(Washington)

The last couple of months has been very tense for advisors. Not only have discussions around a renewed version of the DOL rule been swirling, but highly significant tax hikes are pending. Biden is planning a huge multi-trillion Dollar increase in spending, which means tax hikes are almost a certainly. And none of them is more worrying than the hike on long-term capital gains taxes, which Biden wants to push up to 43.4% vs 23.8% now. That is scary in itself, but here is the truly worrying part: experts think it will take effect May 27th (next Thursday). This would be simultaneous to his announcement of his full budget.

FINSUM: Evidently Biden doesn’t want to give advisors and accountants time to game plan around his changes, so he wants them to go into effect immediately upon release of the budget (and they could even be retroactive).

(Washington)

A new fiduciary rule has been in the back of all advisors’ minds for several months now. In February…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Financial technology is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the market…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Las Vegas)

Tesla Inc. Stock dropped recently after…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

The whole market—including advisors—has pretty much been panicking lately about to invest in what could be a period of high inflation. The duress is understandable considering we haven’t had significant inflation in decades. However, those trying to diversify into assets which are likely to thrive during inflation should look no further than the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE). The normally sleepy sector is surging this year, up 37% versus the S&P 500’s 11%. The reason why is simple: higher rates mean better earnings for banks, which earn the majority of the revenue from interest income.

FINSUM: If you think inflation is going to stay elevated, this is a great hedge. However, if it falls, it is easy to imagine regional banks tumbling in value.