Fri.Dec 27, 2024

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Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (December 28–29)

Nerd's Eye View

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that according to a recent study by DeVoe & Company, only 42% of RIAs surveyed have written succession plans and either have begun to implement them or have already done so. The report suggests this might be due in part to increased RIA valuations and the assumption of some firm founders that next-generation employees won't be financially able to buy out the firm from them,

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Question #7 for 2025: How much will wages increase in 2025?

Calculated Risk

Earlier I posted some questions on my blog for next year: Ten Economic Questions for 2025. Some of these questions concern real estate (inventory, house prices, housing starts, new home sales), and I posted thoughts on those in the newsletter (others like GDP and employment will be on this blog). I'm adding some thoughts and predictions for each question.

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Friday links: the sin of blame

Abnormal Returns

Markets We should be grateful for 2024's returns, especially if you avoided the negativity. (allstarcharts.com) No one else is to blame for your investing failures. (microcapclub.com) Companies OpenAI is officially transitioning to a for-profit company. (techcrunch.com) How Reddit ($RDDT) became a huge winner in 2024. (slate.com) Video game companies are going broke building new games with life-like graphics.

Media 147
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Q4 GDP Tracking: 2.3% to 3.1%

Calculated Risk

From Goldman: We lowered our Q4 GDP tracking estimate by 0.1pp to +2.3% (quarter-over-quarter annualized). Our Q4 domestic final sales forecast stands at +2.3% (quarter-over-quarter annualized). [Dec 27th estimate] emphasis added And from the Atlanta Fed: GDPNow The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the fourth quarter of 2024 is 3.1 percent on December 24, unchanged from December 20 after rounding.

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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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Podcast links: surprising trends

Abnormal Returns

Spotify How Spotify ($SPOT) went to war against it own artists by uploading proprietary tracks. (honest-broker.com) Spotify ($SPOT) insiders are selling a lot of stock. (ft.com) Listening Does listening to an audiobook count as 'reading'? (wsj.com) The 20 best podcast series of 2024 including 'Road to Rickwood.' (theatlantic.com) Seven under-the-radar sports podcasts to check out.

Nonprofit 147
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2025 Outlook Q&A: Active Management Key to Higher CRE Returns

Wealth Management

Richard Hill, the head of Cohen & Steers real estate strategy, talks about how financial advisors should tackle commercial real estate investment next year.

More Trending

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Survey Findings: How Independent Advisors are Weathering Industry Shifts

Wealth Management

Advisors share how they are growing their firms while navigating an ever-changing industry landscape.

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Value Investing in a High Intangible Intensity World | Jacob Pozharny

Validea

In this episode of Excess Returns, hosts Jack Forehand and Justin Carbonneau sit down with Jacob Pozharny, partner at Bridgeway Capital Management, to explore the increasingly important role of intangible assets in modern investing. Jacob breaks down what intangible assets are – from intellectual property and proprietary algorithms to brand value and customer relationships – and explains how these harder-to-measure assets are changing traditional investment approaches.

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2024 Year in Review: Celebrity Estate Planning Lessons

Wealth Management

There's a lot that can be learned from the estate mishaps of the rich and famous. 2024 was no different.

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Facts Vs Feelings Take 5 – Things That Worry Us About 2025

Carson Wealth

In the final episode of Take 5 of 2024, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, discusses three main worries for the upcoming year, 2025. They highlight that while stocks have seen significant gains recently, the next year may not replicate this trend. Additionally, a strong dollar poses risks, particularly with tariffs affecting US manufacturers and exporters.

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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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2024 Year in Review: AI in Wealth Management Accelerates

Wealth Management

Artificial intelligence is no passing fad. It's only going to become part of an advisor's business more and more.

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OpenAI Mulls Plan for a More Conventional For-Profit Business

Advisor Perspectives

OpenAI, founded a decade ago as a research organization, is considering a change to the AI company’s structure that would create a more conventional money-making corporation alongside a nonprofit arm.

