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Trump Media’s Finance Pivot Now Includes an Investment Fund
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Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. is creating a new fund to invest in “America First” companies, a move that could further co-mingle the business and policy interests of President Donald Trump.
Banks Pull Debt Deals as Investors Push Back on Aggressive Terms
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Banks have pulled a handful of US leveraged loans from the market this month, as investors are pushing back on aggressive pricing and credits with less favorable ratings, even though demand is outweighing the overall supply of deals.
TikTok Owner ByteDance Is Tech Darling Again With $400 Billion-Plus Valuation
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At least three of Bytedance Ltd.’s major investors have marked up the TikTok-owner’s valuation to more than $400 billion, a sharp rebound for a Chinese social video leader that has been threatened with a US shutdown.
Consumer Sentiment Plummets to 15-Month Low Amid Tariff, Inflation Worries
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Consumer sentiment plummeted to its lowest level since November 2023 this month, according to the final report for the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. The index dropped 6.4 points (-9.0%) to 64.7, marking the largest monthly decline since May and falling short of the 67.3 forecast. Sentiment is now down 15.9% from a year ago, the steepest annual decline since late 2022.
Existing Home Sales Retreat 4.9% in January
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Existing home sales started the year with their first decline in four months. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing home sales retreated 4.9% from December, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.08 million units in January.
Wall Street Is Selling ETFs That Mimic the Private Equity Boom
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Wall Street is still awaiting regulatory approval for the first full-blown private-asset ETFs, but for now opportunistic issuers are continuing to churn out products that claim to replicate the booming asset class — and stretching the definition of “liquid private equity.”
Wall Street Pushes Back on Tough Margin Rule for Zero-Day Options
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Wall Street brokers and dealers are pushing back on a new margin rule that the world’s largest derivatives-clearing house has proposed to address the risk from the boom in zero-day options even after some revisions.
Solving the Income Investor Dilemma
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My friends like to make fun of me by taunting that I don’t like to commit to things. I’m constantly trying new hobbies. I don’t like to make plans too far in advance because something more exciting might pop up. I don’t even like to renew my car tags for more than one year.
What’s Your Organization’s Investment Succession Plan?
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At some point in time, the top brass that manage your organization’s investments will no longer be with the organization, whether that’s through retirement, a job change, or a change in personal circumstances. Then what?
Zillow Home Value Index: "Real" Home Values Falls to Lowest Level Since 2021
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In January, nominal home values rose for the 22nd consecutive month, reaching a new all-time high, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. However, after adjusting for inflation, real home values declined for the ninth straight month, hitting their lowest level since May 2021.
Philly Fed Manufacturing Index: Activity Continued to Expand in February
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The latest Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index showed continued expansion though activity declined. In February, the index fell to 18.1 from 44.3 in January, the largest monthly drop since 2020. The latest reading was lower than the forecast of 19.4.
Unemployment Claims Up 5K, Higher Than Expected
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In the week ending February 15th, initial jobless claims were at a seasonally adjusted level of 219,000. This represents an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's figure. The latest reading was higher than the 214,000 forecast.
Meta Platforms’ Record Winning Streak Puts Stock Split in View
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Meta Platforms Inc.’s recent record-breaking, 20-day rally propelled the share price to a level where investors may start calling on the company to split its stock for the first time since going public in 2013.
Bessent Says US ‘Long Way’ From Boosting Longer-Term Debt Sales
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that any move to boost the share of longer-term Treasuries in government debt issuance is some ways off, given current hurdles that include elevated inflation and the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening program.
Stagflation Is Poised for a Comeback
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Might this be the year that stagflation returns to the US? It has been half a century: The last time the US economy had both excessively high inflation and unduly high unemployment was in the mid-1970s, with inflation rates reaching 12.2% in 1974 and unemployment at 8.5% in 1975.
Coming in Hot
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Following the relatively solid January Employment Situation report, the market’s undivided attention, at least economic data-wise, then turned to the latest CPI reading. Indeed, with the jobs aspect of the Fed’s dual mandate clearly showing no urgency to cut rates further at this time, the question then turned to the inflation portion of the policy maker’s mission.
Five Estate Planning Ideas for 2025
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Consider estate planning strategies to minimize the impact of taxes on your estate. Our Bill Cass highlights several key actions including document reviews, naming beneficiaries and the use of 529 college savings plans to enhance tax efficiency.
Gasoline Prices Hit 4-Month High
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Gas prices hit their highest level in four months this week. As of February 17th, the price of regular and premium gas were up 2 and 4 cents from the previous week, respectively. The WTIC end-of-day spot price for crude oil closed at $71.83, down 0.7% from last week.
Housing Starts Tumble 9.8% in January
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In the latest report by the Census Bureau, housing starts tumbled to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.366 million in January This marks a 9.8% decrease from December, the largest monthly decline in ten months, and a 0.7% decline compared to one year ago.
Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin Inches Down to 5-Week Low
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Bitcoin's closing price edged lower, settling just above $95,500—its lowest level in over five weeks. BTC remains up ~1% year to date but is now ~10% below its record high. Here are the latest charts on three of the largest cryptocurrencies by market share through 2/18/25.