Hallie Sam - Biznes Hobby - Comprehensive Email Marketing Tips

Three Reasons to Seek Wealth, That Have Nothing to Do With Greed

by Hallie Sam on March 20, 2022

If you act with integrity and do so in order to be of maximum service; there is no limit to what you can do.

We live in strange times when it comes to the pursuit of wealth and happiness. The shadow of 80s yuppyism and the corruption that led to the 2007/8 financial crash looms large to this day, and the prevailing narrative around wealth is confused at best. A lot of people struggle with articulating the reasons why they would seek a life of wealth as a result.

We allow politicians and other interested parties to tell us that being rich is bad. That seeking means above above necessity is just greedy and robs someone else of what they need. Meanwhile, in-between flailing 30-second dance routines and makeup tutorials, ‘influencers’ extol the virtues of crypto currency, skincare products and just being fabulously wealthy.

It all points to a culture that doesn’t really know what it wants anymore. The old guard who are in charge, wish to instill a community spirit and wholesome values (to give them the benefit of the doubt). Meanwhile; Gen-Z want to shake their ass on Tick-Tock and get paid for it by a multivitamin company.

The aspirational lifestyle has shifted, but to what exactly? And where do you fit in?

You’ve possibly found yourself in the dilemma of wanting to accrue wealth, improve your living standards and enjoy life; but not wanting others to think you shallow or greedy. The apparent navel-gazing, ‘influencer’ lifestyle that involves documenting your every move doesn’t appeal. You just want to offer value and be recognized for it. You probably feel torn between two poles, and subsequently frozen in inaction. There is another way.

Here are three reasons to seek wealth, that have nothing to do with greed or notoriety. You can use them as motivation and to inform your intentions, as you seek wealth for yourself and your loved ones. I took inspiration for this article from a recent episode of my podcast, featuring the excellent Hannah Chapman. You can check out the full conversations here:

1. You don’t want to be desperate

Making decisions from a place of desperation is a one way street to depression. Despite how some people might seem to get off on their self-proclaimed victimhood: neither you nor they actually want to feel like you aren’t in control of your life. If you have to take a job stacking shelves, or cleaning houses – you’re not going to feel in control and very soon the resentment for your life will set in.

To be clear: I am not throwing shade on those jobs at all!! I’m a big believer that ‘job-shaming’ goes on far too much and needs to stop. Being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone and we should stop trying to convince people that it is. The issue here is not the nature of the job itself, but that you had to take it.

If you have to make decisions based on a lack of funds, you’ll never be able to do what you truly want to. You will also be living in a state of stress and lack. Being immersed in that energy 24/7 is a trap and will keep you locked in to a cycle of resentment.

2. Break free of the ‘feast & famine’ rollercoaster

This is especially obvious for the self-employed and entrepreneurs, but it holds true for any of us really. You should seek wealth in order to create stability and avoid the cycle of feast and famine.

Independent contractors will know how this feels: you land a contract/job for a decent sum of money. Instantly, before it’s even hit your account, you’re spending it on several different things.

You’ve already created a plan for giving it away!

The ‘famine’ periods stoke this need to satiate our spend-lust, when funds finally do come in. We end up saving nothing for a rainy day or our future, and the cycle starts over again.

Once more: this will lead to resentment and stress, not great mindsets from which to manage your business. And by “your business” I am also referring to people in a job because, despite working for someone else, you are still conducting business on your behalf. You have a reputation to uphold and a career to build.

If you are an entrepreneur or otherwise self-employed; start a habit of financial planning. You need to get smart about putting money away for tax, your pension, future uncertainty etc… If you work for someone else and they offer a generous pension scheme, health plan and so on: you can still adopt this mentality. See a portion of your wages, however small, as being there to further stabalize and insulate you from fluctuating finances.

Now more than ever, we should all be aware of the temporary nature of our incomes. No matter how ‘tenured’ you might feel in your current situation, the rug can be pulled under dire enough circumstances.

3. Take yourself out of ‘decision overload’

You’re not the best at everything. Sorry. None of us are. Why then, do we so often try to manage our lives, businesses, relationships by ourselves?

We all have a zone of genius, but many of us are kept from being in it by insufficient wealth. We end up fighting all of the fires, lurching from one problem to another, without giving any one issue our proper attention. That’s why we need to help of others, and that’s also why we need to have the wealth to pay for it.

