Our Work
Investment Insights – Keith R. Schicker, CFA, Investment Insights
- What is Asset Allocation? The best way to choose an asset allocation is tailored to your unique situation and maximizes the benefits of both volatility and compounding. [READ MORE]
Primary Sources
- Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement: Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace. Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation remains elevated. [FRB]
News
Financial Markets
- Crypto’s New Favorite Bank Sees Future Growth Far Beyond Crypto: Clients turn to Customers after Silvergate, Signature collapse. [Bloomberg]
- Tech Stocks, Meme Stocks, Crypto: Investors Are Feeling Bold Again: The market looks a lot like 2021—right before stocks entered a deep slump. [WSJ]
The chart above displays bullishness among individual investors from mid-2021 to mid-2023. Individual investors are currently bullish.
- Europeans Are Becoming Poorer. ‘Yes, We’re All Worse Off.’: An aging population that values its free time set the stage for economic stagnation. Then came Covid-19 and Russia’s war in Ukraine. [WSJ]
- What Fed Hikes? Much of America’s Consumer Debt Is Still Riding Ultralow Interest Rates: A huge chunk of consumer debt still carries fixed rates made before 2022. [WSJ]
The chart on the left displays share of household debt that adjusts with market interest rates; this metric has been historically low for the past decade. The chart on the right suggests that since the 2008 financial crisis required household debt service payments as a percent of disposable personal income has been on a decline.
Financial Planning
- The Smart Gadgets That Can Save Your Home—and Your Money: Detecting water leaks and faulty wiring can protect your family’s biggest investment and your wallet. [WSJ]
- Why It’s Smart to Revisit New Year’s Savings Goals Now: There’s still time this year to make adjustments, especially with the coming resumption of student loan payments. [NYT]
The series of charts by Bank of America analyzes consumer digital adoption, client engagement, and digital volumes. The Consumer Digital Update shows an increase in adoption, engagement, and volumes since 2Q20. For example, Zelle® sent transactions have more than doubled since 2Q20 to 2Q23, while checks written has slowly tapered down.
Retirement Planning
- Inherited IRAs Just Got New Rules. What to Know: Under new guidance, the IRS is allowing people who inherited an individual retirement account after 2019 to skip a RMD this year. [Barron’s]
Business Strategy
- From Twitter to X: Elon Musk Begins Erasing an Iconic Internet Brand: The tech billionaire started removing the bird logo that has been part of Twitter’s identity since 2006. [NYT]
- An Exodus of Talent Is Imperiling Goldman’s Overhaul: Wave of departures among senior executives could undermine David Solomon’s asset-management strategy. [WSJ]
- A Four-Day Workweek Experiment Finds Work Does Get Done in Less Time: The longer people worked in new efficient ways, the more their workweek shrank over time, a large-scale study shows. [WSJ]
- A Soap Maker Cracks the Code to ‘Made in America’: Bath & Body Works persuaded companies throughout its supply chain to move to an Ohio city near its headquarters. [WSJ]
- Seven Major Automakers, Including GM, Stellantis and Honda, Join to Create US Charging Network: Seven major automakers are coming together to create a joint venture that will build out a large electric vehicle fast-charging network in the North America, in an attempt to make electric vehicles more attractive to consumers. [CNN]
The chart above is a timeline of Automotive OEM’s roadmap of future EV launches.
Life & Work
- ‘Barbenheimer’ Tops $235 Million in Domestic Debut, Eyes Second-Highest Box Office Weekend Ever: “Barbenheimer” exploded over the weekend, generating more than $235.5 million in ticket sales and reinvigorating the domestic box office. [CNBC]
- It’s Taylor Swift’s Economy, and We’re All Living in It: Swifties flocking to Eras Tour cities are filling hotels and crowding restaurants; the Fed has noticed, too. [WSJ]
- Parents Hire $4,000 Sorority Consultants to Help Daughters Dress and Impress During Rush: Getting into sororities is nearly as tough as entry to top universities; ‘Be trendy but not too trendy, modest but not too modest, fit in but be unique’. [WSJ]
This chart by Jefferies compares the supply of cars by brand from 2019 to 2023. There has been a steep decline in production over the past four years due to the semiconductor shortage. Mazda production has decreased over 80% since 2019. Through this adversity, the industry has learned to adjust and is starting to re-implement incentives.
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