Fri.May 03, 2024

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Comments on April Employment Report

Calculated Risk

The headline jobs number in the April employment report was below expectations, and February and March payrolls were revised down by 22,000 combined. The employment population ratio decreased, and the unemployment rate increased to 3.9%. Construction employment increased 9 thousand and is now 604 thousand above the pre-pandemic level. Manufacturing employment increased 8 thousand and is now 181 thousand above the pre-pandemic level.

Numbers 319
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CEO: FTC Right to Ban Non-Compete Agreements

Wealth Management

Our industry can do better, and both advisors and clients should expect more, writes Farther’s CEO and co-founder.

Clients 295
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Friday links: writing as a skill

Abnormal Returns

Berkshire Hathaway Is Berkshire's energy business still a growth engine moving forward? (bloomberg.com) You can't talk Berkshire without talking about Apple ($AAPL). (wsj.com) Why Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.A) should buy Boeing ($BA). (bloomberg.com) Finance Regional banks are embracing their boring side. (bloomberg.com) SVB is selling its venture capital arm.

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Moody’s Downgrades CI Financial’s Debt Ratings

Wealth Management

The ratings agency says the move reflects “elevated acquisition-related liabilities and share repurchase activities.

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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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Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (May 4-5)

Nerd's Eye View

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that a recent study indicates that nearly a third of advisors in the independent broker-dealer channel have considered transitioning to the RIA channel during the past year as they seek higher payouts and not just "independence" but greater autonomy over how they run their businesses and serve their clients.

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DOL Fiduciary Rule Faces First Threat In The Courts

Wealth Management

The Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice and several co-plaintiffs claim the Department of Labor wants to “fundamentally reshape” settled industry practices.

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More Trending

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Willow Creek Wealth Management: Squeezing Maximum Value Out Of Technology

Wealth Management

Timothy Admire, president and CEO of Willow Creek Wealth Management, discusses maximizing the capabilities of the technology his $1.7 billion AUM firm is already paying for.

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Q2 GDP Tracking: Solid Early Look

Calculated Risk

From Goldman: We lowered our Q2 GDP tracking estimate by 0.1pp to +3.3% (qoq ar) and our domestic final sales estimate by the same amount to +2.7% (qoq ar). [May 2nd estimate] emphasis added And from the Altanta Fed: GDPNow The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the second quarter of 2024 is 3.3 percent on May 2, unchanged from May 1 after rounding.

Sales 182
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WealthStack Roundup: ‘Invent Village’ To Debut At Wealth Management EDGE 2024

Wealth Management

Also, BlackRock invests in Willow, Betterment For Advisors expands its partnership with XYPN and Fusion IQ introduces FIQ Freedom.

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Inflation Adjusted House Prices 2.4% Below Peak; Price-to-rent index is 7.5% below 2022 peak

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Inflation Adjusted House Prices 2.4% Below Peak Excerpt: It has been over 17 years since the bubble peak. In the February Case-Shiller house price index released on Tuesday, the seasonally adjusted National Index (SA), was reported as being 71% above the bubble peak in 2006. However, in real terms, the National index (SA) is about 10% above the bubble peak (and historically there has been an upward slope to real house prices).

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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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Former Rep Sentenced to 3-Plus Years For Stealing $1M from Elderly Client

Wealth Management

Eddy Ray Blizzard pleaded guilty late last year to defrauding an elderly victim of his retirement funds. An FBI Special Agent said Blizzard deserved “every year” in prison.

Clients 239
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Podcast links: under the sea

Abnormal Returns

Alternatives Patrick O'Shaughnessy talks with Marc Lasry, CEO of Avenue Capital Group, about investing in sports. (joincolossus.com) Matt Ziegler talks with Howard Lindzon about the intersection of markets and venture capital. (epsilontheory.com) Phil Bak talks volatility laundering and more with Cliff Asness. (youtube.com) Hedge funds William Green chats with Bryan Lawrence, a highly successful hedge fund manager who runs Oakcliff Capital.

Media 182
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Bonds Take Center Stage - Short-term Bonds May Dominate Cash in the Next Phase of Monetary Policy

Wealth Management

Investors should consider the reinvestment risk inherent in cash.

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MiB: Joanne Bradford, Domain Money

The Big Picture

She was previously president of Honey, where she orchestrated the company’s sale to PayPal Holdings Inc. for $4 billion. She has been named one of Ad Age’s 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising. She previously held executive leadership positions at Microsoft, Yahoo!, Pinterest, SoFi, Demand Media. BusinessWeek nd the San Francisco Chronicle.

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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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Sixth Street, Co-Owner of NBA’s Spurs, Plans Debut Sports Fund

Wealth Management

Sixth Street has held preliminary talks with potential investors about the vehicle, which will seek to invest in sports teams and leagues, media rights and related businesses.

