Paul Volcker is mostly remembered fondly in the US, as the Federal Reserve chairman who restored stability to an economy gone wild. South of the border, however, he is often remembered as the man who brought the world down.
Silicon Valley Bank suffered probably the quickest bank run in history and the fastest bailout of depositors, too. The lender to the venture capital industry had operated under lighter rules and fewer restrictions than larger banks after a successful lobbying effort back in 2018.
Just as we were getting used to the idea of ChatGPT writing emails and conducting research, OpenAI has upgraded it with capabilities that make it even more of a threat to big tech companies such as Google.
The market has spoken: It’s expected that the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation is just about over. Fed Chairman Jay Powell has hinted that rate increases are nearly at an end. But inflation was still at 6% last count, and Powell insists the Fed is still committed to reaching its 2% target.
It is challenging to deal with clients who are so clearly stuck in their financial pasts. Strong emotions don’t lead to calculated financial decisions, after all, which makes doing your job much harder.
Bitcoin’s surprising fast exit from its “crypto winter” has once again put the notoriously volatile digital currency atop the leader-board in the first quarter for being the best-performing asset class by a wide margin.
Wall Street’s model-portfolio boom appears to have flashed its invisible power for the second time in this week after a once-sleepy Charles Schwab Corp. bond exchange-traded fund received another monster inflow.
When Microsoft Corp. launched its $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund three years ago, it was the lone tech giant pledging serious money to tackle rising temperatures. The dangers facing the planet have since become more acute, and the fund has about $400 million left.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. have begun preparations for a trio of the year’s biggest Chinese debuts, heralding a wave of initial public offerings that promise to breathe new life into the struggling technology industry and Hong Kong’s stock market.
Early signs of economic unraveling are appearing. The federal corporation that insures bank deposits is woefully underfunded. The Fed is under pressure to pivot away from its inflation fight.
Stock investors wishing for the Federal Reserve to pivot should rethink their logic and review the charts below.
Everyone insisting America isn't up to managing the world’s No. 1 economy after the Covid-19 pandemic caused the highest joblessness since the Great Depression and biggest cost-of-living increase in 40 years should ask...
No investment is risk-free, but the closest thing is probably short-term loans to the US government, also known as Treasury bills. That’s because the US government has vast resources to pay back its loans, and investors get their money back quickly.
The benchmark S&P 500 Index is wrapping up its second straight quarterly gain, rising 5.50% through Thursday and adding to the 7.08% surge in the final three months of 2022.
US equity capital markets are having the slowest start to a year since 2009, and dealmakers fear a rebound is nowhere near.
When we talk about shadow banking, we think of China, one of the world’s most indebted nations. Lending by companies that do not own a banking license has reached 50 trillion yuan ($7.3 trillion), or about 42% of gross domestic product, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
Elon Musk and an array of public figures have signed their names to an open letter that went viral this week, calling for a six-month pause on training language models more powerful than GPT-4, the technology underpinning ChatGPT.
We’ve been watching slumps ripple through various parts of the economy over the past 18 months: technology startups and stocks, regional banks and growing concern about commercial real estate. Yet we’re still waiting for the wider labor market to feel the downturn.
The rise of remote work during the pandemic has cut demand for office space and left some American downtowns feeling like ghost towns. As a result, there’s been much talk of converting downtown offices into apartments. This could not only bail out owners of suddenly less-valuable commercial real estate...
A group of conservative Republicans representatives known as the House Freedom Caucus came out last week against any proposal that would lift the cap on deposit insurance, currently set at $250,000. Members of US Congress on both sides of the aisle are understandably cautious about taking such a dramatic step in the middle of an unfolding crisis.
The dollar has lost some of its luster over the winter. The twin supports of its status as the preferred haven during the pandemic and being backed by the world’s strongest economy are fading.
Congress is asking the Federal Reserve and other financial regulators what went wrong at Silicon Valley Bank and why they didn’t see it coming. In due course, they’ll admit some mistakes, draw some lessons and tweak some rules.