We are so used to being able to google things and find “free” advice online, but this is a misnomer. It’s a false economy. When you are able to hire people to make those decisions for you and solve those problems that are most aligned with their zone of genius, you are free to spend more time in yours!

By doing this, there is no end to the progress you can make. My good friend and mentor Greg s. Reid told me a story once about a billionaire who became the world champion at Wii Tennis. Why? Because he had honed his zone of genius so well, that he was incredibly valuable. With his resources he employed others who could bring their own genius to his business. He therefore had so much spare time that he could become the world champion at a computer game.

You don’t have to be the world champion of Wii Tennis, but the point is: by having to make all the decisions, you will find yourself very quickly backed into a position of overload, overwhelm and shut down. You’ll be bogged down so much, that the work people actually pay you to do will suffer, and your value/stock will drop.

Having the resources to outsource those decisions and that work to the best people, will enable you to do what you do best and allow you to charge a premium for your time, by bringing your zone of genius to serve someone else.

I could go on. There are so many reasons to seek wealth, that have nothing to do with personal greed. It all comes down to intention and why you are seeking that wealth. If you act with integrity and do so in order to be of maximum service; there is no limit to what you can do.

Industrial News

China to strengthen policy support for industrial economy

by Hallie Sam on March 19, 2022

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Thursday pledged to strengthen policy support to promote stable growth of the industrial economy as challenges remained amid increasing uncertainties.

The regulator will enhance the implementation of policies and measures already in place, such as tax cuts and fee reductions. It will also actively roll out more policies conducive to stabilizing growth, the MIIT said in a statement released after a meeting, urging caution when introducing contractionary policies to ensure the industrial economy operates within a reasonable range.

Further measures will support private manufacturers and enable foreign businesses to increase high-end manufacturing investments, the statement said.

It detailed efforts to expand effective investment in the manufacturing industry, advance applications of new types of infrastructure, and boost green and digital consumption.
The regulator will also strengthen the coordination and cooperation of industrial and financial policies and encourage more qualified enterprises to go public.
China’s industrial production expanded in the first two months of the year, with the high-tech manufacturing sector posting stellar performance, official data showed Tuesday.

The value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 7.5 percent year on year in the January-February period.
Source: Xinhua

Investors come off a strong week looking for more gains now that they have some clarity from the Fed

by Hallie Sam on March 19, 2022

The Fed provided clarity for markets when it hiked interest rates and forecast many more over the next two years.
That helped kick off a massive stock market rally, including in growth and tech names, and market pros are watching to see if it will continue in the week ahead.
The economic and earnings calendars are light but there are about a half dozen Fed speakers, including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
“They’re not raising rates enough that it’s really going to hurt the market and investors can focus on earnings again,” said one strategist.

With the Federal Reserve’s first rate hike out of the way, market pros are now debating whether the market can continue the upswing it started in the past week.

A powerful rally in technology and growth stocks helped drive the stock market higher in its best week of the year. The S&P 500 was up about 6.2% for the week, ending at 4,463. The Nasdaq was up 8.2%, and the Dow gained 5.5%.

Consumer discretionary stocks gained more than 9% as the top performing sector, followed by technology, up about 7.8%. Energy was the only major sector to decline, falling 3.6%.

Some of the names that had been most punished like airlines, were among the biggest winners on the week. Airlines were up about 14.7% for the week. High growth names also bounced, with the ARK Innovation Fund, a poster child for growth, jumping about 17.4%. The fund is still down more than 46% over the last six months.

Ukraine will continue to be a focus, and headlines could continue to create volatility in the coming week. Investors are also watching the course of Covid, which is causing shutdowns of Chinese cities and is spreading again at a higher rate in Europe.

There are more than a dozen Fed speeches, including from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell who appears at an economics conference Monday and at an international banking conference Wednesday. The economic calendar is relatively light, with durable goods and both services and manufacturing PMI released Thursday.

“The anticipation of the first rate hike did more damage than the rate hike itself. We got ourselves twisted in a knot, starting in December, with the Fed pivot from transitory inflation to tapering” [bond purchases], said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. “That’s kind of behind us now as a headwind. That diminishes the impact that any parade of Fed speakers will deliver.”

The market indeed ignored hawkish comments Friday from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who appeared on CNBC. Both said they want to raise rates faster than the median seven hikes the Fed expects this year.

The Fed released its interest rate forecast Wednesday, when it raised its fed funds target rate range by a quarter point to 0.25% to 0.50%, its first rate hike since 2018. The Fed also said it would look to start reducing its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet at an upcoming meeting.

