July, 2023

article thumbnail

The Broker Who Saved America

The Reformed Broker

You know Hancock and Washington and Franklin and Jefferson. You might even know Greene and Knox, Henry and Hale. And we know you know Hamilton, pretty tough to escape that one these days! But it is very unlikely that you know the name Haym Solomon. This is unfortunate, because he’s the guy who arranged financing to keep the Continental Army alive during its darkest days, finding the money to keep the revolution goin.

Marketing 361
article thumbnail

Industrial Outdoor Storage Rises in Popularity Among Institutional Investors

Wealth Management

While much of the sector continues to be dominated by small owners/operators, its solid property fundamentals, credit tenants and low capital expenditures are beginning to bring in institutional money.

328
328
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Market Commentary: The Bulls Are Still in Charge

Carson Wealth

After consolidating some during the earlier part of July, stocks moved higher once again last week, with many stocks hitting new 52-week highs along the way. We are quite impressed to see cyclical areas like energy, industrials, and financials performing so well since early June. We heard time and time again that only a few stocks were going up the first half of this year, so to see things broadening out is a very good sign for the lasting power of this bull market.

article thumbnail

Housing July 3rd Weekly Update: Inventory Increased 1.3% Week-over-week; Down Year-over-year

Calculated Risk

Altos reports that active single-family inventory was up 1.3% week-over-week. Click on graph for larger image. This inventory graph is courtesy of Altos Research. As of June 30th, inventory was at 466 thousand (7-day average), compared to 460 thousand the prior week. Year-to-date, inventory is down 5.1%. And inventory is up 14.9% from the seasonal bottom eleven weeks ago.

360
360
article thumbnail

What Your Financial Statements Are Telling You—And How to Listen!

Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker

Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.

article thumbnail

500!

The Big Picture

Today, the 500 th episode of Masters in Business drops. 1 I have described the inspiration for the show as “ an audio version of Market Wizards ” but the actual pitch to Bloomberg was “Mark Maron’s WTF meets Charlie Rose” (that was before we knew about his, um, behavior). It has been a wonderful ride, one that I feel grateful and privileged to be on.

article thumbnail

A Roadmap For Solo RIAs Making Their First Hire

Nerd's Eye View

Many financial advisors who launch solo advisory firms do so with the intention of adding more employees once the firm becomes big enough to support them. And while conceptually it makes sense that the firm will be ready to hire its first employee at some point, in practice, there often isn't a lot of clarity about the right time to actually make an initial hire.

Clients 246

More Trending

article thumbnail

Convergence Dominates the Financial Advisor M&A Market

Wealth Management

Wise Rhino Group’s quarterly report highlights importance of convergence, scale and integration.

article thumbnail

We Have Lost All Sense of Decorum

The Reformed Broker

Welcome to the latest episode of The Compound & Friends. This week, Michael Batnick, Sam Ro, Jack Raines, and Downtown Josh Brown discuss AI and the market, the meme economy, Nvidia’s rollercoaster year, the earnings recession, financial charlatans, Berkshire’s massive bet on Apple, and much more! You can listen to the whole thing below, or find it wherever you like to listen to your favorite pods!

Economy 246
article thumbnail

AAR: June Rail Carloads and Intermodal Decreased Year-over-year

Calculated Risk

From the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Rail Time Indicators. Graphs and excerpts reprinted with permission. Total originated carloads on U.S. railroads were down 0.2% in June 2023 from June 2022 , their first decline in three months. Total carloads in 2023 through June (5.84 million) were up 0.6% (32,547( carloads) over the same period in 2022 and were the highest since 2019.

Retail 357
article thumbnail

U.S. Home Price Growth 1983-2023

The Big Picture

Fascinating chart from Visual Capitalist showing the history of housing prices in the United States. I recall the 1990 Home Price recession — I was too broke to afford a condo, but I knew lots of recent grad school friends who took high-paying jobs and bought a place in the 1980s; more than a few were freaked out about falling prices. The issue with rising prices is the ongoing shortage of single-family homes relative to both population and job locations.

