Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a much smaller conflict than World War I, and the trade disruptions associated with the U.S./European quasi-embargo on Russia are smaller than the British blockade of the Central Powers. But the clash is nonetheless a giant step away from globalization — and, unlike World War I, it comes at a time when the world has already been moving away from economic integration.

The extra yield offered by developing-nation sovereign debt over U.S. Treasuries has risen above 500 basis points, crossing a threshold breached only two other times in more than a decade. That’s drawing money managers including FIM Partners and Vontobel Asset Management to bet spreads will quickly tumble, just like they did following the previous spikes.

Corruption is “a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy,” said a certain vice president, back in 2014. Now commander in chief, Joe Biden must confront a corruption problem unfolding on his watch: the spiraling costs of misspent Covid funds.

An important part of tax planning is medical expenses, which add up quickly. Your clients (including spouses and dependents) will have medical expenses throughout the year, and hanging onto those receipts could save them money this year.

The failure to even mention nuclear energy as a solution for climate change is a mystery. What is the reason for this neglect of what would seem the world’s best hope for abating carbon emissions?

All geopolitical crises, including the current one, present three timeless lessons investors would be wise to heed.

Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for an exclusion of up to $10,000,000 of capital gains (or, if greater, an exclusion of up to 10 times one’s basis) in connection with the sale of qualified small business stock (QSBS).

The extreme outperformance of commodities over the last several weeks has sparked interest in this asset class. New research finds that commodities are subject to lottery-like returns, providing information on future performance.

On March 1, two unrelated Securities & Exchange Commission actions set out the state of its thinking on enforcing the “best interest” and “fiduciary” standards.

While higher gas prices may be welcome news to the oil industry, the rest of us should be concerned. It is a glaring recession warning. Over the last 40 years, higher gas prices have been linked to economic stagnation and recessions.

A message from our CEO, Robert Huebscher, on the war on Ukraine.

After the close of regular trading Wednesday, Amazon.com shares surged as much as 10% after the internet giant announced plans for a 20-for-1 split. The company also said it would buy back up to $10 billion of its stock.

In Congressional testimony on March 2, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that “it is more likely than not” that the central bank “can achieve what we call a soft landing” in the economy. In other words, he believes that the Fed can raise interest rates enough to get raging inflation under control without forcing the economy into a recession. The odds that Powell can pull that off are getting longer by the day.

Commodity prices have soared the last two weeks as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, drawing novice investors looking to make a quick buck. Many are already getting burned by their lack of knowledge.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by at least a 25 basis points next week. And if inflation stays high, the Fed is “prepared to raise by more than that” in the coming months, Chair Jerome Powell said last week.

After an unrelenting year of fighting off cyber threats, the financial services sector should expect more of the same or even worse, as nation-state hacking campaigns are expected to mirror geopolitical tensions and ransomware gangs retool to dodge increased scrutiny, according to an industry group report.

A historic surge in commodity prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coming on top of already-high pandemic inflation, has gotten investors and economists searching for parallels with the energy shocks of four decades ago and the prolonged slowdowns that followed.

Gold fell from near a 19-month high as risk sentiment improved, despite ongoing concerns that the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will further fuel inflation and hurt economies.

Any increased capital spending by U.S. oil and gas producers in response to the surge in crude price should help soften the blow to the economy from an expected pullback in consumer spending. It just won’t be anytime soon.

The consumer price index, due Thursday, is forecast to accelerate to a 7.8% increase in February from a year ago, which would be the most since 1982. But economists are now saying it could peak somewhere in the 8%-9% range this month or next, as the invasion of Ukraine and severe restrictions on the Russian economy send the prices of staples like oil and food soaring.

Whether it was friends or total strangers, everyone seemed to have the same question for me on a recent trip. Is it time to buy the dip in stocks? After all, U.S. stock markets have already had a few encouraging bounces in the past two weeks of trading, though they proved both temporary and more than fully reversible.

The business of influencing cryptocurrency policy in Washington exploded last year and has more than quadrupled in the past four years, according to a new study.

Two prominent U.S. economists from opposite ends of the political spectrum say the federal government should provide cash to consumers squeezed by soaring inflation and surging energy costs.

Headline inflation will breach 9% this year, according to Jeffrey Gundlach. That will force the Fed to aggressively raise the Fed funds rate.