Tech and growth did well in the past week, and they are the stock groups most hurt by higher interest rates. They typically command higher prices because investors buy them for their future earnings, and easy money makes them very attractive.

Strategists say tech can continue to gain in a rising rate environment, now that some of the excesses are wrung out of the group. But they may not be the leaders they once were.

Looking past the Fed

“I think the stage has been set by the Fed for investors to focus on earnings again,” said Julian Emanuel, head of equities, derivatives and quantitative strategy at Evercore ISI. “Bottom line…earnings estimates since the beginning of the year have risen.”

Emanuel said he expects the market could continue to rise in the near term, barring an escalation of geopolitical events. While it appears oil prices may have peaked, he said it is still not clear whether stocks put in the low for the year.

“Sentiment is absolutely horrendous…You put it all together, and we just think it’s a recipe for higher share prices looking out over the next month or two,” Emanuel said. He said investors are now able to discount the fact the Fed has begun its rate hiking cycle.

“We’re there. We know what’s going to happen. We know they’re going to do 0.25% in May. We know they’re going to start QT [quantitative tightening] some time at mid-year,” he said. “They’re not raising rates enough that it’s really going to hurt the market and investors can focus on earnings again.” He expects S&P 500 profits to be up 9.3% this year.

Hogan said the market is leaning towards a favorable outcome for Ukraine, such as a cease fire, although no developments suggest an end is now in sight.

“Everyone is leaning in this direction that this will come to an end in weeks rather than months,” he said. “If not, the market is going to have to recalibrate that.”

This is what the stock charts say

Scott Redler, partner with T3Live.com, focuses on the short-term technicals of the market, and he said after a strong run, the market could digest some of its gains early in the week.

“After an impressive week like this, most active traders are reducing risk into this [S&P 500] 4,400 level, not adding to it,” said Redler. “If we could digest a day or two after quadruple witching that might give us some signals that this could continue towards 4,600.” The quadruple expiration of options and futures was Friday.

Redler said Russia’s war in Ukraine and Fed policy tightening will continue to hang over the market, and that might keep the S&P 500 in a range. “I don’t think anyone is thinking the market goes right back to all-time highs anytime soon,” he said. “I think we’re smack in the middle of a range. This is a very neutral spot not to get short and not to add to longs. We’ll see how we digest this next week. For me, I think oil put the high in for the year, and that could be helpful.”

Oil briefly popped to $130.50 per barrel earlier this month, when investors feared sanctions on Russia would restrict its oil exports and create major shortages. Since then oil has fallen back, and West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading just under $105 per barrel Friday.

Redler said an important test for the S&P 500 will be to see if it can hold the top third of its range and stay above 4,330. “It if can hold that, the next move could be higher,” he said. “That would show commitment to this week’s actions.”

Technology shares made a strong comeback, and Redler said he is watching to see if they continue to lead. “Tesla helped lead the way all week. A bunch of tech names did break their downtrends,” he said. “Tesla, NVIDIA and Amazon have been buyable on dips…NVIDIA gave clues that the bounce was as believable as it because it was one of the first stocks to cross its downtrend

Apple and Microsoft, both higher on the week, could be important drivers of the market in the coming week.

“Apple and Microsoft haven’t been a headwind but they weren’t a tailwind. If they could outperform a little bit, they could help the broader indices,” Redler said. He said the two stocks, the biggest by market cap, were higher on the week, but they lagged the Nasdaq’s gains because they had they had large sell imbalances during the quadruple witching expiration.

“The stocks with the biggest buybacks have the biggest selling imbalances,” Redler said.

Week ahead calendar

Monday

Earnings: Nike, Tencent Music

8:00 a.m. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic

12:00 p.m. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell keynote at the NABE Economic Policy Conference

10:00 a.m. QFR

Tuesday

Earnings: BuzzFeed, Adobe, Poshmark

10:30 a.m. New York Fed President John Williams

2:00 p.m. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly

5:00 p.m. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester

Wednesday

Earnings: General Mills, Winnebago, Cintas, Tencent Holdings, KB Home, Steelcase

8:00 a.m. Fed Chairman Powell at Bank for International Settlements virtual summit