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December 27th COVID Update: COVID in Wastewater Increasing

Calculated Risk

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios. For deaths, I'm currently using 4 weeks ago for "now", since the most recent three weeks will be revised significantly. Note: " Effective May 1, 2024, hospitals are no longer required to report COVID-19 hospital admissions, hospital capacity, or hospital occupancy data. " So I'm no longer tracking hospitalizations.

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Treasury Yields Snapshot: December 27, 2024

Advisor Perspectives

The yield on the 10-year note ended December 27, 2024 at 4.62%, the 2-year note ended at 4.31%, and the 30-year at 4.82%.

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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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FHFA’s National Mortgage Database: Outstanding Mortgage Rates, LTV and Credit Scores

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: FHFAs National Mortgage Database: Outstanding Mortgage Rates, LTV and Credit Scores A brief excerpt: Here are some graphs on outstanding mortgages by interest rate, the average mortgage interest rate, borrowers credit scores and current loan-to-value (LTV) from the FHFAs National Mortgage Database through Q3 2024 (just released).

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Boeing Headlines Industrial Prospects and Pitfalls in 2025

Advisor Perspectives

The new year will start with plenty of intrigue, especially in manufacturing, aerospace and logistics, the area where I hunt for interesting storylines about how companies navigate opportunities and pitfalls.

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MiB: Toto Wolff, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

The Big Picture

(Rebroadcast) This week, we speak with Toto Wolff , Team Principal & CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. Prior to joining Mercedes, Toto spent time in the investment world, founding his own company “Marchfifteen” in 1998 and Marchsixteen in 2004. In 2009, Toto combined his passion for racing and business by investing in the Williams F1 Team.

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Taking Stock: Q1 2025 Equity Market Outlook

Advisor Perspectives

The S&P 500 Index posted its best month of the year in November, with a clear election result and a “no-surprise” Fed rate cut providing support.

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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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Should You Buy Your 16-Year-Old a New Vehicle?

A Wealth of Common Sense

An Animal Spirits listener emailed in to ask: Great question. Michael and I both responded on the podcast in the same way — you do NOT buy a 16-year-old the new vehicle! When your kid turns 16 they get the hand-me-down and you drive the new one. That’s how it’s always been and how it always should be. When I was in high school we maybe had one or two (rich) friends get a new car but everyone else drove.

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Books We Read in 2024 to Prepare Us for the Future

Advisor Perspectives

Recommend reading that provides a bed of knowledge for the key themes we think will define 2025. Ours differs from other lists you might see elsewhere at this time of year in that we focus on relevance rather than recency, though there are new books here, too.

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Barron's Warns About Bonds

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

Barron's has a couple of different articles about trouble ahead in the bond market (longer duration) and what to do about it. This is right in the strike zone of what we talk about all the time here. At the start of the year, there were a lot of calls to buy further out the curve because with all of these Fed cuts coming, rates were going down they said.

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Tokenization Has Become Wall Street’s Latest Favorite Crypto Buzzword

Advisor Perspectives

Tokenization, or the process of creating digital representations of real-world assets on a blockchain, has become one of this year’s buzzwords in both conventional and crypto finance circles.

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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 Popular Rise of Lifetime Income on Annuities

Advisor Perspectives

Annuities can provide a guaranteed lifetime income stream in retirement, no matter how long you live. They thrive under high interest rate environments and are currently offering the highest payouts seen in years.

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Reflections on 2024

Advisor Perspectives

We look back on six themes that defined another eventful year.

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Dollar Dominance Is the Key to US Debt and Deficits

Advisor Perspectives

The eclipse of the dollar, and with it the ability of the US to borrow on a scale that would cripple any other country, has been long predicted. For at least half a century, skeptics have counted on something — or someone — coming along to knock American assets from their perch. Don't plan for a requiem just yet.

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2025 Outlook: Moderated Returns, A Rotation Possible

Advisor Perspectives

Last week’s market volatility was not surprising for readers of these commentaries, as I anticipated a jarring adjustment to readouts from the Fed Dot Plot that suggested less rate cuts in 2025.

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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.