Executive Summary Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with a helpful explainer of what, exactly, is going on with GameStop and a few other high-flying stocks that have captured industry headlines and media headlines this week with a combination of “short squeeze” and “gamma squeeze” […]
Archives for 2021
Beware of identity theft scam involving unemployment benefits
The IRS is warning taxpayers of an identity theft scam involving fraudulent claims for state unemployment benefits. Identity thieves are reportedly using stolen personal information to file for and receive unemployment benefits. This scam has proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic as unemployment claims in general have skyrocketed. In response, the IRS says taxpayers who receive […]
Ameriprise wealth unit finds bright spots amid lower earnings
Despite a substantial dip in wealth management earnings and a headcount of financial advisors that remains roughly flat, Ameriprise brought in record net new assets. Low interest rates amid the coronavirus cut the Ameriprise Advice and Wealth Management division’s earnings by $92 million in the fourth quarter — closing out a year that saw its […]
Why I gamble in individual stocks and let my clients do it, too
I’m an indexer and have been one for more than three decades. I put my clients in the most low-cost and diversified index funds around. No attempts to beat the market with such strategies as Smart Beta. It’s precisely because I’m known for this approach that people are surprised to learn that not only do […]
BlackRock, Morgan Stanley executives are cool to Reddit mania
Finance industry stalwarts are responding to the market mania triggered by retail traders on Reddit. They’re not impressed. BlackRock Vice Chairman Philipp Hildebrand called the phenomenon irrational “nonsense,” while Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said those involved are in for a “rude awakening.” “It is not surprising when you think about how much liquidity is […]
The great business story of 2020 that everyone missed
One of the biggest stories of 2020 wasn’t about the pandemic, politics or protests, says Marc Price, CTO of Matrixx Software. It was about private networks or, more specifically, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s opening up of wireless spectrum that would enable private 5G networks to be deployed by almost any company that had a mind to do […]
Editor’s Column: Private equity – friend or foe?
It was, to some degree, inevitable that private equity firms would turn their attention to UK Financial Planner firms. I’ve been watching the growth of private equity ownership in the UK for many years. Few members of the public realise that huge swathes of the British economy are now owned by private equity, from major […]
The Case for Silver
Peter Boockvar on what looks to become the next It trade on the internet… For some reason the Reddit crowd is chattering about silver. There is this belief that for years the big banks, particularly JP Morgan, have been artificially suppressing its price when all I think their positioning reflected was the other side of […]
Pigs Get Slaughtered, doing the work with Rachel Robasciotti, GameStop short squeeze
Josh’s take on Wall Street changing the rules to squirm out of the GameStop short squeeze plus an epic story from the annals of Wall Street history you’ve never heard before. Then, Josh talks to Rachel Robasciotti, founder and chief executive officer of Adasina Social Capital. Rachel is not just talking about the work – […]
Pension savers withdraw £9.4bn in 2020
Pension savers withdrew £9.4bn flexibly using the Pension Freedoms in 2020, new HMRC data reveals. Despite the huge sum, most pension experts said that pension savers were mostly showing restraint. The figures reveal that so far £42bn has been flexibly withdrawn from pensions since the freedoms were introduced in 2015. The latest HMRC data shows: […]