10:00 a.m. New home sales

11:25 p.m. San Francisco Fed’s Daly

Thursday

Earnings: Darden Restaurants, FactSet, NIO

8:30 a.m. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari

8:30 a.m. Initial claims

8:30 a.m. Durable goods

8:30 a.m. Current account

9:10 a.m. Fed Governor Christopher Waller

9:45 a.m. Manufacturing PMI

9:45 a.m. Services PMI

9:50 a.m. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans

10:00 a.m. New home sales

11:00 a.m. Atlanta Fed’s Bostic

Friday

10:00 a.m. New York Fed’s Williams

10:00 a.m. Pending home sales

10:00 a.m. Consumer sentiment

11:30 a.m. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin

12:00 p.m. Fed Governor Waller

Finance

Academics for All: Gardner explores career in business, finance

by Hallie Sam on March 19, 2022

SHERIDAN — “At the end of the day it is not about what you accomplished, it is about who you have lifted up, who you have made better. It is about what you have given back,” Denzel Washington once said. This is Libby Gardner’s mantra, what she lives by. Gardner, a senior at Sheridan High School, is this week’s Summit Award winner.

She is the daughter of Misty and Josh Gardner, and she has three sisters: older sister Ellie and younger sisters, Shelbi and Kendall. Libby Gardner describes her family as having a “close bond” and she looks up to her mother most. She describes her mother as strong and kind.

“My mom is always taking time to spend one-on-one time with each of us,” Gardner said. “She is the most genuine person I know.”

Gardner is an excellent student with a 4.0 GPA and a resume boasting many advanced courses, including two Advanced Placement, four dual enrollment and three concurrent enrollment classes.

“Libby is an outstanding young woman who brings a positive outlook, desire to learn and a sense of humor that is contagious to those around her,” said SHS math instructor Elizabeth Swager, one of Gardner’s favorite teachers. “Her natural intelligence and strong work ethic are key to her success in school as well as athletics.

“While confident in her abilities, Libby is humble, gracious, compassionate and always willing to help others,” Swager continued. “She is intrinsically motivated to work to her fullest potential in academics, striving for excellence. Libby encourages and celebrates her teammates successes as if they were her own, which makes her a role model and leader among her peers. It was truly a pleasure to have her in class for two years as well as to watch her compete.”

These words are a perfect representation of Gardner and her impact on the Sheridan High School community. Her all-time favorite subject is math; she likes the black and white sensibility of it and has named Swager as an outstanding educator.

“Mrs. Swager is always available and gets to know her students personally,” Gardner said.

Beyond math, Gardner is intrigued by psychology. She thoroughly enjoyed learning about how the brain works and how it relates to each of us.

Gardner has been a three-sport athlete — participating in golf, basketball and soccer — for four years. Her favorite sport is golf.

“Golf can be played for fun or competitively,” Gardner explained. “When playing, it lets your mind be free to just think about golf and the people you are with.”

Gardner is a strong leader on each of her teams. On the soccer team she learned how to be there for her teammates through the importance of the goalie position. In fact, her golf teammates call her their “team mom.”

Gardner is a member of National Honor Society, has participated in Student Council each year and currently serves as the senior class secretary. In addition, she has been employed by the YMCA as a camp counselor.

Last fall, Gardner was fortunate to have an internship at Kennon, focusing on strategical finance management. She experienced both finance and managing outside contracts, especially with the government. This experience solidified her desire to study business, specifically finance in college.

Gardner has committed to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. She said she is excited to experience another state that is not too far from home.

On a lighter note, her favorite movie is “Cars,” but she loves all Disney films, mostly because she watches them with her younger sister, who is in fifth grade.

Gardner is a great representation of the Summit Award, a well-deserved honor. Good luck to Gardner in her future endeavors.

Wealth

First United promotes Kelly C. Effland to Wealth Advisor

by Hallie Sam on March 19, 2022

BERKELEY COUNTY — Keith R. Sanders, senior vice president and senior trust officer, and Jennifer L. Jones, vice president, senior wealth advisor and team leader, with First United Bank & Trust, are proud to announce the promotion of Kelly C. Effland to wealth advisor, serving Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland and Berkeley County.

Effland has seven years of local financial services planning. She began her financial services career as a relationship manager in Winchester after graduating from Shepherd University with a bachelors’ degree in business administration, with a concentration in financial planning. From there, she progressed through various trust and investment roles and most recently served as an associate wealth advisor in Hagerstown.

Effland is a Certified Financial Planner.™ She also holds Series 7, Series 63, Series 65 and Maryland Life and Health Insurance licenses. Most recently, she held the position of wealth advisor associate.

“We are very excited to announce Kelly’s promotion to wealth advisor as a part of the First United Wealth Management team. Her financial services knowledge and her ability to create relationships will continue to serve her, our customers and the community extremely well. Congratulations Kelly!” Jones said.

