasted rate of 1.420 million. This marks a 5.7% increase from March and a 0.6% decline compared to one year ago.

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Building Permits Fall 3.0% in April

Advisor Perspectives

In April, building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.440 million, falling short of the forecasted rate of 1.480 million. This marks a 3.0% decrease from March and a 2.0% decline compared to one year ago.

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The Big Four Recession Indicators: Industrial Production Unchanged in April

Advisor Perspectives

Industrial production was flat in April, coming in lower than the expected 0.1% growth. Compared to one year ago, industrial production is down 0.4%.

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Zillow Home Value Index: "Real" Home Value Rises in April

Advisor Perspectives

In April, nominal home values increased for a 13th straight months while "real" home values rose for the first time in 8 months. Last month's ZHVI came in at $358,734, up 0.52% from the previous month and up 4.34% from one year ago. However, after adjusting for inflation, the real figures are 0.10% month-over-month and -1.34% year-over-year.

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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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Jamie Dimon Sees ‘Lot of Inflationary Forces in Front of Us’

Advisor Perspectives

The JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer said significant price pressures are still influencing the US economy and may mean interest rates will be higher for longer than many investors are expecting. Dimon cited costs linked to the green economy, re-militarization, infrastructure spending, trade disputes and large fiscal deficits.

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Philly Fed Manufacturing Index: Activity Weakened in May

Advisor Perspectives

The latest Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index remained in positive territory for a fourth straight month, however activity weakened overall. In May, the index fell to 4.5 from 15.5 in April, coming in below the forecast of 7.7. The six-month outlook inched down to 32.4.

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US Housing Starts, Permits Fall Short as Mortgage Rates Rise

Advisor Perspectives

New US home construction rose by less than forecast in April and permits for new activity dropped, suggesting the recent rise in mortgage rates is giving builders pause.

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Walmart Beat Inflation. Now It Must Offer More Than Deals

Advisor Perspectives

Aside from the big box bloodbath of 2022, when an abrupt halt in buying left Walmart Inc. sitting on too many sweatpants and patio sets, the world’s biggest retailer has been one of the beneficiaries from inflation.

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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