307
307
article thumbnail

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

article thumbnail

Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (July 29-30)

Nerd's Eye View

Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” - this week’s edition kicks off with the news that RIAs appear to be building more comprehensive and more integrated tech stacks, and are benefiting from greater operational efficiencies, according to the latest Schwab RIA Benchmarking Study, with larger firms seeing gains in clients and AUM per professional and a reduction in annual hours spent per client for operations and administration in the past 3 y

article thumbnail

Saturday links: suppressed complaints

Abnormal Returns

Tesla Tesla ($TSLA) has long tried to suppress complaints about vehicle range. (reuters.com) Long term Tesla ($TSLA) owners still love their vehicles. (bloomberg.com) EVs A consortium of automakers is planning to build out a U.S. charging network. (bloomberg.com) GM ($GM) is struggling on the battery manufacturing front. (nytimes.com) EV makers are upping their goals to create family-style vehicles.

article thumbnail

A Program on Life Settlements for Agents in the Advanced Markets

Wealth Management

It’s time for a paradigm shift in the conversation with advisors.

Marketing 314
article thumbnail

Jack and Sam visit The Compound

The Reformed Broker

The downloads for this episode as an audio podcast are among the fastest we’ve ever seen, with over 30,000 listens in the first couple of days and counting. This will go over 45,000 by week’s end. The YouTube video is on pace to do a similar number. Combine the two and you’re talking about one of the biggest audiences in finance for a podcast episode.

Numbers 246
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

MBA: Mortgage Applications Increased in Weekly Survey

Calculated Risk

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 0.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 7, 2023. This week’s results include an adjustment for the observance of Independence Day.

Economy 339
article thumbnail

More Inflation Expectations Silliness

The Big Picture

This morning, the WSJ reported that “Consumers expect to see 4.1% inflation a year from now, the lowest such reading in two years and down sharply from its recent peak of 6.8%.” There are some who believe this is good news, but as we pointed out in May , it’s a meaningless, lagging survey. In fact, it may be even worse than that, because it appears that some at the Federal Reserve actually believe the Fed’s own survey of consumers contains information.

Economy 307
article thumbnail

The Growth Of Collaborative Planning – And Decline Of “The (Written Financial) Plan”

Nerd's Eye View

Financial plans play an important role for both clients and advisors, as they not only help clients gain a clear perspective of their current financial position, but also provide advisors with a systematic way to organize their analyses and communicate their recommendations to the client. However, there is no standard style of what is included in these plans, and as financial planning software has gotten more sophisticated and capable over time, "The Plan" has gotten longer and longer with addit

article thumbnail

Sunday links: frictions and costs

Abnormal Returns

Markets Sam Ro, "I think we sometimes take for granted how much the frictions and costs have come down for those seeking to trade or invest in stocks." (tker.co) Has sentiment already peaked? (allstarcharts.com) Strategy Cullen Roche, "Insurance is designed to provide you with short-term certainty around an uncertain outlier event. And when cash is yielding a high real return I think you can argue that cash is the ultimate portfolio insurance.

article thumbnail

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?

article thumbnail

Political Risk and International Stock Returns

Wealth Management

For investors seeking higher returns, there are no free lunches—they have to accept greater risk.

312
312
article thumbnail

Leadership Wins: American Entrepreneurs

The Reformed Broker

Last month Michael, Duncan and I traveled down to St Petersburg for an event and, while we were there, my friend Shirl Penney set up a conversation with Scotty Neil, the founder of Horse Soldier Bourbon. Scott was part of the elite team of Green Berets who were sent behind the lines in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to link up with our old mujahideen allies and knock the Taliban out of key Afghan cities.

