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February 28th, 2025
Insight on Plan Design & Investment Strategy Every Weekday
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| ECONOMIC EVENTS |
In the week ending February 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 242,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 220,000, the Department of Labor reported. The four-week moving average was 224,000, an increase of 8,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 215,500.
Interest on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.76% for the week ending February 27, down from last week when it averaged 6.85%, Freddie Mac reported. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.94%. Interest on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.94%, down from last week when it averaged 6.04%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.26%.
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| MARKET MIRROR |
Thursday, the Dow fell 193.62 points (0.45%) to close at 43,239.50, the Nasdaq fell 530.84 points (2.78%) to close at 18,544.42 and the S&P 500 fell 94.49 points (1.59%) to close at 5,861.57. The Russell 2000 fell 34.51 points (1.59%) to close at 2,139.66, and the FT Wilshire 5000 Index fell 930.77 points (1.56%) to close at 58,616.80.
The 10-year Treasury note was unchanged, bringing the yield to 4.265%. The 30-year Treasury bond decreased 4/32, bringing the yield to 4.533%.
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PRODUCTS
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Product & Service Launches
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Newfront Insurance and Pave partner to simply employee benefits; Apollo, State Street private-debt to release new ETF; Betterment Adviser Solutions launches solo 401(k)s; and more. 
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SPECIAL COVERAGE
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SECURE 2.0 in 2025
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Provisions of the 2022 law are increasingly affecting plan sponsors and participants as more and more of them take effect. What is happening in 2025?
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ON THIS DATE: In 1827, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad became the first steam-operated railway in the U.S. to be chartered as a common carrier of freight and passengers. In 1922, the U.K. recognized Egypt’s independence after negotiations following the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. In 1931, basketball coach Dean Smith, one of the most successful men’s basketball coaches in collegiate history, was born. In 1942, during World War II, Japanese troops landed on the island of Java, in what was then the Dutch East Indies, which they occupied until 1945. In 1983, the final episode of the popular TV series “M*A*S*H” aired and was watched by an estimated 106 million viewers. In 1986, Olof Palme, the internationally prominent prime minister of Sweden whose strong pacifist beliefs included opposition to the Vietnam War, was assassinated in Stockholm. In 1991, the Persian Gulf War, an international conflict triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, ended as Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein accepted a cease-fire agreement. In 2013, Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.
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