Wealth Management News & Insights – February 2, 2025

Wealth Management News & Insights

OpenAI in Talks for Huge Investment Round, What’s New This Tax Season That Can Save You Money, Was That a Real Van Gogh at the Garage Sale

 

 

 

Primary Sources

• Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement: Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace. The unemployment rate has stabilized at a low level in recent months, and labor market conditions remain solid. Inflation remains somewhat elevated. [FRB]
• KKR and Henry Schein Announce Strategic Investment: Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC), the world’s largest provider of health care solutions to office-based dental and medical practitioners, today announced a strategic investment by funds affiliated with KKR, a leading global investment firm. [KKR]

 

Financial Markets

• 2024 US Home Sales Hit Lowest Level in Nearly 30 Years with Ownership Increasingly Out of Reach: Elevated mortgage rates, a yearslong shortage of homes on the market and record-high home prices continued to stymie prospective home shoppers, especially first-time buyers. [APNews]
• The World Risks a ‘Financial Heart Attack.’ Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio Has the Medicine: The hedge fund founder says it is game time for heavily indebted countries to avert a debt crisis in the U.S. and elsewhere. [Barrons]
• OpenAI in Talks for Huge Investment Round Valuing It Up to $300 Billion: SoftBank would lead $40 billion round for ChatGPT maker, some of which would go to Stargate AI infrastructure venture. [WSJ]
• OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Are AI’s New Power Couple: Japanese conglomerate is in talks to spend up to $43 billion to boost the ChatGPT developer. [WSJ]

 

 

The table above provides a business update for Mastercard through January 28th, 2025. The table displays year-over-year growth for significant metrics like switched volume, switched transaction, and cross-border volume. The data shows sold growth across all metrics.

 

Financial Planning

• What’s New This Tax Season That Can Save You Money: Key changes to consider before filing your tax return. [WSJ]
• The Americans Pledging to Buy Less—or Even Nothing: People are tiring of overconsumption and want to pay off debt. [WSJ]

 

Business Strategy

• Fox Scores First $8 Million Super Bowl Ads – Here’s How: The company capitalized on a strong upfront to reach record commercial pricing and nearly $700 million in sales. [AdWeek]
• KPMG Wants to Be the First Accounting Giant to Own a U.S. Law Firm. Here’s Why: Bid in Arizona would break a barrier, potentially signaling deep changes for accounting and legal industries. [WSJ]
• Why ‘Distillation’ Has Become the Scariest Word for AI Companies: DeepSeek’s success learning from bigger AI models raises questions about the billions being spent on the most advanced technology. [WSJ]
• Starbucks Shakes Up Its Leadership Again, Adding Two Former Taco Bell Executives: CEO Brian Niccol said the company is changing the operating model for its retail team, which led to the shake-up. [CNBC]

 

Life & Work

• See The Full List of 2025 Oscar Nominations: The 2025 Academy Awards ceremony is slated to take place on Sunday, March 2, hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien at the Dolby Theater. [NPR]
• The Tiny Western Town That’s Quietly Become the Coolest Place to Ski: Once a frontier town for loggers and cowboys, Truckee, near Lake Tahoe, has quickly grown into a hub of winter adventure—not to mention hip coffee shops and new restaurants. [WSJ]
• Was That a Real Van Gogh at the Garage Sale?: A team of specialists is trying to prove that a canvas bought for less than $50 was painted by the iconic artist—and is worth $15 million. [WSJ]
• Bans, Fees, Taxes. Can Anything Stop Overtourism?: Efforts to limit visitors in tourist hot spots have had mixed results, at best. Competing interests have a way of impeding attempts to stem the tide. [NYT]
• Funflation – Concert Ticket Prices have Soared, But Music Fans Don’t Seem to Care: After rising steadily post-pandemic, admission to movies, theaters and concerts jumped 20% since 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index data. And yet, consumers have demonstrated a high tolerance for the increasing price tag. [CNBC]
• Commuting is Back — But Not As We Knew It: Pandemic predictions that the daily journey to work would die off are greatly exaggerated, according to FT analysis. [FT]