(Washington)

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen released bits of the Biden administration's Future Tax plan…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Gold had one of its biggest runs last August, but gold stocks and ETFs have been the real…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

The recovery has boosted the junk bond market as investors saw investment-grade bonds and government debt perform…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Washington)

The Biden admin is tackling some of the changes made during Trump's administration, particularly to environmental social governance, fair lending, and consumer protection rules. The administration will not allow a set of measures that disincentivize ESG factors by shareholder voting restrictions. They have also reinstated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability to seek monetary penalties for abusive practices and expanded the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to gender and sexual orientation protection. Finally, the administration reinforced the SEC’s ability to investigate and subpoena companies and individuals for investigation. These measures are just some of the ways the new administration is changing the regulatory landscape.

FINSUM: These regulations could have a profound impact on companies in the near and long term. One result is more definite, that this is just one more of many ways that the Biden Admin is incentivizing ESG.

(New York)

It is no secret that oil and gas stocks have great dividends. What makes the sector special right now is that the sector is also looking like a good investment for capital appreciation because of the rise of the “commodities super cycle”. With all that in mind, check out these three names for good income: Marathon Petroleum (MPC) or its MLP, MLPX, Energy Transfer (ET), and Antero Resources (AR). All three opportunities currently offer double digit yields.

FINSUM: Oil is definitely in recovery mode, so the combination of value and income is compelling.

(New York)

The market has been on a tear recently, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at small caps. Despite the broader rise in indexes, the Russell 2000 has not hit a fresh high in a month. Investors are wondering why, and the reason is pretty clear: inflation fears. Small caps are not seen to have as much pricing power as their larger peers, so as input costs rise, they get hit with lower margins.

FINSUM: There is nice clear and succinct reason why small caps have been underperforming over the last month. The good news is that inflation fears are subsiding, which means small caps should rebound accordingly.

(New York)

The stock market has been on one of the most historic recoveries in market history, but…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Roblox (RBLX) the children's hybrid social media/video game platform received nothing…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Silicon Valley)

Consumers spent more at online stores last year than the previous year by a staggering $900 billion…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Retirement has never been so insecure. Part of the appeal of annuities has been as a strategy to offset the decline in pensions. Yet, if you dig deeper there is another good utility for annuities that some retirees and pre-retirees are using: as a bridge to getting social security. Many lower income retirees hit a wall where they only have tens of thousands to low hundreds of thousands of dollars when they turn 60. The issue is that if the claim Social Security early, they can grossly lower their income versus waiting a few years. Given that the average 60 year-old male right now is expected to live to 88, the difference of $500 a month really adds up. Accordingly, in this situation an annuity—such as an immediate annuity—can work very well, as it buys time for retirees to defer taking Social Security.

FINSUM: This strategy can make a ton of sense, but it takes some convincing as most retirees don’t want to part with their money even if they know it will give them more security.