Wealth Management News & Insights
Cash Windfall From Trump’s Tax Law is Starting to Show Up at Big Companies, Millennials Are Richer So Why Can’t They Stop Worrying, AI-Generated Music is Here to Stay
Primary Sources
- Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement: Although swings in net exports continue to affect the data, recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year. [FRB]
Financial Markets
- Cash Windfall From Trump’s Tax Law Is Starting to Show Up at Big Companies: Investors are watching boosts to free cash flow as estimates of tax savings trickle out. [WSJ]
- It’s a Scorching Hot Summer for Deals on Wall Street – Vacation Can Wait: Busiest week for dealmaking since 2021 has bankers and lawyers scrambling. [WSJ]
- Credit-Card Users Are Cautious Now – Rate Cuts Could Open the Floodgates: Most Americans are managing their cards well right now, so slashing the cost of using them could unleash spending. [WSJ]
Financial Planning
- Want to Study Welding or Prepare for the Bar Exam? You Can Now Use a 529 Plan: President Trump’s new policy law has broadened the uses of plans that were once primarily for saving for college. “They’ve become education savings accounts,” one expert said. [NYT]
- Millennials Are Richer Now. So Why Can’t They Stop Worrying?: A generation that came of age during the 2007-09 recession—and then lived through the Covid-19 pandemic—remains anxious. [WSJ]
- It’s Time for That Often-Dreaded Task – Buying Back-to-School Supplies: Parents of children in kindergarten through high school are spending an average of $144, and that’s coming as families are feeling financial stress. [NYT]
Business Strategy
- Is It Still Disney Magic if It’s AI?: The stakes are especially high for the studio, caught between how to use artificial intelligence in the filmmaking process and how to protect its famed characters against it. [WSJ]
- Apple Got the Jump on Tariffs, Deciding Years Ago to Make iPhones in India: Chief Executive Tim Cook sought new factory locales outside China, a prescient move that along with a new $100 billion U.S. investment will shield the company—for now. [WSJ]
- NFL and ESPN Reach Nonbinding Agreement for Sale of NFL Network and Other Media Assets: Ever since the NFL announced it was looking to sell NFL Network and other media assets, ESPN had been seen as one of the favorites to make a deal. [NPR]
- Aldi’s Passionate, Cultlike Following Fuels Its Rapid Expansion Plans: “It feels like I’m at a bougie store, but I’m not paying bougie prices,” one shopper said of the discount grocer, which is set to open hundreds of stores as consumers look to save and buy organic. [NYT]
- How Ozempic’s Maker Lost Its Shine After Creating a Wonder Drug: The pioneering Danish drugmaker was once the most valuable company in Europe, but analysts say a number of missteps reversed its fortunes. [NYT]
- Yum Brands is Cooking Up More Than Fast Food – It’s Preparing the Industry’s Next CEOs: CEOs like Brian Niccol, Kevin Hochman and Julie Felss Masino spent years at Yum before leaving to lead other restaurant companies. [CNBC]
The chart above shows the estimated cash tax savings for top tech companies for the current fiscal year. Alphabet and Amazon lead with the highest estimated savings.
Life & Work
- Badly Bruised Universities Are Rushing to Cut Deals With Trump: As a growing number of the wealthiest US colleges capitulate in their battles with the Trump administration, the strain from lost and frozen federal funding is putting pressure on the remaining holdouts to cut a deal. [Bloomberg]
- Looking for a Blissful, Beachy Getaway This Summer? Try a Great Lake: Sandy shorelines and fresh breezes characterize these six spots in the United States and Canada. [NYT]
- Hailing a Ride on Uber or Lyft? Here’s What to Know to Stay Safe: Ride-hailing apps have built-in safety features that riders should be familiar with, experts said. [NYT]
- AI-Generated Music is Here to Stay. Will Streaming Services like Spotify Label It?: Like every other technological advancement that has preceded it, artificial intelligence has caused some panic — and fascination — over how it might transform the music industry. [NPR]