Effland is active in the community. She is the current treasurer for the Junior League of the Eastern Panhandle, attends chamber of commerce functions in various counties and is active in a local GenNext chapter for young professionals.

Effland resides in Hagerstown with her husband and two children. In her free time, Effland loves anything outdoors, especially hiking with her dogs. She also enjoys spending time with friends, watching movies and traveling. Her office is located at the Riverside Community Office at 1990 Monocacy Boulevard, Frederick, MD 21701 and she can contacted directly by calling 301-662-4507.

First United Corporation operates one full-service commercial bank, First United Bank & Trust. The bank has a network of community offices in Garrett, Allegany, Washington, and Frederick counties in Maryland, as well as Mineral, Berkeley, Harrison and Monongalia counties in West Virginia. As of Dec. 31, 2021, the Corporation posted assets of $1.8 billion. First United’s website can be located at MyBank.com.

Industrial News

Koch Industries stays in Russia, backs groups opposing U.S. sanctions

by Hallie Sam on March 18, 2022

As hundreds of major U.S. companies exit Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Koch Industries is staying put.

The industrial conglomerate — the second-largest privately owned business in America, with $115 billion in annual revenue — is among those defying public pressure and continuing to operate manufacturing plants and sell products across Russia, while up until Wednesday remaining mum on that nation’s relentless assault on Ukrainian cities.

Wichita, Kansas-based Koch has several business lines in Russia, and is among the nearly 40 companies described as “digging in” by refusing to curb or stop business in that nation, according to a tally compiled by Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team.

Koch subsidiary Guardian Industries has two industrial glass manufacturing plants in Russia that employ about 600. Outside of Guardian, Koch employs 15 people in Russia, according to the company.

“While Guardian’s business in Russia is a very small part of Koch, we will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them,” Dave Robertson, president and COO of Koch Industries, said Wednesday in a statement posted by the company.

Calling Russia’s attack on Ukraine “an affront to humanity” that “violates our company’s values and principles,” Robertson also said the company has provided financial assistance to workers and their families from Ukraine and other aid to those affected in neighboring countries.

“To be clear, Koch companies are complying with all applicable sanctions, laws and regulations governing our relationships and transactions within all countries where we operate,” he added. “We will continue to closely monitor the situation and keep you updated as needed.”

The company’s stance on doing business in Russia drew criticism in some quarters. The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, author of “Dark Money,” a book about the Koch’s political influence, said the company’s justification is hypocritical.

“Given how small Koch says its Russian operation is, hard not to see this as purely symbolic, sending the message that all of Koch’s talk of rights and liberty means nothing. Making money is what they value,” Mayer tweeted.

Arguing against sanctions

Political groups supported by Charles Koch, the right-wing billionaire who is chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, oppose broad economic sanctions against Russia, according to Popular Information, a left-leaning newsletter run by Judd Legum.

Stand Together, a nonprofit founded by Charles Koch, instead “supports targeted sanctions against Russia in response to its immoral invasion of Ukraine. We also believe that sanctions are a legitimate tool of statecraft. However, broad-based economic sanctions rarely achieve their desired policy outcomes,” Dan Caldwell, the group’s vice president for foreign policy, tweeted on Monday.

Caldwell previously suggested that the U.S. remain neutral on the conflict in Ukraine.

A similar message comes from Will Ruger, president of another Charles Koch-backed group, the American Institute for Economic Research, or AIER, according to Popular Information’s reporting. “The United States can and should do very little for Ukraine,” Ruger said in a March 2 podcast with Reason Magazine, a libertarian publication also supported by Charles Koch. “Ukraine simply doesn’t matter to America’s security or our prosperity.”

Advancing that view, Ruger also shared on social media a Reason video entitled “Why Russian sanctions will fail.”

Another Charles Koch-backed group, Concerned Veterans for America, is also cautioning against sanctions against Russia. In a petition letter, the group urges “restraint as America responds to Russia’s immoral invasion of Ukraine. … We should avoid actions that may aggravate the situation further or have damaging repercussions to American prosperity.”

War, inflation and oil cap stocks rebound as yields warn

by Hallie Sam on March 18, 2022

Oil over $100 and extending gains
Stock indexes little changed
Biden-Xi phone call due at 1300 GMT
Yield inversion looms

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) – Global stocks clung to their gains for the week on Friday but a heady cocktail of rising interest rates, high oil prices and no end to war in Ukraine kept a lid on the rebound as yields sent a warning signal for the economy.