Planning 208
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The New Normal in Housing Prices

A Wealth of Common Sense

The season 3 finale of Lost was one of the most mind-blowing episodes of television I’ve ever watched. It completely broke the mold of the show from flashbacks to flashforwards. We have to go back is a line that’s etched into my memory for good: Subscribe to The Compound so you never miss an episode. Further Reading: Who is Buying a House in This Market?

Marketing 126
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JPMorgan Unveils IndexGPT in Next Wall Street Bid to Tap AI Boom

Wealth Management

IndexGPT is a new range of thematic investment baskets created with the help of OpenAI’s GPT-4 model.

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Momentum and the Clarity of the Trend

Alpha Architect

Momentum continues to receive much attention from researchers because of the strong empirical evidence. Momentum and the Clarity of the Trend was originally published at Alpha Architect. Please read the Alpha Architect disclosures at your convenience.

Investing 124
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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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RecessionAlert Weekly Leading Economic Index

Advisor Perspectives

The weekly leading economic index (WLEI) is a composite for the U.S economy that draws from over 20 time-series and groups them into the following six broad categories which are then used to construct an equally weighted average. As of April 19th, the index was at 17.434, down 4.427 from the previous week, with 5 of the 6 components in expansion territory.

Economics 118
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Solve Your RMD Problem Before It Happens

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

Barron's wrote about the mess of required minimum distributions (RMDs) from IRAs. The age that we have to start is slowly going higher which is good thing but criticisms of RMDs being unnecessarily complicated are more than fair. The comments were useful as is often the case. One sentiment that popped up a few times was the threat of RMDs kicking people into higher tax brackets.

Taxes 98
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Apple Rallies Most in 18 Months on Upbeat Forecast, Buyback

Advisor Perspectives

Apple Inc. shares jumped the most in almost a year-and-a-half after the company posted stronger-than-expected sales last quarter and predicted a return to growth in the current period, sparking optimism that a slowdown is easing.

Sales 110
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What Should You Do with a Cash Windfall?

Darrow Wealth Management

What to Do With a Sudden Cash Windfall Wondering what to do with a sudden financial windfall? The first step is to hold off on making any major purchases or decisions until you’ve had time to consider your options. Whether the windfall was expected, perhaps from the sale of a business, or unexpected, you’ll want to make a plan for the future.

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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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The Big Four Recession Indicators: April Employment

Advisor Perspectives

There is a general belief that there are four big indicators that the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee weighs heavily in their cycle identification process. This commentary focuses on one of those indicators, nonfarm employment. April saw a 175,000 increase in total non-farm payrolls and the unemployment inched up to 3.9%.

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Three Things – Weekend Reading

Discipline Funds

Here are some things I think I am thinking about this weekend. 1) The labor market continues to soften. Friday’s employment report was just right. Not too hot and not too cold. But it also showed very clear signs of a softening labor market as I discussed earlier in the week when we got the JOLTS report and the quit rate. As expected, the quit rate was indicative of lower hourly earnings and the recent rate of 3.9% is the lowest year over year gain in hourly earnings in a long time.

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S&P 500 Snapshot: Late Week Rally Leads to Weekly Gains

Advisor Perspectives

The S&P 500 finished in the green this week thanks to a late week rally. The index is currently up 8.12% year to date and now sits 2.41% below its record close from March 28, 2024.

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Why you should take your retirement planning seriously now?

Truemind Capital

A retirement crisis could turn out to be the biggest headache in most of the countries, including India. This has been voiced by many veterans earlier. Recently, an article by The Ken titled – Why more 40-somethings are becoming ‘unwilling retirees’ brings the spotlight back to this topic. Gone are the days when one could think of retiring comfortably in their 60s.

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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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Lagging Real Estate Stocks Have Dropped Too Far, Analysts Say

Advisor Perspectives

Wall Street analysts see a double-digit upside potential for the S&P 500’s biggest losers this year: real estate stocks.

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What Should You Do with a Cash Windfall?

Darrow Wealth Management

What to Do With a Sudden Cash Windfall Wondering what to do with a sudden financial windfall? The first step is to hold off on making any major purchases or decisions until you’ve had time to consider your options. Whether the windfall was expected, perhaps from the sale of a business, or unexpected, you’ll want to make a plan for the future.

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Treasury Yields Snapshot: May 3, 2024

Advisor Perspectives

The yield on the 10-year note ended May 3, 2024 at 4.50%, the 2-year note ended at 4.81%, and the 30-year at 4.66%.

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How to get speaking engagements

Sara Grillo

Question from a subscriber : “I’ve spoken at a few events but never at big conferences. How do I get more/better speaking gigs when every time I try I get ignored?” Conference organizers and event planners can be super icy. Why is it so hard to get professional speaking engagements? Look at it from the conference organizer’s point of view – they take a chance on a speaker, and the person bombs (they get stage fright, say something inappropriate, or just plain st

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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