(New York)

The ten-year treasury yield hit one year high at 1.6% on Friday, just after President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package into law. Some are arguing that this is a new equilibrium for…view the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Boston)

The multinational biopharmaceutical company Amgen has agreed to terms to acquire Five Prime Therapeutics Inc. Amgen aims to improve its portfolio of…view the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Beijing)

The U.S. is set to ramp up its stimulus efforts as it passes the Biden Administrations' $1.9 trillion covid relief package. China, however…view the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

The Nasdaq is behaving very oddly and it should give investors pause. It is very rare for the Nasdaq and the Dow to be this out of sync. A couple days ago the Nasdaq outperformed the DJIA by 3.5%+, something it had not done in 20 years. Some take this as a sign of bullishness, but in reality, historical precedents say that when the Dow and Nasdaq are out of sync it is bad news. In fact, the only other time the two indices were this out of sync was the dotcom bubble.

FINSUM: The bottom line here is that major Nasdaq volatility in excess of Dow moves are not good. That means days like last Friday should be feared rather than celebrated. Stay vigilant.

(New York)

One of the challenges with annuities, whether as an annuities salesman or as an advisor explaining them to clients, is how to position them. The most fundamental utility of an annuity is the idea that it can provide income for life. In other words, the client can have peace of mind that they will have income even if they live to be 120. In this way, an annuity is not a market-based investment in the traditional sense, but rather it is an insurance contract. For advisors this concept will be second nature, but for clients this is not as clear. Accordingly, the main value of the annuity is not specifically in the income it provides, but in the risk mitigation it offers against very long lifespans for clients.

FINSUM: If you are active in annuities this might sound like a broken record; if you aren’t, it is a useful line of thinking. Either way, everyone needs to be reminded!