I’ve received more emails and calls from clients on the failure of SVB Bank than I did on the stock market crash in April of 2020. That tells me there is wide concern today about the stability of the economy and financial markets.
Here is what sets rockstars apart from the average advisor.
There are many marketing initiatives you can implement on your own that that will likely work. Here are some suggestions.
The goal of marketing is to garner loyalty among existing clients while also attracting new ones to drive growth and profitability for your firm. To implement engaging messaging, follow these tips…
Here are the core tenets I share with advisors who are trying to carve their niche and stand out – the best practices to beef up your marketing efforts in 2023.
Here are six compliance-friendly ways to incorporate social proof into your website to establish trust and capture new leads.
A study, reported in the Harvard Business Review, claimed that likability was not important to the sales process.
The 2023 T3/Inside Information Software Survey is now available. It’s the best guide to the 300+ fintech solutions in the marketplace, and a good buyer’s guide for advisory firms that are looking for additions or enhancements to their tech stack.
In hindsight, it was obvious it wouldn’t last. Low interest rates — the result of shifts in the global economy, economic stability, low inflation and monetary policy — couldn’t stay at zero forever.
A year into its fight against inflation, the Federal Reserve could — just maybe — be done raising its policy rate. History shows that monetary policy pauses mark great buying opportunities for US stocks, but there are several key caveats to bear in mind this time.
For millions of borrowers, student loan forgiveness will mean the difference between significant relief and ongoing payments. If you’re among them, the question is… what next?
The sudden loss of confidence by depositors in some US banks is causing many to focus on the scope for financial contagion and the needed policy responses. What should not be overlooked is the other, and slower, contagion channel in play — that involving enablers of economic growth...
With all that extra intelligence, there will be a need and a desire to undertake many new projects, ranging from innovative theatrical productions to more efficient and densely packed solar panels. These new projects could also herald a world of much cheaper and greener energy, which would further increase humankind’s ability to manipulate the natural environment. Land will thus become more valuable.
The changes inside SECURE 2.0 range from new rules related to 529 college savings plans to when retirees should take their required minimum distributions (RMDs). With so much to sort through, advisors may be overlooking some of the details of the act.
A simple annuity can effectively replace bond holdings in a retirement plan that are earmarked to meet the lifetime spending goal. The question is why should a retiree hold any bonds in the portion of their asset base designed to cover ongoing retirement spending goals?
The economic signals and a host of geopolitical risks confronting investors suggest that 2023 could be as challenging as 20022 for both stocks and bonds.
Should investors build their own portfolios of bonds, or buy shares of bond funds? Is there an economic difference or just one of appearance? Are directly held bonds safer because they mature, and you get your money back? How should one decide?
Annie Duke, once one of the best female poker players in the world, helped me understand why people work longer than they need to. This got me thinking about the decumulation problem more broadly and planning to live to age 100.
Of all the questions that ChatGPT has raised about the future of artificial intelligence, one still reverberates through Silicon Valley: Why couldn’t the industry’s largest technology firms breed an innovative service with a similar kind of impact, especially after amassing some of the world’s largest AI teams?
For all of you following the banking crises in the US and Europe, and asking why this is all happening again, I have bad news: Regardless of what laws are passed, or which regulations are issued, banking crises will recur — and not infrequently.
The pitch for an actively managed bond exchange-traded fund can be compelling, especially when there’s market turmoil and uncertainty
It’s rarely mentioned, but it’s stunning how often the financial planning profession has foreshadowed the evolution of our social environment.
Advisors have always considered the discovery meeting unchallengeable. Why?
In this interview, noted economist Woody Brock discusses what exactly causes gridlock, and how can its grip be broken.
The importance of Biden’s veto to save the DOL rule was not about assessing ESG factors. It was about affirming the role of the fiduciary in investment advice.
Lower interest rates and more liquidity are the keys to boosting confidence in the financial sector, but they impede the Fed's ability to fight inflation.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point and signaled it’s not finished hiking, despite the risk of exacerbating a bank crisis that’s roiled global markets.
I’ll explore four tools and strategies you can leverage to improve how your site ranks in search engines to reach your clients and prospects more effectively.