The MSCI world stock index (.MIWD00000PUS) was flat at 695 points, up 5.4% for the week but well below its lifetime high of 761.21 from Jan. 4.

“Sentiment is still pretty cautious, it’s looking for some reason to rally but it’s struggling to find something which it has strong conviction in,” said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors.

In Europe, the STOXX (.STOXX) index of 600 leading companies was little changed at 450 points, 9% below its lifetime high from early January.

There is some relief that the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday finally embarked on its series of interest rate hikes, and from here on it was a question of watching how the economy evolves and how high inflation goes before peaking, Shah said.

Oil prices remained above $100 a barrel after slim progress in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine raised the spectre of tighter sanctions and a prolonged disruption to crude supply.

“The conflict I suspect is going to keep simmering in the background and as a result you will probably see oil prices remaining elevated,” Shah said.

Adding to the mix, U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to deliver a warning that Beijing will pay a price if it supports Russia’s war effort when he speaks to China’s President Xi Jinping in a call scheduled for 1300 GMT.

A first Russian external bond default since the Bolshevik Revolution however appears to have been have averted for now. Sources say some creditors have received payment, in dollars, of Russian bond coupons which fell due this week.

In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was down 0.15% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng steadied following a furious two-day surge. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.6%.

The impact on inflation of ports and supply chains disruptions in China due to a spike in COVID infections, risks being massively overlooked by markets, said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.

“That is going to be a headwind for valuations and while we are getting a fairly decent rebound at the moment, I really struggle to see us whether or not we can move above the highs we have seen this year,” Hewson said.

S&P 500 futures eased 0.55%, with little in the way of major data ahead of Wall Street’s opening bell.

Problems faced by policymakers whose economies are suffering surging inflation and sagging growth were underscored during a series of central bank meetings this week.

The Fed raised rates for the first time in more than three years on Wednesday, and surprised traders with a more hawkish than expected outlook. The Bank of England also hiked but surprised with a dovish outlook that drove a rally in gilts.

The Bank of Japan offered no surprises on Friday, leaving policy ultra easy, which has kept heavy pressure on the yen.

Meanwhile the gap between two and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields is near its tightest levels since March 2020, when economies were slammed by the start of COVID lockdowns.

The tighter gap means the yield curve is not far from inverting, long a reliable indicator of a likely recession in the following one or two years.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was last at 2.1655%.

Oil, which had crumbled some 30% from last week’s peak, has bounced hard as traders fret that hope for peace in Ukraine is misplaced. Brent crude futures were last up 1.3% and at $108, have added more than $10 a barrel in two sessions.

“It’s very difficult to get any confidence that you’re going to be able to reliably source commodities out of Russia or Ukraine,” said Tobin Gorey, a commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. “You’re going to be looking elsewhere and that just tends to get priced up.”

Wheat and corn futures, which are sensitive to Black Sea supply disruptions, have bounced sharply.

Japan’s currency hit a six-year low this week and last traded at 118.83 per dollar. “The next multi-session target may well be the 120.00 psychological level,” said Terence Wu, a strategist at OCBC Bank in Singapore.

The euro hovered at $1.106, down 0.3% on the day

Spot gold hovered at $1,935, down 0.5%, and bitcoin was clinging on above $40,000, down 0.7%.

Finance

NC auditor’s report on Spring Lake: Evidence of financial wrongdoing, including embezzlement

by Hallie Sam on March 18, 2022

An investigation by the state auditor’s office found evidence of financial wrongdoing in Spring Lake — including the embezzlement of more than $430,000 — that is being turned over to the FBI and the State Bureau of Investigation to determine if criminal charges should be filed.

The 56-page investigation report, which was released Thursday, found that the town’s former accounting technician, who also served as Spring Lake’s finance director for more than a year, used at least $430,112 of the town’s money for personal use.

The report does not name the technician, but says in the footnotes that she served as the town’s finance director from March 2020 to April 2021 and as interim finance director from March 2020 to September 2020. Minutes of the town Board of Aldermen’s meetings show Gay Tucker serving as finance director in February 2021 and being appointed interim finance director in March 2020.

Tucker could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

The report by State Auditor Beth Wood’s office also found that Spring Lake employees spent more than $100,000 of the town’s money on questionable credit card purchases and that at least $36,400 collected by the town was not deposited into Spring Lake’s bank account.

