Alex Rodriguez’s goals in business started as soon as he turned pro. Now on the other side of one of the most successful—and controversial—careers in baseball history, his ambitions are accelerating.
As financial professionals scramble to close business before year end, taking a moment to appreciate client growth as well as the holiday season may seem like an energy waste. But the opposite is true.
As we close out the year, I’ll provide my top five advisor observations from my work with large and small practices.
A Pittsburgh insurance broker and a Richmond, Virginia forensic accountant have developed an alternative rating system for measuring the ability of life/annuity companies to keep their promises even in market crises. They call it the transparency, surplus and riskier assets ratio, or “TSR” for short.
There happens to be a cryptocurrency named Omicron that was up 900% on the day the South African variant was christened. That is how the drunken Mr. Market is pricing our stocks.
MMT offers a new "logic" that allows the government to spend without facing the traditional constraints of debts and deficits. Is MMT too good to be true?
In general, the more optimistic we are on the prospects of an investment, the more of it we’ll want to own. However, at extreme levels of bullishness, the normal relationship can be turned on its head and it can make sense to own less of an asset the more we like it.
Anyone gearing up for bond yields to surge in 2022 should think again. A global glut of saved cash has the potential to restrain an increase in rates, even as central banks dial back their pandemic stimulus.
Cryptocurrencies had a blockbuster year in 2021 by almost any measure. Bitcoin, Ether and other coins jumped, reaching new highs far beyond their previous peaks.
As Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boss David Solomon chatted at a November dinner for retired partners, he mentioned that the firm will be among the country’s most profitable big public companies this year. But the veteran mergers banker Geoff Boisi was struck by how muted the excitement has been.
Despite a drop in clean-energy stocks and intensifying concerns about widespread greenwashing, the market for investment products sold as being ESG-related had another record year by most yardsticks.
The year 2021 will be remembered as one in which markets tumbled down a rabbit hole and entered financial wonderland: A once-elite undertaking became more populist, tribal, anarchic and often downright bizarre.
President Joe Biden extended the pause on federal student-loan repayments by another three months as the U.S. faces a fresh wave of Covid-19 cases from the omicron variant, removing a near-term threat to millions of Americans’ finances.
Before we bid farewell to 2021 let's take a look back at some of our favorite milestones.
The S&P 500 will probably end next year with a gain, while yields on 10-year Treasuries and the price of oil will climb as well. That’s according to nearly 900 Bloomberg Terminal clients who responded to a survey conducted by our Markets Live blog in the first two weeks of December.
Die-hard dip buyers are bracing for even more volatility -- and bigger, more enticing dips -- in the run-up to Christmas.
In 2021, at least 40 residential properties sold for more than $50 million in the U.S., according to data compiled by the appraiser Miller Samuel.
Oil climbed with equities as traders resumed buying risk assets following a two-day rout.
Warm weather, no state income taxes, palm-fringed beaches and condos have made Florida the quintessential U.S. retirement destination. But a little shore town in New Jersey seems to be taking some of its shine.
There was a lot of yelling when I was there from 1999 to 2008, but there was a lot of a bank’s own capital being committed and a lot of risk being transferred. I probably did more yelling than anyone, and I got yelled at plenty. But at the end of the day, nobody took anything personally.
As is our custom, we conclude the year by reflecting on the 10 most-read market and economic commentaries over the past 12 months.
We conclude the year by reflecting on the 10 most-read AP Charts & Analysis articles over the past 12 months. These are updated frequently depending on the release of data, but in 2021, these were the most popular topics.
Great articles don’t always get the readership they deserve. We’ve already posted the most-widely read articles for the past year. Here are another 10 that you might have missed, but I believe merit reading.
As is our custom, we conclude the year by reflecting on the 10 most-read practice management articles over the past 12 months.
As is our custom, we conclude the year by reflecting on the 10 most-read investment and planning articles over the past 12 months. Tomorrow, we will highlight the 10 most-read practice management articles.
A return to the office means a return to the commute. Less time with family. Less time for your health. All to do the same work for the same company at a different desk.
In your meetings, hand the reins to the client. You may find that your initial assumptions weren’t valid.
We need to do year-end planning but in past years it hasn’t gone well.
Capitalism’s death warrant was signed on March 19, 1968. That is when President Lyndon Johnson eliminated the requirement that the Federal Reserve back the U.S. dollar with gold reserves.
Investors in the booming ethical bond market are having to swallow short term losses on the road to improving their green credentials.
The U.S. investment-grade loan market is set to return to normality in 2022 after loans delayed early in the pandemic were shifted into this year, making it among the busiest on record, according to some of the market’s lead deal arrangers.
An exceptional year for wealthy Americans, at least in terms of their financial health, just got better.
Bond traders suspect the Federal Reserve will quickly discover it’s being too ambitious with its newly hawkish stance.
Of the many economic reports that the U.S. government puts out each month, the one looking at the number of homes on which builders have started construction doesn’t come close to matching the interest of investors, economists and politicians...
To envision the future of crypto, I keep trying different analytical tools. This time around the concept of relevance is focality, by which I mean the part of the system at which consumers direct their attention.
Media attention has focused on the long-standing “4% rule” and how economic and demographic realities have reduced that guideline. This article discusses related considerations and provides opportunities for retirees dealing with the new normal.
Successful investors must answer three questions: Will we have serious inflation? Will interest rates increase? Will stock prices fall?
To obtain the best long-term risk-adjusted performance, investors should combine multiple trend-following factor strategies into a single portfolio.
The value for clients is higher with larger portfolios than small ones. The fees should be higher too.
No example of transformation is more well-known this time of year than that of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.
The best marketing doesn’t just attract people to your business. It also repels the people you don’t want to work with.
I haven’t written one of these rips in a while, so I thought as an end of the year celebration I’d bring the “six phrases” series back and the first roast will focus on my personal favorite: brokers.
The best tribute to Vanguard founder John C. Bogle near the end of his long life cannot be repeated without heavy censorship.
New research shows that companies that engender high employee satisfaction are rewarded with higher stock prices and investor returns.
In this interview, Spencer Logan discusses Harbor Capital’s recent launch of an active transparent ETF that uses a scientific approach to fixed income investing.
It has been my tradition to informally rate the investment-related books I read in the past year. I have also included some novels and books of general interest. Here is my list of winners and losers.
The dollar is on the rise, and with it comes underappreciated consequences.
Investors should hold off from ditching all their high-priced growth stocks for cheaper value shares as bond yields rise, at least until benchmark Treasuries yield 3%.
Lofty prices for parody coins. Celebrity-driven commercials for trading platforms. A frenzy over non-fungible tokens has enticed famous names including former first lady Melania Trump. Even after a pullback in the past month, the cryptocurrency market remains full of frothy behavior.
At the end of every year, I like to look back on my work and see which themes and findings are as striking now as they were months ago. I’ve chosen ten ideas – and the ten charts to go with them...