222
222
article thumbnail

BLS: Job Openings Decreased to 9.8 million in May

Calculated Risk

From the BLS: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary The number of job openings decreased to 9.8 million on the last business day of May , the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, the number of hires and total separations were little changed at 6.2 million and 5.9 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (4.0 million) increased, while layoffs and discharges (1.6 million) changed little. emphasis added The following graph shows job openings (black line), hires

Numbers 328
article thumbnail

Majority of Hedge Funds Fail to Meet Benchmarks

The Big Picture

Barry Ritholtz, “Masters in Business” Radio and Podcast Host discusses the environment of hedge funds and the war on talent between them. He speaks with Romaine Bostick and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Markets: The Close Vast Majority of Hedgefunds Are Failing to Meet Targets: Ritholtz Source: Bloomberg See also : MiB: Ilana Weinstein Discusses the Hedge Fund War for Talent (July 1, 2023) The post Majority of Hedge Funds Fail to Meet Benchmarks appeared first on The Big Picture.

Marketing 270
article thumbnail

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

article thumbnail

#FA Success Ep 343: The Evolution Of Super-OSJ Platforms To Support Independent Advisors, With Rita Robbins

Nerd's Eye View

Welcome back to the 343rd episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Rita Robbins. Rita is the Founder and President of Affiliated Advisors, a Super-OSJ with Royal Alliance that provides support to 90 financial advisors and collectively oversees $3.5 billion in assets under advisement. What's unique about Rita, though, is how as the founder of one of the first woman-owned Super-OSJs nearly 30 years ago, she has witnessed first-hand the evolution of the Supe

article thumbnail

Monday links: an unlikely comeback

Abnormal Returns

Companies The backyard pool construction boom seems to be petering out. (businessinsider.com) Expansion for even the hottest restaurant chains is a crap shoot. (herbgreenberg.substack.com) In a hotter world, pest control is a growth industry. (wapo.st) AI What publishers want from AI companies. (semafor.com) Some startups that are putting AI to use in unique ways.

article thumbnail

JD Power: Advisors Increasingly Bogged Down By Administration, Compliance

Wealth Management

Advisors who said they don't have enough time with their clients spend an average 41% more time every month than peers on compliance, administrative and other “non-value-added” tasks, according to a new J.D. Power survey.

article thumbnail

Construction Spending Increased 0.9% in May

Calculated Risk

From the Census Bureau reported that overall construction spending increased: Construction spending during May 2023 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,925.6 billion, 0.9 percent above the revised April estimate of $1,909.0 billion. The May figure is 2.4 percent above the May 2022 estimate of $1,880.9 billion. emphasis added Both private and public spending increased: Spending on private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,513.2 billion, 1.1 percent a

321
321
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Comments on June Employment Report

Calculated Risk

The headline jobs number in the June employment report was at expectations, however, employment for the previous two months was revised down by 110,000, combined. The participation rate and the employment population ratio were unchanged, and the unemployment rate decreased to 3.6%. Leisure and hospitality gained 21 thousand jobs in June. At the beginning of the pandemic, in March and April of 2020, leisure and hospitality lost 8.2 million jobs, and are now down 369 thousand jobs since February 2

Numbers 315
article thumbnail

Advisor Reviews: Don't Get Left Behind

Wealth Management

Our technology columnist points out that we have become a reviews-based culture, whether we are looking at cars, technology or services, and shopping for an advisor will soon follow suit.

311
311
article thumbnail

10 Must Reads for Real Estate Investors to End the Week (July 7, 2023)

Wealth Management

Boston Business Journal looked at which metros might have the most exposure to upcoming real estate debt maturities. EQT Exeter closed a $4.9 billion fund earmarked for U.S. industrial assets, reported Bisnow. These are among today’s must reads from around the commercial real estate industry.

Assets 306
article thumbnail

Delegate, Don't Manage

Wealth Management

Hoarding work and not giving your employees the chance to evolve in their roles will stunt their growth.

article thumbnail

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.