The town also erroneously overpaid its former economic development director $9,900 for his monthly cellphone stipend, according to the report.

The report also found that Spring Lake officials did not safeguard town vehicles and the town’s Board of Aldermen did not keep minutes of some closed meetings in 2019 and 2020.

Spring Lake Mayor Kia Anthony did not return a voicemail or text message on Thursday. The town’s website announced an emergency meeting for Thursday morning, but video of the meeting is not posted on the town’s YouTube channel.

The report recommends that the board consider taking legal action against the former accounting technician.

The report accuses the technician of writing 72 checks for her personal use.

The technician wrote 32 checks for a total of more than $16,000 that were payable to Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union and deposited into her personal bank account there. The report says 27 checks totaling more than $151,000 were made out as payable to the technician, with 24 deposited into her personal account and one deposited into her husband’s account at the credit union. Thirteen checks for a total of more than $113,000 were made payable to Heritage Place Senior Living and used to pay monthly resident bills of the technician’s husband, the report says.

The report says that from January 2019 to December 2020, Spring Lake employees used town credit cards to make more than 600 questionable purchases totaling $102,877. It said 462 purchases totaling $83,069 lacked an itemized receipt and adequate documentation to support a valid town purpose, while 140 purchases totaling $19,808 had an itemized receipt but lacked adequate documentation to support a valid town purpose.

Spring Lake has faced similar issues involving the use of town credit cards. The auditor’s office released an investigative report in June 2016 that said Spring Lake employees and three members of the board spent more than $122,000 on 1,448 credit card purchases over five years that appeared to be unrelated to town business.

The SBI and the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office determined in that case that further criminal investigation or prosecution was not warranted.

The report released Thursday also found that at least $33,283 in cash payments that were collected by Spring Lake’s Revenue Department was not deposited into the town’s bank account. Also, more than $3,100 in cash payments collected by the Recreation Department were not deposited into the town’s bank account.

The overpayment of $9,900 to the town’s former economic development director happened when a payroll technician entered $10,000 instead of $100 for his cellphone reimbursement, according to the report. The director did not inform the town and said he didn’t notice the overpayment because he was expecting a tax return, the report said.

The failure to safeguard town vehicles increased the risk of theft and misuse, according to the report. It occurred because the town did not designate anyone to maintain an inventory of vehicles or monitor their use, it said.

The report found that the board did not maintain minutes for nine closed sessions in 2019 and six closed meetings in 2020. The written minutes for the 2019 board meetings have question marks where the information from closed sessions should be, while the 2020 minutes include no information about the closed sessions, it said.

“As a result of the missing and incomplete minutes of closed session Board meetings, there is no official record of decisions made on important issues such as personnel, economic development projects, acquisition of property, investigations of alleged criminal misconduct, public safety matters, etc.,” the report said.

The report comes about five months after the state Local Government Commission assumed control of Spring Lake’s finances because state officials became concerned about the town’s ability to balance its budget and live within its means.

State officials had been trying to figure out how the town was going to make payments on its debt. The takeover happened after the commission learned that the town had a $1 million loan that had not been reported to state officials.

The commission had warned Spring Lake officials about its finances twice in the months leading up to the commission’s decision to take control. Wood, who serves as a member of the commission, had recommended the move and said her office had launched an investigation to look for missing money.

Wealth

A million new millionaires were created in U.S. last year, and the richest got richer, report says

by Hallie Sam on March 18, 2022

The roaring stock market and crypto gains created more than a million new millionaires in the U.S. last year, according to a new report.
The number of Americans with $1 million or more in investible assets surged to a record 14.6 million in 2021, according to a report from wealth research firm the Spectrem Group.
The wealthiest Americans got richer, too, as they were able to afford to make higher-risk investments that turned into strong returns.

The roaring stock market and crypto gains created more than a million new millionaires in the U.S. last year, according to a new report.

The number of Americans with $1 million or more in investible assets surged to a record 14.6 million in 2021, up from 13.3 million in 2020, according to a report from wealth research firm the Spectrem Group.

The growth rate of over 10% was the strongest in years, boosted by trillions of dollars in wealth created by the stock market, crypto and other assets.

“It was the strongest year ever for millionaire creation in all segments,” said George Walper, president of Spectrem Group.

The wealth surge was strongest at the top. The number of Americans worth $25 million or more surged by 18%. There are now a record 252,000 Americans worth $25 million or more, up from 214,000 in 2020. By contrast, the number of so-called “mass affluent” investors — or those with between $100,000 and $1 million — grew by about 2%.