Many people experience setbacks or life circumstances that result in temporarily relying on others for financial help. Being financially dependent in the longer term, however, is a financial disorder.

ICYMI: In this roundup, we’re highlighting the five most popular pieces of content from the previous week.

The price of nickel spiked more than 60% Monday, one of most extreme moves ever seen on metal markets. Here’s why that matters and who’ll take a hit. The metal added more than $10,000 to trade at a 15-year high above $40,000 a ton -- the biggest-ever daily dollar gain in the 35-year history of the contract.

Warren Buffett is back among the richest five people in the world amid steep drops in tech stocks that are eroding the wealth of Silicon Valley executives.

U.S. stocks slumped the most in 17 months on Monday, but the “buy the dip” mentality isn’t dead in the U.S. — and stock analysts are part of the reason it’s likely to stick around awhile. Research on individual stocks is as bullish as it has been in two decades by some measures.

If you want to know what stagflation looks like, check out the housing market. The conditions that existed during the 1970's — high inflation and stagnant output — are happening already in this segment of the U.S. economy, illustrating the challenges ahead for consumers, industry players and the Federal Reserve.

Javelin and Stinger missiles, Molotov cocktails and now…crypto war bonds. To support its life-or-death struggle against Russia, Ukraine is seeking to tap the rapidly expanding potential of cryptocurrencies. If it succeeds, other nations facing dire circumstances may follow.

Many U.S. drivers, stung by record gasoline prices, say they’d pay even more if it would end Russia’s war in Ukraine. That doesn’t mean they’re happy about it.

In a world where change is needed for growth and success, paraplanners have become a valuable resource for the financial planning profession.

As a financial planner, it’s your job to help the client understand why certain investment steps are in their best interest when their intuition may be telling them otherwise.

I am interested in any guidelines on paying and compensating my assistants.

My wife and I have downsized. We sold a large condo in a high-rise building and are moving to a much smaller house in a nearby community. The process taught me a lot about financial planning.

This article outlines the necessary requirements to establish a Nevada family trust company and examines the core features and benefits it offers clients.

Your firm would take off if you could replicate yourself. The problem: You can’t.

Advisors who avoid the TAMP space based on misguided preconceptions are missing out on the powerful competitive advantages they create.

This year, the theme for International Women's Day is #BreakTheBias. This theme celebrates the achievements that women have made, takes action for equality, and raises awareness against bias. What better way to honor the holiday than to examine how women are breaking down barriers in the financial services industry?

The rapid rise in housing prices since the pandemic has fueled fear among Americans already faced with the worst inflation in the last 40 years. The fear of inflation is genuine, but housing prices have nothing to do with it. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) incorrectly calculates housing as a component of inflation.

Wall Street analysts have a spotty history of calculating how geopolitical risks will weigh on the earnings and stock prices of the companies they cover. And that was before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Even before Russia invaded Ukraine the economy felt pretty dicey. There was inflation, a weird post-pandemic job market, and the prospect of a more hawkish Fed. Now markets are even more volatile as sanctions roil the global outlook. For anyone counting the days until retirement, it's been a harrowing ride.

When it comes to the Federal Reserve and monetary policy, there are no shortages of talking heads who say the central bank can’t raise interest rates too much or else it would trigger a “debt bomb.”

Corporate pledges to direct more dollars to Black-owned businesses after the 2020 murder of George Floyd have resulted in a refreshed mix of products at big-name stores.

Oil had its biggest daily swing ever, surging to near $140 before pulling back sharply, on the prospect of even tighter supplies after the U.S. said it was considering a ban on Russian crude imports.

Netflix, TikTok, Samsung and credit card operators have joined the lengthening list of businesses cutting ties with Russia or reviewing their operations in the country as reputational and financial risks mount.

This is the first part of a new series on investment analytics in the wealth management industry and how advisors are using analytics to communicate with clients and prospects. We will look at some of the more popular analytics and go over what they are, their good points, and their potential pitfalls.

The one future that neither public polling nor commentary is expecting is an American political economy in which the incomes of non-rich Americans will grow rapidly and that growth is paid, in large part, by a tariff on the returns to private capital in the U.S.

New data on consumer preferences and behaviors during COVID shows that the advisory firms face daunting challenges with respect to staffing, differentiation and – if they are private-equity backed – financing and maintaining profitability.