(Washington)

This is one of the most uncertain times in recent history, and not just because of political divisiveness and the pandemic, but because many of the new administration’s policies are likely to be very different than the Trump administration’s. That extends to taxes, where there is a high degree of anxiety about forthcoming changes, most of which high earners expect to be punitive. Because there is a wide range of possible outcomes, advisors need to work hard to plan for what different scenarios might look like. Accordingly, now is the right time to beef up on tax planning staff, or at the least review your tax planning playbook and keep a close eye on the news.

FINSUM: In a year, when new tax policies are known, you want to be able to tell clients “don’t worry” we have been planning for this and you will be fine. The work to get there needs to start now.

(New York)

If investors’ eyes are watering from the big jump in yields over the last month, no one could blame them. The steep rise has sideswiped markets and until today, sent the Nasdaq into a full blown correction, with the rest of the market down strongly too. So how can investors protect their portfolios from losses because of yield jumps? One asset class to consider are rate hedged ETFs, such as the ProShares Investment Grade-Interest Rate Hedged ETF (Cboe: IGHG) and ProShares High Yield Interest Rate Hedged ETF (Cboe: HYHG). Both funds go long corporate bonds and short Treasuries, which allows them to remove rate risk, but still keep the benefit of income streams from the underlying corporate bonds.

FINSUM: Rates usually rise when the economy is improving, as is happening now. In these periods, corporate bond spreads usually tighten. So this type of ETF allows you the benefit from the increasing attractiveness of corporate bonds while also protecting against interest rate risk.

(Washington)

ESG has been doing very well. Not only is it getting more public attention, but it is receiving significant inflows. Well, things are about to change from the corporate and regulatory perspectives as well. The Biden administration’s SEC is preparing to adopt a new policy on shareholder resolutions that relate to things like ESG and social justice. The Trump administration had made it very easy for companies to dismiss such resolutions as “micro management” but the current SEC aims to give them more teeth. While such resolutions—things like demands to report gross carbon emissions, or minority compensation—are not legally binding, they do put management under pressure to answer tough questions and garner a great deal of press.

FINSUM: This is going to compel top management to play ball with shareholders on resolutions they would otherwise love to ignore.

(New York)

The post-pandemic bull run has touched the breaks, but not necessarily stopped the momentum. However, Bank of America’s Sell Side Indicator…View the full article on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Jeffrey Currie, head of Commodities Research at Goldman Sachs, said there is the beginning of a structural bull market in raw materials…View the full article on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Atlanta)

Walmart (WMT) is synonymous with most consumers for their household products, but the retail giant is expanding its frontier of offerings…View the full article on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Washington)

One big anxiety that has been on every broker’s mind since mid-January is: is the SEC going to be make Reg BI compliance tougher, or introduce something even worse? A lose-lose ...View the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

The price of gold has been in a slump after it reached all-time highs mid pandemic. A variety of micro and macro factors are melding to put this commodity in a major second rally ...View the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Investors have had to recalibrate over the last couple of weeks as Reddit users and memes positioned themselves as players on the real-world financial stage. Related byproducts to the internet culture are growth in ... View the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

The bond market is a powder keg that may have only started to explode, says ING. “The bond market has been sitting on a powder keg since last week. Attitude towards duration among fixed income investors has grown cautious, to put it mildly”, says Padhraic Garvey, regional head of research for the Americas at ING. “In this context, we do not blame investors for exiting at the first sign of a sell-off”, he continued.

FINSUM: Investors are currently terrified about inflation and it is hitting Treasury yields and tech stocks squarely on the chin. Our opinion is these fears are overblown and this is a market overreaction, especially as it regards tech stocks. These stocks are losing despite the fact that underlying fundamentals strongly favor the growth of tech earnings.