The stock market was by far the largest engine of wealth creation for millionaires and the wealthy in 2021. The S&P 500 gained 27% last year, while the Nasdaq was up 21%. The wealthiest 1% of Americans gained over $3 trillion in stock-market wealth in 2021, according to Federal Reserve data.

Crypto and other assets — such as NFTs, collectibles and real estate — also gained in value, adding to the wealth of the wealthy. The total market cap of crypto assets, despite wild swings in prices, gained $1.5 trillion last year to over $2.3 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

Values of private-equity and venture-capital investments also surged. Since the wealthy can afford to put more of their money in investments, especially those with the highest risks and rewards, ultra-millionaires benefitted more than the mass affluent in 2021.

“The wealthy have the greatest exposure to the broadest investments,” Walper said. “It wasn’t just traditional liquid markets that did well last year. It was also alternative investments, real-estate investments and crypto.”

The wealth gains at the top also widened the wealth gap in the U.S. The share of wealth held by the top 1% grew to a record 32% last year, according to the Fed.

Wealth experts say it’s unlikely that last year’s gains will be sustained in 2022, given soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a potential economic slowdown. Stock market declines have already started trimming the paper fortunes of investors. The Nasdaq is down 14.5% for the year, while the S&P is down 8.4%.

“Every day changes, so it’s hard to predict where the year will wind up,” Walper said. “But the first few months of 2022 have already painted a different picture than 2021.”

Business

The Complete Guide to Virtual Business Address Service

by Hallie Sam on March 16, 2022

Virtual office services are becoming more and more popular, especially with the rise of freelancers. The concept is to provide a “virtual office address” for those who don’t have an actual office space. This can be done by renting a virtual office space or delivering your business mail to a virtual address.

A virtual address service is not just for freelancers, it’s also for small business owners who don’t have the budget or need an actual physical location. Virtual addresses can be used as a way to grow your business without the overhead expense of renting an office space.

How it Works and Why you Need it Now

Virtual business address services are now available for anyone who needs it. It is an excellent solution for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. Who is moving across the state or nation? Once you file for a virtual business address, you will have your unique number and can use this to do business with any other company in the United States.

These virtual business addresses are virtual offices with physical addresses and phone numbers. They also have mailroom services and other office-related features that make them look more prominent.

What if you could have a virtual business address without the hassle of setting up an office?

Virtual mail service is the next best thing. It provides you with a virtual mailbox and a digital mail service to ensure that your messages are delivered to you.

How Virtual Mail Service Works and Benefits?

Virtual Mail Services are a relatively new concept popping up in the last few years. They are services that offer to send physical mail on behalf of the recipient. The correspondence is sent to a physical address and then forwarded to the recipient’s email inbox.

The services can send any type of mail, including letters, postcards, greeting cards, and even packages. In most cases, they will charge a fee for their service, but some companies offer it for free as an added perk to their customers.

Benefits of virtual mailbox service

Virtual mailbox services are becoming more and more popular due to their benefits. Some of these benefits include:

Greater convenience: Virtual mailbox services allow you to access your mail from anywhere, anytime. You don’t have to worry about missing important emails or packages.
More privacy: The virtual mailbox service is not associated with your home address, which means you have a higher level of privacy for your deliveries and personal information.
Lower cost: Virtual mailbox services are cheaper than renting a physical mailbox because you don’t need to pay for office space, utilities, or other costs associated with running a building.
Less clutter: Virtual mailboxes save space in your home by allowing you to store all of your mail in one location.

How to Choose the Best Digital Mailbox Provider for your Business?

There are different types of digital mailbox providers on the market. To find the best one for your business, you need to consider many factors.

The first factor is security. Your company’s data needs to be protected at all times, and you want a provider that can guarantee this. The second factor is how much storage space your company needs. If you have a lot of emails or need to store large files like videos, this will be an essential factor for you. The third factor is whether or not the provider offers email software and mobile apps for your employees to use with their accounts. This will help them stay organized and make sure they’re always on top of their inboxes no matter where they are in the world.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Digital mailbox providers are a necessary part of any business. They make it easier for companies to manage their email while also providing an extra layer of security. The best digital mailbox providers will have a suite of features tailored to the needs of different businesses and industries.

In conclusion, digital mailboxes can help businesses increase productivity and efficiency while also providing extra security against cyberattacks.

You can also use your Virtual P.O. Box as a forwarding service.